I watched this originally at the local drive-in back in 1978, a few months after getting my driver's license. I have just watched it again and cannot believe how naive we all were back then. I watched the Blu- ray version and the majority of the actual footage looks to have been shot on Super 8 or 16mm film and is of very poor quality. What remains is not even worthy of a weak medical documentary. Far too much of the film, although gory, is obviously fake and set up, although they tried pretty hard with the heavy handed and not so subtle editing. Today's kids will easily see it for what it is, a poor exploitation flick. Not worth viewing now, except for perhaps nostalgic reasons.

Yes, I was one of those lucky kids that had older "friends" who loved to experiment with the quality control stages & the psyche of a naive, fertile mind. Yikes! I think I managed to survive such torture, for the most part. As to whether these films contain actual footage and are 100% authentic? Well, I can only say that as a child, EVERYTHING looks to be, and is, REAL! However, a seasoned gore watcher will separate what is fact and/or fiction. Either way, you are in for some major "gross-out" time and I would advise you to stick to light snacking, especially for the more stomach sensitive viewers out there! This debut film (of a five-part series, respectively) is still one of my guilty pleasures, although it still gives me the chills even thinking about it! The narrator's voice keeps you frozen to your seat as the visual bombardment varies from mildly disturbing to extremely gruesome. Throughout the entire film, the viewer will be forcefully reminded as to how there is just something quite so unnatural, and tragic, to see the dead in their various stages of decomposition mostly due to A.) natural causes; or B.) horrific, freak accidents.

The only thing on film worse then FOD is Death Bed The Bed That Eats. In another user's review FOD is referred to as tripe,couldn't agree more. Oh how I tease my roommate for watching this a week ago and believing it was all real. So why is FOD bad? Oh let the count thy reasons 1. Police shootout scene -there is no recoil when they fire. 2. Restaurant scene-dude places money in the belly dancers waste,umm she's not a stripper. 3. The Morgue-most if not all the bodies are badly decomposing and only half covered with sheets. I highly doubt The L.A. county Corners office is that sloppy and disrespectful to the deceased. I can keep going but you get my drift. Now maybe its because I'm a crime buff but I've seen episodes of A&E's American Justice with much more distributing footage then this terrible film. I can't lie however when I say I didn't watch this movie for the same reasons as everyone else and that of course being the "shock value". It's certainly no surprise to me that to date FOD has made profits to then tune of $35,000,000.

Faces of Death, that's a movie that needs no introduction. After the Mondo Cain franchise it was time to bring something new, a film concerning death. In those days it was easy to get news footage or real footage. You just contacted the news station and for a few bucks you could get a box full of nasty footage. That's what the people behind FOD did. I must say, some scene's are really disgusting, especially the animal cruelty. Some other shots will make you look in other directions than the television screen. The people with money, Chinese behind the project, dared the makers to give 'more death' as they stated. So after a while they gave us death. Some parts are a bit boring or are out of date, the electrocution is boring but still the flick works. It delivered us a franchise and a lot of rip offs but the funny part is the fact that if you buy the Blu-Ray version you will have some explanation about the movie and I must admit, it's as shocking as the film itself.