Absolutely brilliant

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The original "Faces of Death" 'shockumentary' was many things in its heyday: the ultimate Mondo-movie, the closest thing to a real snuff-movie and, during the staged scene, an often (unintentionally) hilarious bogus-documentary. More than that, during the 1980's and 90's it was somewhat of a "rite of passage" for many teenagers, who tried to show off their psychological 'manliness' (and at the same time were hoping that the creeped-out girls in the audience would snuggle a little closer).Those teens eventually grew up, possibly going to college and having long realised that 90 percent of "Faces of Death" had been fake, staged, pure bogus. But word had it – promoted largely by word-of-mouth, obscure Heavy Metal fanzines and a 14.4kbps internet – that there was a new, a "real" shockumentary around, and this shockumentary was "Traces of Death".The entrepreneurial Metalhead Damon Fox had not only realized that the taste for gore among gorehounds had not faded, but that – unlike in the 70's – one no longer needed a film-crew to create a mondo-documentary. All that was needed was an editing device and enough shock-and death-footage from various news-sources, "Faces of Death"-clones and the internet to stuff 90 minutes into a video-tape.Having culled and assembled said footage, all Fox had to do was to add narration (provided by himself in a distorted voice, all the time sounding like that creepy neighbor-kid who explains why pocking a dead dog with a stick is "good fun") and a soundtrack. The soundtrack itself is already the highlight – if we may speak of a highlight in this context – a minimal, yet haunting, pulsating Electro-sound-frenzy, both morbid and captivating at the same time. In consequent sequels the electro-sound has been dropped in favor of Grindcore, Black- and Death Metal, supplied by bands hoping to promote their equally gore-soaked albums and demos.Where mondos like "Faces of Death", "Mondo Carne" or "Shocking Asia" still had unwanted humor in the staged scenes and an air of the forbidden, "Faces of Death" is just a an assembly of disfigurement, accidents, suicides and autopsies that, more than being shocked or grossed-out,leaves the viewer with the same impression of having spent a day at the slaughterhouse: desensitized and nauseated more by the smell than by the actual carnage.Today "Traces of Death" is merely a footnote in the history of mondo-productions; the internet is full with infinitely more shocking images, videos and sites, free-of-charge for the jaded souls and ghouls who seek them (and have turned off the safety-mode of their search-engines). Even Fox himself has turned on his on "film-production", despite his cinematic and musical brilliance (which his IMDb-biography assures us of, no doubt composed by Fox himself)."Traces of Death" remains a curiosity in the history of mondo-films, having no other merits than that. I'll give it two points from 10: one for the soundtrack and one for the sake of being a curiosity.

The year is 1993. Fifteen years ago, the world was introduced to the shock mondo of the late 1970s; Faces of Death- supposedly banned in 46 countries. From that glorious day to the early 2000s, mondo films have been pushing their way into the masses. In 1993, Damon Fox presented the "Traces of Death" series to the world; four sequels would (the last would be released in 2000).This low budget feature ($18 estimated) which grossed only $230; has a similar vibe as its father series, Faces of Death. What separates the two is a thin line. As motown stated, its not so much a film and its not so much a documentary. While both TOD and FOD show graphic accounts of executions, autopsies, accidents and other causes of death-- this has more authentic footage, which makes can make Traces of Death the true real shockumentary. Also shown include things such as car accidents, car bomb explosions, a story told by a man who survived a suicide attempt as well as tedious sex change operation footage.Being made on a near shoe string budget; the movie is very poor in quality and narration; compared to FOD with a budget of nearly half a million dollars. While Dr. Gross narrates most of Faces of Death, Mr. Fox comes in rarely; and usually only makes dark humor remarks-such as that to be found in Faces of Gore.With all of this being said, I will be generous and give the film a 5/10; its somewhat shocking for its time--but the quality decreases it quite a bit. I do give credit to the company for having more authentic footage, compared to Faces of Death; where most of it is reenacted.

I had seen all the "faces of death" films ,i wasn't shocked or anything at all with these films and as said before they had some documentary feeling However... watching this film (partly)i had the same feeling.... until the incredible evil torture against animals,this is so sickening violent that i had to to something,if only to warn people not to spread this filth,(as a torrent,(OR ANY OTHER WAY)To my amazement i saw that this movie is widely sold and advertised. Why anybody would wanna see this as entertainment is totally beyond my (and any sane person IMO)comprehension,so if the people who are making these films get a commercial success out of it, they are gonna repeat it! So the viewer will be responsible (to a certain extend) of what he sees. Think about that when u see this! i would say ignore it,also there are certain people like myself who would (and will!!!!!) pay a small fortune to get my hands on any of the persons involved in making the animal clips in this film,or providing someone else with the means necessary to make it for them!(ADMIN,IF YA WANNA DELETE MY POST WATCH THE FILM AND YOU WONT!!)"BARBARICFELLOW"

Wow theres not much that a user can say about this movie except maybe "Gross" or "wow" or "Shocking". But the movie is much more. A lot of people have badmouthed this film due to its violent content but that is just the point of the movie.Although it doesnt live up to its image it is at times shocking and sickening. Its by far better than Faces of Death is. The narration is boring at times and it seems like the narrator is trying to gross people out and waste time instead of explaining the situations.While it is more graphic than Faces of Death it does miss the storyline and the narrator explaining the things. There are several scenes that I found strange and would have liked to know some background on what I was seeing but it was not there.Another low point in the film is the major hospital scenes. People under the knife and what not. This would have been truly shocking in the 80's / early 90's but now that we have shows like "Trama Life in the ER" scenes like this fall short of being shocking.Overall the movie is well rounded in its style. Some times the movie does drag on but its much more entertaining than films like "Mondo Cane" and the like.Overall I give this movie a 8 out of 10. While the film did keep me interested It fell short of being shocking. The prolonged warning at the beginning just made me hit the FF button.***KEY POINT*** A key point to look for in this movie is towards the end they are "selling" body parts and other sick things.....its strange and without giving it away, just check it out for yourself. Its funny, strange, and shocking. I call it a reward for suffering through the whole entire movie. ***KEY POINT*** So overall I give this movie a 8/10. Its worth checking out if your a hardcore mondo fan...which I am not