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Traces of Death

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Traces of Death
VHS cover
Written byDamon Fox
Based onFaces of Death
Narrated byDamon Fox
Edited by
  • Studio D
  • Dennis Deroche
Production
companies
  • Dead Alive Productions
  • Foxx Entertainment Enterprises
Distributed byBrain Damage Films
Release date
  • April 20, 1993 (1993-04-20)
Running time
76 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Traces of Death is a 1993 American mondo film that consists of various scenes of stock footage depicting death and real scenes of violence.

Unlike the earlier Faces of Death which usually included fake deaths and reenactments, Traces consists mostly of actual footage depicting death and injury, and consists also of public domain footage from other films. It was written and narrated by Damon Fox.

Since its release, Traces of Death has been followed by four sequels. The first sequel, Traces of Death II, was released in June 1994. This was followed by Traces of Death III in December 1994, Traces of Death IV: Resurrected in 1996, and Traces of Death V: Back in Action in April 2000.

Film content

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In the first two films of the series, Damon Fox was the narrator. Darrin Ramage, who would later become the founder of Brain Damage Films, would become the host for the third, fourth and fifth volumes. Unlike Faces of Death, the footage throughout the entire films are real and are not staged or reenacted. Starting with Traces of Death II, scenes were accompanied by background music from death metal and grindcore bands.[1]

In Traces of Death, some notable scenes are included in the film, the murder of Maritza Martin,[2] the Iranian Embassy siege in London,[2] the suicide of Pennsylvania treasurer R. Budd Dwyer,[2] and the archive footage of the evidence of Ilse Koch.[2]

Also contained in the series, especially in the first one, is footage of step-by-step autopsy procedures, which are shown from a coroner's point of view. Most of the other footage is recognizably notable. Among the footage samples seen on Traces of Death and in the sequels that followed are listed below.

Traces of Death (1993)

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The first film of the series also contains allegedly staged footage from Savage Man Savage Beast, where a tourist, Pit Dernitz, supposedly gets mauled and eaten by African lions.

Other scenes that feature animals include undated footage of a pig experiment by military scientists at the Burn Center in Fort Sam Houston (derived from a 1987 mondo film entitled True Gore), an animal control officer, Florence Crowell, being attacked by a pit bull in Los Angeles, California in 1987, and a black bear getting shocked off a utility pole in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1989.

The first two films both contain scenes of sex reassignment surgery, which is featured in the 1974 mondo film Shocking Asia. Some autopsy footages were taken from the 1961 U.S. Army training film Basic Autopsy Procedure.

Also included is an interview with James Vance,[4] who had attempted suicide with a shotgun at a church playground in Sparks, Nevada (taken from the documentary Dream Deceivers).

The only known footage showing evidence of Ilse Koch is included as well.

Traces of Death II (1994)

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There is one unusual piece of footage taken at a monster truck show in Baltimore, Maryland on March 23, 1992. What makes this footage so unusual is that the robot transformer at the show malfunctioned. A large rod from the malfunctioning robot went into the actor of the alien suit's chest, and exploded.

Another notable air show crash in the film took place in Plainview, Texas on September 11, 1983, where the pilot lost both his plane's wings in mid-air and plummeted into the field below. There are many other various plane crashes and race car crashes during the middle and towards the end of the film.

Traces of Death III (1995)

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The third edition starts with crime scenes in urban American cities such as New York City, ranging from murders to traffic crashes. These pieces look as if taken from the 1960s and 1970s.

This volume also shows what it is like to survive an attack, as in a 1991 press conference of Frank Tempest, an English man disfigured in the face when he was attacked by two pit bulls.[10]

Also included is graphic content of gang violence in Russia, various motocross and amateur race car crashes, and cockfighting held in the Philippines.

Traces of Death IV: Resurrected (1996)

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  • The 1972 assassination attempt of George Wallace
  • The stunt accident of Alexandre Kareem
  • The 1992 Agdam Massacre, which was a massacre of Azerbaijanian civilians by Armenian militants during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.
  • Executions of Kurdish civilians during the Anfal Genocide
  • A terrorist attack on a yacht perpetrated by the PLO in Cyprus in 1985.
  • The Amiriyah shelter bombing.
  • The 1968 execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém
  • Riots in Seoul, South Korea in 1994 and 1987.
  • Riots in Moscow, Russia, in 1993
  • Bosnian soldiers caught in sniper crossfire during the Bosnian War
  • The 1984 Kent and Dollar Farm massacres
  • A 1986 stabbing attack in East Jerusalem, where a Palestinian terrorist is shot in the head by Israeli soldiers after they witnessed him stab a Jewish resident to death in the town square.
  • A mortar attack in Bosnia that killed six people waiting for water in 1993.
  • A mortar attack in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia) that killed 16 civilians in line for water and bread on May 27, 1992.
  • Villager killings during the 1984 elections in El Salvador

Another piece of notable footage in the fourth volume is a moose killing a man in Anchorage, Alaska on January 9, 1995.[11]

Towards the start of the film graphic photographs of birth defects are shown.

