Courtesy of IFC and Shudder

‘Faces of Death’ Remake Set for April Release by IFC and Shudder; Director Teases Using Real-Life Violence Like the Original ‘Within the Bounds of the Law’ (EXCLUSIVE)

04 Feb 2026, 16:00 by William Earl · Variety

“Faces of Death” is one of the most controversial films of all time, but a new version of it is set to come to theaters with a tech-savvy angle.

Independent Film Company and Shudder announced on Wednesday that they have acquired North American rights to the new “Faces of Death” film, which is set to be released theatrically on April 10. The film will be IFC’s widest release to date.

Written by Daniel Goldhaber and Isa Mazzei and directed by Goldhaber, the film is set to be a modern update on the original. The 1978 “Faces of Death” was a faux documentary that was long rumored to include footage of real-life deaths. While much of the footage was movie magic, there were moments that included real death. The real-life controversy ended up turning “Faces of Death” into a box office success, as well as a piece of Hollywood lore.

Goldhaber’s first feature was 2018’s well-received camgirl horror film “Cam,” which Mazzei scripted. He followed it up with 2022’s “How to Blow Up a Pipeline,” which Mazzei produced.

Barbie Ferreira (“Euphoria”), Dacre Montgomery (“Stranger Things”), Josie Totah (“Saved by the Bell”), Aaron Holliday (“Cocaine Bear”), Jermaine Fowler (“The Blackening”) and Charli XCX (“The Moment”) lead the cast of “Faces of Death.”

Per the film’s press release, “Faces of Death” continues “the exploration of the original film’s infamous ‘Is it real or not?’ conceit continues as a woman (Ferreira) working as a content moderator for a major video platform discovers what appears to be re-enactments of murders from the original film. In an online world where nothing can be trusted, she must determine whether the violence is fiction, or unfolding in real time.”

“Growing up in a video store culture there are vivid memories of being terrified to even touch the original ‘Faces of Death’ VHS box,” Mark Ward, RLJE’s chief acquisition officer, said in a statement. “That legend haunted a generation, and bringing that fear back to audiences now is both deeply personal and an exciting full-circle moment. We’re in awe of Daniel Goldhaber’s reimagining of ‘Faces of Death.’ His take is unsettling, timely, and provocative, and we can’t wait to unleash it in theaters everywhere this spring.”

“Faces of Death” is produced by Legendary Entertainment, Don Murphy and Susan Montford of Angry Films Entertainment, and Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath of Divide/Conquer. Mazzei, Derek Bishé and Rick Benattar are executive producers on the project. The deal was negotiated by Mark Ward on behalf of Independent Film Company and Shudder.

Showing their belief in the property, Murphy and Montford worked together under their genre and action-focused Angry Films banner for 16 years to get this project developed. Murphy has produced films such as “Natural Born Killers,” “Transformers,” “Real Steel” and “Splice,” while Montford, a writer and director, has also produced “Real Steel,” “Splice” and more.

“Having worked on ‘Faces of Death’ in its various incarnations for 16 years, we wanted to be certain we honored the IP with the right reimagining,” Murphy and Montford said in a statement. “We interviewed many emerging horror filmmakers and were immediately struck by Isa and Danny’s real-world-stakes approach, as well as their debut feature ‘Cam’ and its unsettling ‘Is it real or isn’t it?’ perspective.”

A teaser for the film was quietly released last week before it was pulled from YouTube; a bootleg version is now embedded below.

Goldhaber and Mazzei spoke with Variety to preview the film and how it will expand on the dark ideas of the original.

What was the inspiration behind remaking “Faces of Death”?

Goldhaber: We were approached by Legendary. They were interested in finding a contemporary take on “Faces of Death.” Simultaneously, Isa and I had been working on an idea about cycles of media violence online and content moderation. I had worked for a summer as a content moderator for a social media startup, and it had always seemed like a fruitful world to set a thriller or horror movie in. When Legendary came to us about “Faces,” we had this aha moment that we could marry these two concepts and also potentially be able to make a bigger studio horror movie. But the original is such an iconic movie, and it was a very cool opportunity to have, to be able to reimagine it for the present day.

