Charli XCX to star in new Faces Of Death movie
The unlikely "reimagining" of the infamous 1978 film is being directed by How To Blow Up A Pipeline's Daniel Goldhaber
Aux News Charli XCX
Is there a more classic career path in Hollywood than the Angry Birds Movie to Faces Of Death pipeline? And yet, here we are, treading that old familiar territory yet again: Music star Charli XCX has apparently signed on to star in a new film version of the infamous faux-documentary horror film.
This is per Pitchfork, which reports that the artist—whose previous forays into acting have mostly been confined to the voice recording booth, including an appearance as a particularly laid-back Angry Bird—will apparently co-star in the “reimagining” of John Alan Schwartz’s infamous 1978 film. Said movie (and its numerous sequels) remain massively controversial more than 40 years later, thanks to Schwartz’s use of actual newsreel footage of people’s deaths, mixed in with faked footage shot for the movie. (They were also massively profitable, with the first film making something like $35 million off of a sub-$1 million budget.)
Legendary Entertainment is handling the new movie, having tapped Daniel Goldhaber—currently drawing strong reviews for his ecoterrorism thriller How To Blow Up A Pipeline—to direct the film. In a statement, Goldhaber—who’s co-writing the movie with Isz Mazzei—said that, “Faces of Death was one of the first viral video tapes, and we are so lucky to be able to use it as a jumping off point for this exploration of cycles of violence and the way they perpetuate themselves online,” which suggests that, at the very least, the new movie will be a thoughtful exploration of exploitation cinema, rather than just a rote recreation of it.
Charli XCX joins a cast that includes recent Euphoria escapee Barbie Ferreira, plus Stranger Things star Dacre Montgomery. Per The Wrap, the film is apparently already shooting down in New Orleans.
22 Comments
No. Just no.
She’ll be great.
True story: once, when I was high as fuck, I decided Ms. XCX blamed it on my love. And I was like, “WTFudge? How does this crazy ***** even know I love her?”Needless to say, I am still trying to figure it out.
What?
I don’t care
Huh.Faces of Death. Man that’s real old school. Although for some reason I always assumed it was from the 90s.
I was surprised it was from the 70’s as well, because I also largely associate it with the early 90’s where it’s reputation seemed ubiquitous. For some reason where I grew up it was popular with a particular breed of grimy skater kids.
Yup. I remember this and the Anarchist Cookbook being popular among my skater-adjacent crowd. Skater adjacent cause we hung out with the skaters on the social outskirts but spent way more time indoors and on the computer rather than outdoors getting bruises.
It was made in the 70s but I think it’s legend grew when movie rental places became wide spread and people could easily see it at home
Yeah I don’t think our Blockbuster carried it but there were a couple of indie stores that had copies. I think there were three or four of them in total, with diminishing returns. The people hitting a monkey over a head with a hammer and then eating its brains stayed with me.
ISIS beat them to it.
“Faces of Death was one of the first viral video tapes”That’s not a thing. It’s just yet another mondo movie that did ok in rental shops and spawned sequels.
So, not like The Ring?
I’m surprised Montgomery hasn’t gotten a superhero part or the like. He’s pretty charismatic on screen, and was good in both Stranger Things and that otherwise terrible Power Rangers movie.
Plenty of casting going on right now, especially over in the DC workshop. I wouldn’t mind seeing him in the Marvel X-Men. I think they might have fucked up Havok or got rid of him after having that guy who played MacGyver play him, but Havok was a much bigger player in the X-Men, Montgomery would fit the part pretty well
As an 80s kid I remember my “Faces of Death” phase. Hearing about it in hushed whispers. Finding a rental store that had it. Then finding a rental story that had it and also had no ethical issue with renting it to a preteen. Then watched it late at night during a sleep over and finding it mostly boring.
This was the path.
Yep, although some of them were hilarious. Like the skydiver who “landed” in the alligator park and the chase vehicle got there just in time to see him be eaten. But the newsreel stuff was pretty hideous, especially car accident aftermaths. I remember one cop or EMT scraping part of a person off the road and dropping it into a plastic bag after being hit by a bus crossing the street.
Budd Dwyer*shudder*
*
if shes doesnt literally die, nogo. oh wait, its not about the art, its about the money? then go do porn.
Always remember hearing friends go on about Faces of Death and how they’d watched it whilst on holiday with family in the US. It always sounded like some sort of “found footage” series that depicted actual real deaths.
I had to stare at that headline for a minute because I couldn’t imagine anyone in 2023 wanting to come near these movies with a 10-foot pole. I guess as long as it’s about the movies and not an attempt to run back something that really doesn’t need it.