There is also footage of traffic crashes from the graphic driving education film, Signal 30.

Traces of Death V: Back in Action (2000)

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The last volume starts with three police chases. The first was in Los Angeles in June 1996. The second was also in Los Angeles, but it took place in June 1995. The third took place in Whittier, California in September 1995. All were televised live by helicopter pilot Zoey Tur.

Soundtrack

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The soundtrack for the Traces of Death, were tracks by J. R. Bookwalter from the 1989 film Robot Ninja.[2] Later in Traces of Death III, the first soundtrack album was released on CD.

Traces of Death III Soundtrack

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The soundtrack for Traces Of Death III was released on CD by Relapse Records in 1995.[12] The music featured in the film include:

  1. "Regina Confessorum" by Dead World
  2. "Orgy Of Self-Mutilation" by Dead World
  3. "Brainpan Blues" by Pungent Stench
  4. "Revenge" by Core
  5. "Traces Of Death" by Mortician
  6. "Frozen In Time" by Kataklysm
  7. "Slaughtered" by Hypocrisy
  8. "Stained" by Purge
  9. "Sadistic Intent" by Sinister
  10. "Violent Generation" by Brutality
  11. "Skin Her Alive" by Dismember
  12. "Into The Bizarre" by Deceased
  13. "Low" by Gorefest
  14. "Vanished" by Meshuggah
  15. "Open Season" by Exit-13
  16. "Nightstalker" by Macabre
  17. "Blood Everywhere" by Dead World
  18. "Down On Whores" by Benediction
  19. "God Is A Lie" by Hypocrisy
  20. "Bodily Dismemberment" by Repulsion
  21. "Darkened Soul" by Core
  22. "I Lead You Towards Glorious Times" by Merzbow

Controversy

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The original Traces of Death has run into controversy worldwide due to its graphic content.

In 1997, Amy Hochberg, a woman living in Coaldale, Pennsylvania rented the film from a video store and was so disgusted by the film's content that she considered keeping the tape to prevent children from procuring it from the store. She also contacted multiple animal rights groups after witnessing a scene in the film wherein a pig is experimented on with a blowtorch.[2] She also lodged a complaint with the video store she had rented it from, as she thought the film was simply "911 calls with a little more".[13]

In June 2005, the British Board of Film Classification refused to give the first film an age certificate, effectively banning it. The BBFC considered the film to have "no journalistic, educational or other justifying context for the images shown", while also suggesting that the film could potentially breach UK law under the Obscene Publications Act.[14]

References

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  1. ^ Kerekes & Slater 1995, pp. 161.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Kerekes & Slater 1995, pp. 160.
  3. ^ Anderson, Ric (2017-12-26). "50 years of facts and fiction: A look back at Evel Knievel's jump at Caesars". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  4. ^ "Man Who Sued Rock Group Over Suicide Attempt Dies". Los Angeles Times. 1988-12-01. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
  5. ^ "Officials Probe Separate Bombs For Possible Link". apnews.com. August 17, 1985. Archived from the original on 2023-05-10.
  6. ^ Rodríguez, Gonzalo (1983-07-23). "Un atracador muere en León al estallarle la bomba que llevaba". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
  7. ^ "Guerrillas Surrender in Ankara". Washington Post. 2023-12-22. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  8. ^ "Lebanese justice resumes with hanging at dawn". UPI. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
  9. ^ "El macabro caso de Mark Kilroy, el estadounidense secuestrado en México por los 'Narcosatánicos'". La Razón (in Spanish). 2023-07-13. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  10. ^ "Whatever happened to Dangerous dogs?". The Independent. 1996-10-25. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
  11. ^ "Campus's Killer Moose Destroyed in Alaska". The New York Times. 1995-01-15. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
  12. ^ Various - Traces Of Death III Dead And Buried, 1995, retrieved 2022-08-14
  13. ^ "Horror videotape goes too far for viewer – movie rental in Lansford spurs woman to bring complaint to Attorney General's office". The Morning Call. 4 March 1997. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  14. ^ Petley 2011, p. 189.

Further reading

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