After suffering my way through the original "Faces of Death", I promised myself NEVER to watch any of the six (or is it seven) sequels, as this was the most inept, pathetic, provocative and boring bunch of nonsense I ever saw. But hey, I've been known to break promises before especially to myself and at least I didn't spend one lousy penny on this one. According to random reviews I read on the Internet, part four is supposed to be one of the "better" entries in this wannabe-cult series and I must admit it opens with a positive announcement. Dr. Francis B. Gross, the host of the first four films, apparently died due to his obsession with the other side. Great news, as I really couldn't stand the look of his face and he was the most incompetent narrator ever! A certain Dr. Louis Flellis now fills up his place, and this guy has the craziest pair of eyes I've ever seen! Is he supposed to intimidate us with his overlong stares and forced grimaces, or something? Closely following the outdated formula, he presents a series of obviously fake clips in which people and animals die tragically. There are painful road accidents, images of warfare and sudden deaths, but also a whole lot of "provoked" situations, like drunken fraternity jokes that go awry, incautious sports and even a magician who fails to complete his escaping-act in time. Now that was funny! There's no real guideline or reoccurring theme in "Faces of Death"; the mad-eyed Dr. Flellis simply jibbers about how deceitful the Grim Reaper can be and how we should never underestimate the forces of destiny. Yawn! I can't easily tolerate the looks of stupid people faking their deaths and play along believing it's a documentary, but WHY involve the animals? Yes, we know people eat dogs in Vietnam and we are aware that abattoirs slay pigs for their meat, but why do these phony-controversial makers of "Faces of Death" feel the need to add footage of this in their films and pretend to be educational? People die in accidents and humans kill animals. Imitating these sad events and capturing it on film isn't shock-cinema; it's merely just stating the obvious. We're all going to die at one point, anyway.
Review of Faces of Death IV
