Traces of Death- 9th Anniversary Collector's Edition [DVD] [2001] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

I discovered this series around the age of 14, footage of public beheadings, executions, deformed folk, car bombings, and grisly accidents from polluted third world sewers all over the world set to death metal/gore grind music. This, a bag of herbs and some unsuspecting victims fooled into watching a "horror movie" made the perfect Friday night. I actually videotaped one of my friends vomiting to part 3. Make no mistake, this is for sociopaths and sickoids only (yes I am one). The narrator "brain damage" cracks jokes at dying people on the screen while death metal blares out of the speakers, the exact opposite of Faces of Death which fakes a somber respectful tone throughout. This is lowbrow gutter entertainment for throwbacks, ogres and total degenerates. If you find this stuff idiotic you are probably better than I, if you like this kind of stuff you don't even need to be reading this. This set is WAY overpriced.

No movie about Death can compare to this series.
Death in its most frightening form!!! Animals, children and all life are dead or die in this series!!! This series is so shocking it will have you asking... "Why am I watching a movie like this?" When you think it can't disturb you further it upsets you more.

AH HA!!! Grabbed your attention didn't I?
I must have if you're reading this review and if you keep reading you just might learn something that can save your life in the long run. I don't know what else to say about Traces of Death but it is the most supremely shocking, graphic and frightening collection of death from around the world that I have ever seen.

The Product:

This DVD set has been digitally remastered and contains all 4 previous releases and features the latest additions only available inside this box set including Traces of Death Part V Back in Action.: Traces of Death parts 1-5 are in color and in black/white; has an approximate total running time, (including the extra features), of 8 hrs & 20 min. (Price varies from seller to seller.) Each disc has its own special features: bonus footage, bonus interview with the producer Darron Fox and animated scene selection. It comes in a cardboard box, each disc in its own separate case including the original cover art for each one. On the back of each is a brief description of what one will find in the DVD. Parts 1-5 have bonus features and interviews that are broken down in segments for each individual disc. This is fine for the bonus footage but makes it a real pain to watch the most eagerly awaited feature: The final reveal and interview with Darron Fox. In my book that is the best thing this set actually has to offer. It finally gives you some closure to his motivations behind the series and some good explanations of scenes previously speculated on.

Traces of Death has a lot of actual vintage footage included, and this time we are treated to a different kind of sound track instead of the usual spooky tracks. Producer Darron Fox attempts to upset his viewers further by uniquely placing Death Metal music in the background from such bands as Unleashed, Morgoth, Grave, Asphyx and many more!!! This is absolutely perfect because this genre of music is so fitting for a shockumentary and something I have not heard before the Traces of Death series. There is a lot of footage on these DVD,s that I have never seen before on T.V or in other shocumentary's and nothing is explained in detail in this series... It will take your conscience to the highest peak of inhumanity and leave it with no one to help "talk" you down.

What I know about Traces of Death:

Traces Of Death Box set Vol.I-V 9 Years of Hell, was released in 2003 and has became fairly well known since it's release. Traces of Death Part 1 It doesn't get any Deader than this! was originally released to the public in 1993, Part 2 It just got deader! (1994), part 3 Dead and Burried (1995) part 4 Resurected (1996) and part 5 Back in Action (2002) looks like it could have been filmed yesterday with crystal clear and up to date images and Live Video from around the globe.

Most versions were available to rent at your favorite neighborhood video store; they were the most controversial during that time as reality TV had not yet taken off when they originally became available. Shortly after 1990, a new kind of television show was introduced and became more popular than any other reality show of its kind, that show was and is called "COPS" and has been on the air ever since. Traces of Death may have paved the way and created new ground for the "caught on camera" craze that still exists to this day.

Traces of Death will show you the accident on the side of the road without you having to crane your neck to see if something brutal has happened (most of the time you see absolutely nothing and can cause a backup on the freeway and has the potential to cause even more accidents ) Many of us watch movies and television shows about the "traces of death" and for most of us we feel safe, by a impersonal illustration of killers and violence on the screen but if a man in a hockey mask would smash through your living room window (you know the one directly behind the couch that usually you watch stuff like this from?), I seriously doubt that you would continue to believe that it's all fake would you?

Is Traces of Death Staged?

Traces of Death makes it very clear about why most of us are so afraid of exploring the "traces of death" when you are suddenly painted into the picture. You will see what has already started to become shown more commonly now on the news and it is allot like what is seen in forensic shows on prime time T.V. (For real!) The "traces of death" are all around us and it is the one constant that we all must face at some point, so why face it now?

My professional opinion about Traces of Death is... It is what it is.

Anyone with the least bit of the human psyche is aware of the simple fact that we as humans will often gravitate towards that which we've been told "not to do." Quite simply to sum this up, realize before watching that death, although as natural as life, can very often carry itself out in a very brutal fashion. For the vast majority of those whom have NOT witnessed this, just be prepared. You have been warned, so be open for that which you've most likely never witnessed. A series which I hate so much I still can't help but understand the method to the madness.

just go to the maker's website to buy it; it's way cheaper. too bad I didn't find out until the order was placed and and seller wouldn't let me return it without some ridiculous amount of "restocking fee"

I realize writing a review about movies so disgusting as these only encourages sick S.O.B.'s to buy it, but I feel compelled nonetheless to weigh in on these DVDs in hopes that people with more compassion will avoid them. I went through a phase in my life where I was very curious about death. I have a heart condition and from a younger age was very familiar with my own mortality which caused and still causes a fear of death (because who knows when it is coming, especially when you have a serious health condition.) In an effort to deal with this fear I decided to watch movies depicting real deaths knowing full well that the deaths depicted on these "films" would be far worse than my death most likely would be (although who really knows, right?). I thought it would help me see death in it's most grizzly forms therefore making me see it at it's worst, with the thought in mind that if my heart gave out right now, it would be nowhere near as unpleasant. While that is true, this film did not alleviate any fears. It did shock and horrify me. I don't know what I really expected, but the site of someone shooting their self with a shot gun is not fun to watch and it is a far cry from entertaining. There are dead bodies in morgues, including children. There are infant autopsies. There are accidental electrocutions and people throwing themselves out of burning buildings as a last ditch attempt to live only to land so hard on concrete that their bodies bounce. In truth, I couldn't make it through even one of these films, although I tried to watch a few of them. I had to turn them off before they ended. Watching them I started to feel "tainted," it was one of those experiences I knew I would not forget. I have a much better understanding of how people who have witnessed grizzly deaths personally must feel and how psychologically scarring it must be. I only watched a movie and the images are burned into my mind never to be forgotten although I wish they were. How someone could watch these films and give them five stars and herald them as great horror films is beyond me and upset me enough to write this review. This is the first time I have written a review because I never felt compelled enough to voice my opinion. If by doing this I can get even one person to decide against purchasing this set, then I feel it was worth it. I wish Amazon had a no star option because this deserves that. Giving one star makes me angry, but I have to do that in order to post this review!I am proud of our country and it's freedom of expression, but I feel movies like these have no place in society and only encourage people to become more desensitized to violence and death. Please don't get me wrong, I love horror movies, they are my all-time favorite genre, but they are all staged and obviously fake. This set is horror in it's rawest form and it is nothing to be glorified for someone's sick entertainment.