‘Faces of Death’ Remake Posters Deemed “Too Disturbing” To Display in Public

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When the first Faces of Death videocassette came out in 1985, the Los Angeles Times‘ Dennis Hunt called it “true overkill.” He explained that the film featured genuine deaths – not staged Hollywood effects – and was initially created for the Japanese market, where it was very popular. The film’s marketers falsely claimed it was banned in 46 countries as a publicity stunt. While Faces of Death remains controversial, much of the violent content was acted out, and the actual deaths shown were primarily news footage bought from various networks. In 1993, a high school teacher in Glendale faced a lawsuit after showing clips in a cultural awareness class.

A new movie based on the well-known franchise was filmed in 2023, but its release was delayed until April 10th. The initial trailer, which contained graphic violence, was removed from YouTube. A slightly edited version was then released. Directed by Daniel Goldhaber and featuring Barbie Ferreira, Darcy Montgomery, Josie Totah, Charli XCX, and Jermaine Fowler, the film received an R-rating due to intense violence, gore, sexual content, nudity, strong language, and drug use. Despite this, many theaters are refusing to display the movie’s posters, concerned about children seeing them. Director Daniel Goldhaber shared the rejected ads on Instagram, jokingly commenting on the frequent bans.

This marketing strategy of making something seem real is reminiscent of the 1999 release of The Blair Witch Project. The movie used unknown actors and a “found footage” style to draw viewers in. They even created websites that made it look like the characters in the film were actually real people who had gone missing – a tactic that worked well when the internet was new and it was harder to verify information. Stephen King, a renowned horror writer, even confessed he couldn’t finish watching it because it was so frightening. Honestly, anyone who saw The Blair Witch Project when it first came out probably still remembers that terrifying final scene in the basement.

It’s getting harder to truly shock audiences. Even the original “Faces of Death” videos appeared after a wave of gritty horror films in the 1970s – like “The Last House on the Left,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” and “I Spit on Your Grave” – had already pushed boundaries. More recently, we’ve seen the rise of intensely violent films, often called “torture porn,” such as the “Saw” series and movies like “Terrifier” that rely on the challenge of how much viewers can handle. The new “Faces of Death” posters follow this trend, directly challenging audiences with the tagline “we dare you” alongside the release date.

Will you take them up on it?

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2026-03-20 20:52