FACES OF SNUFF Shane Ryan (2016); DVD
$38.00
FACES OF SNUFF Shane Ryan (2016); DVD
Shockumentary/Underground/Gore DVD, New
The title serves it up without the need for dressing. “Faces of Snuff” couples elements of the death documentary/mondo film (with an obvious nod to the notorious “Faces of Death” series) with the faux snuff/found footage genre that has grown into an epidemic over the last couple of decades (epitomised by the “August Underground” series). No fewer than twenty directors from around the globe contributed to this 136-minute anthology film – and in an attempt to lend credence to the tagline ‘Dozens of “snuff” films. Which ones are real?’, nobody is credited onscreen. This sense of unknown origins – amplified by the almost complete lack of production credits – is embellished by the lo-fi, spontaneous, homemade quality of the footage, shot on various formats and incorporating onscreen dates that go as far back as the early 80s. Grainy film stock, screen static, sound design reduced to nothing but the whirring of a projector – these elements echo representations of snuff in earlier grindhouse and mainstream films like the controversial “Snuff” (1975) and Paul Schrader’s “Hardcore” (1979). This is perhaps most effective at the climax of the film, which features the bulk of a faux snuff film called “Captains Pride Volume 33” – an American short which has been in circulation for years but whose origins remain anonymous.
