CamfilmmakersIsa MazzeiandDaniel Goldhaberare set to respectively write and direct a reboot of the grisly cult movieFaces of Deathfor Legendary Entertainment.
According tothe Hollywood Reporter, Legendary has acquired the rights to the faux-documentary with the goal of launching a new horror franchise, albeit one that will hew closer to psychological thriller territory rather than go the gory slasher route.
First released theatrically in 1978, the original movie followed a pathologist examining various ways to die via gruesome footage from around the world. Thoughmost(!) of the death scenes were staged and faked by writer-directorJohn Allan Schwartz, the film still caused a stir and was banned in multiple countries, especially once it was released on VHS in the ’80s and word-of-mouth began to spread among gorehounds.Faces of Deathspawned numerous sequels as well as several imitators, and the original films remain in circulation thanks to Illinois-based distributor MPI.
To be honest, I wasn’t a big fan ofCam, giving the film just two out of four stars back in 2018, but I’d be lying if I didn’t like Goldhaber and Mazzei’s pitch here. Their version ofFaces of Deathwill follow a female moderator of a YouTube-like website whose job is to weed out offensive and violent content. She’s recovering from a serious trauma of her own when she stumbles upon a group dedicated to recreating the murders from the original film. The shocking discovery prompts her to find out whether the murders are real or elaborate fakes, which have become all too common in the digital age.
RELATED:Isa Mazzei on Her Memoir ‘Camgirl,’ Normalizing Sex Work and Her Next Horror Movies
Susan MontfordandDon Murphywill produce under their Angry Films banner, whileRick Benattarof BT Productions will serve as an executive producer andCory Kaplanwill serve as a co-producer.John Burrud, who produced the originalFaces of Deathmovies, will also be involved with Legendary’s reboot.
Legendary recently producedGodzilla vs. Kong, which has performed well at the box office despite its simultaneous debut on HBO Max, and the company is currently in post-production onTexas Chainsaw Begins, which is a new entry in the iconic horror franchise.
Camwas inspired by some of Mazzei’s own experiences as an online camgirl, andthe Netflix film caught the eyeof Quibi execs, who hired her and Goldhaber to work on the horror anthology50 States of Fright. I can’t say I gave that one a look – vertically or horizontally – but seeing as theCamfilmmakers were surrounded by veteran genre storytellers on that show, I imagine they learned something valuable from the experience and will apply that knowledge to their sophomore feature.
KEEP READING:First Poster for the New ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ Movie Reveals a Terrifying Leatherface
