The New Faces of Death Is a Remake Done Right, And A Timely, Disturbing Film (Review)

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When it came out, Faces of Death was unique – it was one of the last horror films to convincingly present itself as completely real, not a fabricated Hollywood production. While The Blair Witch Project (1999) or Paranormal Activity (2007) attempted something similar, Faces of Death gained a much stronger reputation for authenticity. It was heavily marketed as a genuine snuff film, leading to debates about its true content, but it became a box office success and launched a series. That series has now become a full-fledged franchise, recently revived with a modern sequel.

The idea of remaking Faces of Death might seem awful at first, but a film this shocking needs the right creative team. That team is Isa Mazzei and Daniel Goldhaber, who successfully turned the non-fiction book How to Blow Up a Pipeline into a gripping thriller. They’ve taken the basic concept of Faces of Death, completely reimagined it, and created a relevant horror film that shows how much – and how little – society has changed since the original.

Rating: 4 out of 5

PROS CONS
Incredible performance by Dacre Montgomery Stretches believability at times
Tense, thrilling sequences
Timely messaging

Faces of Death Puts Other Modern Horror Remakes to Shame

The new Faces of Death differs from the original by actually having a plot. The film stars Barbie Ferreira as Margot, who works as a content moderator for a social media platform called Kino. Her job involves watching short video clips all day to make sure they follow the platform’s rules. This concept is particularly clever because this job didn’t exist when the original Faces of Death came out, yet it’s a direct result of the impact that film had on how we consume media today.

Margot spends her days reviewing videos for an online platform, and she has a strange knack for predicting what will go viral. She routinely approves shocking content – people fighting at school, motorcycle crashes – but draws the line at anything overtly sexual, like a demonstration on condom use, even if it’s meant to be educational. When she comes across a disturbing video that seems to show a murder, she dismisses it as fake, seeing it as a parody of the notorious documentary Faces of Death. However, the person posting the videos begins to escalate, and it becomes clear they aren’t staging recreations of Faces of Death – they’re actually killing people.

While Ana Ferreira provides a relatable and sympathetic center to the film, the story quickly pivots to Dacre Montgomery as the true villain. Montgomery, known for his role in Stranger Things, delivers a captivating and complex performance, reminiscent of Tom Noonan in Manhunter. Shifting the focus in this way allows Faces of Death to explore a broader narrative and gives the filmmakers a chance to display their visual flair as Montgomery’s character, Arthur, hunts his victims in tense and unpredictable scenarios.

Faces of Death is surprisingly ambitious, packing a lot into its 90-minute runtime. It’s not just a horror film with genuinely frightening scenes; it also cleverly satirizes how much violence we see daily and how numb we’ve become to it. The movie works as a suspenseful thriller too, following Margot as she hunts a killer while another stalks his victims – and eventually, her. It successfully balances terrifying the audience with making them question their own enjoyment, which is a remarkable achievement.

While Faces of Death strives for a degree of realism, it occasionally stretches credibility. For example, a character might escape captivity and inexplicably find themselves in the woods after running through a neighborhood where no one responds to cries for help. The film acknowledges this by portraying characters as largely rejecting Margot, which makes these plot conveniences seem deliberate. The film isn’t just presenting a story; it’s actively engaging with the audience about its purpose and place, and the fact that we’re even analyzing its logic is central to its revival of the Faces of Death concept.

The new Faces of Death finished filming in 2023, but it’s been delayed ever since. Many other horror remakes have been released in the meantime, some trying to make a point about society or the horror genre itself. Interestingly, while everyone was watching those, this remake – one no horror fan expected – was quietly waiting to be released, and it actually has a lot more to say about horror and why we enjoy it.

Faces of Death premieres in theaters this Friday, April 10, 2026.

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2026-04-08 01:14