Shudder’s Horror Remake Of 48-Year-Old Cult Classic Officially Lands Release Date

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I just heard the remake finally has a release date! The original 1978 film is still talked about today – it was seriously controversial for its time – and I’m really curious to see what director Danial Goldhaber has done with this updated version. I’m definitely going to check it out.

According to Variety, the remake of Faces of Death will hit theaters on April 10th. Shudder and Independent Film Company are distributing the horror film across North America, making it Independent Film Company’s biggest release yet.

The original movie caused a lot of controversy because people thought it showed actual deaths. While it did include real footage of people and animals dying – taken from archives – the most disturbing scenes were actually recreated for the film.

Despite largely negative reviews, the original Faces of Death achieved significant box office success, boosted by the surrounding rumors, and reportedly earned over $35 million worldwide.

Goldhaber’s remake will include a tech-focused spin with plenty of nods to the original, including leaning into the question of whether what is on screen is real or not. Read the synopsis below:

A content moderator named Barbie Ferreira, working for a large video platform, stumbles upon disturbing videos that seem to recreate scenes from the infamous documentary, Faces of Death. As she investigates, she’s left to question whether the violence she’s seeing is staged or actually happening live, in a world where it’s hard to know what’s real.

Alongside Alexa Demie, famous for her role in Euphoria, the new Faces of Death movie will also star Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things), Jermaine Fowler (The Blackening), singer Charli XCX, and Josie Totah (Saved by the Bell). The film’s script was co-written by Goldhaber and Isa Mazzei.

Faye’s Vision/Cover Images

This new film by Goldhaber continues a successful streak that includes Cam (2018) and How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022). Having written the script for Cam and produced How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Mazzei has a well-established working relationship with Goldhaber.

One of the biggest reasons the original Faces of Death became well-known was because people shared stories about its shocking content before the internet made that easy. It’s uncertain if the new version can achieve the same impact, particularly since many younger viewers won’t know about the first film. Producer Goldhaber told Variety that the filmmakers aimed to create a movie that would appeal to all ages.

As a fan, I think they really nailed it with this movie! They aimed to make something both longtime fans and people who just enjoy a good scare could love. It tackles some genuinely frightening real-life issues, but does it in a way that’s still super engaging and, honestly, really funny. It’s not just scary, it’s a fun ride!

We really wanted to create something that paid respect to the original film and the unique ‘mondo horror’ genre it came from. We were excited to make a widely-released horror movie about this style of filmmaking, but also wanted it to appeal to a larger audience without losing what makes ‘mondo horror’ special. Our goal was to introduce this kind of filmmaking to more people.

Shudder had a successful 2025, releasing popular films like Influencers, Good Boy, V/H/S Halloween, The Ugly Stepsister, and The Rule of Jenny Pen. IFC Films helped distribute Good Boy, which recently won an Astra Film Award for Best Performance by an animal actor.

The new version of Faces of Death will be in North American theaters soon, but it hasn’t been picked up for release in other countries yet. We might hear about international release dates soon, but for now, North American viewers don’t have much longer to wait.

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2026-02-04 21:29