Faces of Death VI

I'm not going to review any particular release of Faces of Death 6, simply explain the fact that there are at least 3 different versions of the film.

1. A film comprised of nothing but recycled footage from 1 through 4 2. Gesichter des Totes 6. A brand new film continuing the serious with minimal recycled footage, only released in Germany with only German audio and no subtitles.

3. A new film, without any recycled footage. A lot of violence in Africa, and most the rest is news footage from around the globe. This was released only via mail order, and the original version that was sold is very bleached out in parts, leaving whole sections of the film practically unwatchable.

1 is rather rare, 2 has been released on VHS and now DVD in Germany, and 3 is practically extinct except for an incredibly rare video file that floats around the internet.

I can attest to the fact that there are at least two completely different versions of this flick available: Faces Of Death VI, which was released by Gorgon Video in the United States 1996, which consists of nothing but footage from part one and part four, edited together differently. I did not see any running time counter, as the earlier reviewer stated, but I also did not see any new footage, either. Don't waste your time with the US video titled Faces Of Death 6, just go back and watch the first film again.

There is also at least one other, completely different, unrelated film, titled Gesichter des Totes 6. I think that film should have its own listing on IMDb, as it is a completely different film than FOD 6. Gesichter isn't as bad as could be expected from an in-name-only ripoff. That's not to say it is very good, but some of it is kind of interesting.

Bearing no resemblance to the earlier, "official" Faces Of Death VI, the low-rent National Geographic-like video file known as Gesichter des Totes 6 begins with black prisoners in Africa, and kids with deformities being prepped for leg braces and put into stocks. Death and disease and violence among tribes people in Africa. Animal cruelty and slaughter; all grotesque. Whippings, and amateur boxing matches held in fields. Swarms of bats, and locusts plaguing African villages. Some time-lapse photography of cloud formations and tornado footage is interesting, as the (stock) footage apparently switches from African to European, or at least American.

Truthfully, Gesichter des Totes 6 is not as abysmal as some other Faces Of Death ripoffs (like Traces of Death, and Faces of Torture) but nothing to get too excited about either. Unless, like myself, you just enjoy the thrill of hunting down supremely obscure titles like this one.

Apparently, Gesichter des Totes 6 was released only as a video file, later put on DVD in Germany by Madison Video in a limited edition of only 500 copies, and the technical credits listed on the box are: Produced by Gabbi Marrisho and Doro Vlado Hreljanovic, Directed by Doro Vlado Hreljanovic, Screenplay by Fred Warshofsky, and no copyright date given. Neither of the two earlier narrators (Francis B. Gröss, and Louis Flellis) returned for this one, as the version I watched had been dubbed into French; although originally it was in German. In fact, the original German narration can be heard underneath the French-dubbed track in the version I watched online. Both German and French narrators are uncredited.

Faces Of Death VI: 1/ 10

Gesichter des Totes VI: 3/ 10

Edit: just recently, I located a print of the mysterious and elusive third version, under the title THE SHOCKING FACES OF DEATH, aka Faces of Death (volume) 6. Bleached-out and faded, it is absolutely worthless, unless, as I said earlier, one enjoys the thrill of hunting down and locating, and reviewing, rarely seen oddities. There is no narrative to that film, just a compilation of random extreme gore and violence, which makes it absolutely pointless, in my mind. Who released it, when, how, and if there was ever any video box artwork is unknown.

I bought this movie and was really annoyed. The back promises some nasty scenes of bullfighters being killed, car bombings, etc. None of these were in it. It also supposedly runs 90 minutes. That too is false as it clocks at about 70 minutes. Here's what rips the most though. It is not new footage. If you've seen part 1 and part 4, you've seen all the footage. The first ten minutes is the end of part 4 while the remainder is all from part 1. Nothing new, so to shell out bucks for this crap is totally unreasonable. Don't waste your time unless you want to reminisce about previous entries. Thumbs down. Boo to you, Gorgon video!