Faces of Death (2026) IFC/Horror RT: 98 minutes Rated R (strong bloody violence and gore, sexual content, nudity, language, drug use) Director: Daniel Goldhaber Screenplay: Isa Mazzei and Daniel Goldhaber Music: Gavin Brivik Cinematography: Isaac Bauman Release date: April 10, 2026 (US) Cast: Barbie Ferreira, Dacre Montgomery, Josie Totah, Aaron Holliday, Jermaine Fowler, Charli XCX.
Rating: ***
The infamous video nasty Faces of Death was something of a rite of passage for teens in the 80s. The 1978 documentary supposedly showed actual footage of people dying in gruesome ways. It was a popular rental at neighborhood video stores. Teens would dare each other to watch it. I refused to accept that dare even though I was (and still am) an avowed gorehound. It’s not that I was afraid to watch it. I just didn’t want to see the scenes of animals being killed. You all know how I feel about that. I successfully avoided FOD for more than 40 years until finally viewing it on YouTube this past week. Why did I finally give in? Read on.
The new Faces of Death is not a remake or a legacy sequel. It could arguably be considered a reboot. It builds on the mythology of the OG with a serial killer who dispatches his victims by recreating scenes from the original FOD. I have to admit, it’s a clever idea. I watched the doc in order to familiarize myself with the content, skipping through all the animal stuff (roughly the first 20-30 minutes) to get to the “good stuff”. NEWS FLASH! It’s not all that good. It’s pretty bad in fact. Curiosity quickly gave way to boredom as I endured it. The most shocking thing (A-HEM!) about it is that most of it is NOT real. Some of the footage (e.g. the dead body washing up on the beach) is, but the more notorious scenes (e.g. the electric chair execution, the police shooting, the beheading) are staged. It’s as big a put-on as The Blair Witch Project. It proves what P.T. Barnum said about a sucker being born every minute.
That brings us to the new Faces of Death. Directed by Daniel Goldhaber (How to Blow Up a Pipeline), it follows a more traditional trajectory. It has a plot. The heroine of the piece Margot (Ferriera, Euphoria) is a content moderator for a YouTube-like platform called Kino. She comes across disturbing videos depicting horrific acts of violence. They look too real to be simulations. She decides to go against company policy and look into the person posting them What she finds is really f***ed up.
Margot’s investigation pulls her into the orbit of Arthur (Montgomery, Stranger Things), a creep obsessed with Faces of Death. He kidnaps his victims and keeps them in cages in his basement until he’s ready to finish them off. The killings are modeled after scenes in FOD. Margot’s good intentions do not go unpunished. She becomes increasingly unhinged until her own life is in danger from this depraved individual.
It goes without saying that Faces of Death is markedly better than last week’s Scream Unseen feature, the abysmal found footage piece Hunting Matthew Nichols. That doesn’t mean it’s not without its flaws. It tells a good story albeit one with plot holes big enough to drive a fleet of 18-wheelers through. The one that irks me the most is this. At one point, the police take Margot to the hospital for a psych evaluation after Arthur denies her accusations. Following a quick examination, she’s released the same night. If you know anything about PEs, then you know it’s a mandatory 72-hour hold before the patient is released. Then there’s the scene where Arthur fires a rifle at Margot multiple times as she attempts to flee from his house. He has neighbors. Why didn’t any of them call the police to report gunshots in a residential neighborhood? That makes absolutely no sense. Faces of Death starts off well enough, but gets ludicrous as it nears its end. It doesn’t really spoil the movie, but it leaves the viewer with serious questions.
The film’s other flaw is the lack of gore. It has some, but not nearly what you’d imagine in a movie entitled Faces of Death. Why, the OG’s reputation alone offers the promise of a total bloodbath. It never happens.
What’s most interesting about this Faces of Death is how it’s been retooled for the 21st century. It’s no longer a geek show masquerading as a documentary about how death affects life. Goldhaber updates it, making it about how our society has become desensitized to violence thanks to social media. Certain platforms monetize death and trauma. We now live in an “attention economy” where one’s worth is measured by clicks and likes. He also addresses the ethical concerns relating to passive viewership. Is it really okay to derive enjoyment from real-life carnage?
Faces of Death also examines the psychological effects on content moderators who view such videos on a daily basis. What is it doing to them? Margot already has issues stemming from her sister’s death by train while they were filming a video on railroad tracks. It went viral and people recognize Margot. Because of this, she’s on a one-woman campaign to stop such videos from being posted. In the role, Ferriera does a fine job conveying her character’s fragile mental state. She makes us believe Margot is losing her mind.
Montgomery is good as the killer. As an actor, he continues to show he has range. He was very good as a desperate criminal in this past winter’s crime thriller Dead Man’s Wire. He crushes it in Faces of Death playing a demented serial killer. He’s creepy as hell. Totah (Back in the Game) is convincing as a shallow influencer who falls victim to Arthur. Singer Charli XCX shows up briefly as Margot’s co-worker.
It’s not a perfect film by any means, but I like Faces of Death. It’s interesting, it’s suspenseful and it’s fun. It’s smart in how it handles the original FOD, directly referencing it instead of throwing around Easter eggs. This is how you make a decent horror reboot. It’s obviously not for all tastes, but if you love the macabre, it’s definitely for you.