Do you remember what your first time watching the original film?

Mazzei: I had not watched the film in its entirety until pretty recently, probably 2019. But I had seen moments from it circulating. I think everyone knows about the monkey moment, for example. So it was wild to piece together all of these pieces of media I had seen over the years and realize they were all from the same place. Talking to some of my friends who are older about growing up with this movie to me was really impactful, because I grew up on the internet and remember seeing some of the violent imagery that we grew up with, from LiveLeak and places like that, and realizing that every generation has this relationship to violent imagery.

Goldhaber: I think it was the very slight generational difference. We’re 34, 35, but people who are five, six years older, they first saw “Faces of Death” on VHS. I first saw them on eBaum’s World. There was a time when if you wanted to see gruesome images of people dying, you had to rent the tape. Now it’s something you can accidentally see on your phone while you’re ordering a coffee. That feels like quite a significant shift in our relationship to violent imagery. There was a time when these were among the most cursed images imaginable, and now they’re images that some of the largest corporations on earth are profiting off of on a daily basis, and that advertisers are making money off of. That feels like a really significant shift and a very fruitful starting place for a movie.

Many people believed much of the footage in the original film was real. Given that you’re making a contemporary film, was it difficult knowing that you wouldn’t be able to depend on that word of mouth?

Goldhaber: We came up with a solution to that problem that required a lot of legal and logistical footwork. It’s very important to us to honor the parts of that aspect of the original. We have done our best in the movie to do that within the bounds of the law.

What did the reaction to “Cam” teach you about people interacting with what they’re seeing online?

Mazzei: When we’re portraying the internet, it’s always important for us to be realistic. We want to incorporate people’s actual relationships to the internet, how we use it, how we feel about it and how we interact with it. That’s why we use real platforms and content when possible. That wasn’t any different here. Our relationship to social media, like Danny said … I can be standing in line for a coffee, scrolling my phone, and be confronted with something incredibly graphic and incredibly violent. Then I scroll immediately down and there’s a thirst trap from my friend, and then an advertisement for beautiful bedding. I think this disjointed and almost dissociative relationship to the violence that we see every day on our phones is something we are all experiencing in real time. We really wanted to incorporate how that feels in the film and how it feels to be a viewer of that and not understand how viewing it is impacting the culture.

The cast is pretty starry, considering the original “Faces of Death” wasn’t filled with known actors. What kind of conversations did you have with the cast about your vision of this movie?

Goldhaber: Some of that will be revealed later, especially when it comes to Dacre and what our initial conversations around his relationship to the subject matter of the film are. But with Barbie, the movie is set in the world of content moderation, and we really wanted to work with a lead actor who felt like they had a very authentic relationship to the subject matter. Barbie is somebody who has been extremely online since she was young and has a lot of her own experiences with the horror of being online in a number of ways. So we initially bonded over that and the sick fascination with the things that you can find in the bowels of the internet. But also, we were very excited to work with two people who felt like they were real generational talents who had not really had an opportunity to shine. I think they both really do in incredible ways in this movie.

How would you pitch this film both to audiences who don’t know the original film, as well as diehard fans?

Goldhaber: We wanted to make a film that would appeal as much to hardcore fans of the original as it would to somebody who is a more casual horror filmgoer. The movie deals with real-world horrors in a way that’s still very elevated and entertaining, and it’s also very funny. It was really important to make something that honors the original, honors the mondo horror world that the original comes from. Part of what was exciting to us was to be able to make a wide release horror movie that’s about mondo horror and services that, but in a way that won’t alienate a broader audience, that can bring that kind of filmmaking to a broader audience without diluting it.

Watch the “Faces of Death” teaser below.