Faces of Snuff (2016)

I chose to include the review for Faces of Snuff primarily categorized as a porn film because of how the film is presented. The film goes through a collection of clips showing a number of different scenarios that include violence and death. There is no plot to this film, nor any logical transition through the sequence of scenes; each scene can be considered independent of the rest. It's layout is similar to that of a porn movie, despite the differences in content from what the majority would consider as porn. Snuff films are defined by sex films where someone dies that are sold for profit. If you would like an overview of this topic, I would recommend the film: Snuff: A Documentary About Killing on Camera.

I will fully admit that I love horror and the artistry that goes into making such films. That said, snuff is not my particular genre so watching the collection of clips with no plot or overall message left me bored. The scenarios presented were not done very well, it is apparent in many of them that they are scripted and fake footage. The actors in some of the clips were not very convincing, their reactions not very believable or genuine. Some of the scenarios did suggested another angle from the standard idea of just torturing someone and killing them. One clip took the sadism to a different place by showing the emotional torture of a victim's family while another suggested a revenge scenario by the torture of a rapist.

Many of the clips had horrible cinematography. They attempted to give the footage a home made feel look by making it look gritty but in some cases this is obviously a post production effect that was poorly applied. Along with this attempted feel, many of the clips have really shaky cam footage with terrible audio quality. Several of the clips also have continuity errors in the wounds that the victim received. They make a big show of cutting the victim in one place but later in the clip, those marks have vanished. Overall, I'd say the majority of the clips were a total fail in their attempt at realism. Much of the blood spatter was incorrect or entirely absent. Other small details that could have added greatly to the scene were overlooked or simply not thought of. The makers of the clips in this film could learn a great deal from the horror genre and films such as A Serbian Film or Martys or the amazing work found in Rob Zombie films. If you are going to make these types of films, at least make the effort to do it right.

The film does make reference to some real cases of death and mutilation and includes some film footage that could be related to those cases. No graphic content is shown for those clips but the fact that those are real cases and included in such a film is a bit unsettling. I also found it in poor taste that the filmmakers include a reference to Luke Magnotta as their "hero" on their website. This suggest to me that either the people involved with this project are out of touch with reality or need professional counselling. Overall, I would not really recommend this film unless you're in the mood for some B rated gore and honestly there are better films for it.