I wouldn't go so far as to say that I'm a huge fan of true gore videos, but I've seen a varied amount of them in my lifetime. Everything from the infamous Mondo films, Traces of Death, Executions and the granddaddy of them all Faces of Death. I thought I had seen it all and had considered myself to have a stomach of steel. Heck, I used to be able to eat a pizza while watching Traces of Death in my parent's basement in my younger days. Well, that was a long time ago and I feel I can easily say that I've met my match with the Faces of Gore videos from Astaroth Entertainment. I was literally feeling queasy about 2/3 into the first DVD, but somehow I managed to make it through both Faces of Gore 1 & 2. I'm giving fair warning, this is disturbing stuff here, and as far as I can tell 100% real. If just the thought of this turns you off in any way, do NOT read on.

Faces of Gore is hosted by a character named Dr. Vincent van Gore, a bizarre fella who spouts off one liners in a cemetery or lab before and after each of the segments present on each of these DVDs. Most of the footage from Faces of Gore comes from Japan and the film is split into 3 segments - CRASH, SUICIDE and MURDER. Footage ranges from the somewhat disturbing, to more disturbing than I ever could have imagined. CRASH features exactly what it suggests, victims of many types of crashes (mostly train and auto) while SUICIDE and MURDER feature footage of exactly what the titles suggest as well.

The first installment highlights (if you can even call them that) include heads split open with brains oozing out (sometimes the brains aren't anywhere near the heads they originated from) and in one gruesome moment, a pregnant woman burnt to a crisp with her charred unborn fetus visible. The SUICIDE segment mostly features many after the fact hangings and electrocutions. Particularly disturbing is a scene in which a man who hung himself is taken away as his wife and children look on in disbelief (reactions of onlookers always creep me out the most). The MURDER segment features a disturbing bit in which a cat is seen eating something at a murder scene and an "interview" with a "hit man." This is a bit that needs to be seen to be believed - someone has a REALLY sick sense of humor. The other MURDER highlight is a man who had been gutted by a bottle, now with his intestines everywhere but his stomach! The first installment is rounded out with some random disturbing news footage and a plug for another film from Astaroth Entertainment entitled The Necro Files.

Faces of Gore 2 is more of the same with a very similar layout to the first video. Dr. van Gore returns, this time he's a different fella, much more energetic and over the top. Highlights include the addition of people falling from high places (aftermath only) in the CRASH segment and a man caught in a printing press after an earthquake in the Philippines. The MURDER segment follows the trail of a mass murderer in the Philippines named Machete Joe. His victim tally numbered in the 30's and we're presented with footage of some of his selected victims. Apparently Joe liked to chomp down on his victim's vaginas and at one point even chomped down on an unborn fetus (footage of a fetus is included). The second installment is rounded off with another montage of mayhem as in the first.

Both videos feature an original score and story setup that is obviously a take on the X Files. We're presented with info about each scene including names, dates, times and specifics about the situation. How much of this is true and how much is made up is quite debatable. The narration is at times even more offensive than the footage itself, but the sarcastic tone leads me to believe that no harm was meant (I hope!). Footage is also enhanced by slurping, cracking and squishing sounds - while part 2 goes so far as to add fake sound bytes of people crying and shrieking! Part 2 is much more over the top than the first in its sarcastic tone, the whole affair is quite disturbing to say the least.

Quality of each of the DVDs is actually pretty impressive. Pulled from many different sources, footage ranges in quality (of course) but is always clear (perhaps too clear) and while all of the footage originated from video sources, I didn't notice and glitches. Despite the multiple video sources, picture remained quite sharp throughout, these are solid DVD transfers. The added audio is ALWAYS disturbing and always extremely clear as well.

While there aren't any extras, I doubt that I really could have stomached any more than what I was given. Faces of Gore 1 & 2 are easily two of the most disturbing real gore videos that I have ever seen. If you're a fan - these two DVDs come HIGHLY recommended. If you're not a fan, I seriously doubt that you would have read this far. This is sick stuff folks, but then again - there's an audience for just about every form of entertainment - isn't there?

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