Despite a considerable promotional push from IFC and Shudder, their ambitious reboot of Faces of Death struggled at the box-office.
All involved had high hopes for Faces of Death, with the film receiving IFC’s widest release to date. Debuting on 1600 screens, Faces of Death initially performed well, garnering almost $1 million during Thursday night previews.
However, interest soon fell away, and the film ultimately made only $600,000 more during its opening weekend.
With a final tally of $1.5 million, Faces of Death finished below its forecast $2 million opening. This is far below the movies rumoured budget of $7 million, without factoring in promotional costs.
Despite not performing well commercially, Faces of Death received generally positive reviews from critics. The general consensus is that the movie takes the original’s threadbare concept and weaves an effective serial killer thriller around it.
However, the reason for the commercial underperformance has been attributed to Faces of Death being a niche property. A video nasty plucked from the obscurity of the 1970s, critics have noted it wasn’t the property to base a modern movie on if IFC hoped for a profitable result.
So, despite IFC and Shudder having an incredibly profitable few years of late, it seems that Faces of Death has brought that to an end.
However, it’s entirely possible that the movie will find its audience on streaming and home media, so there’s still hope yet for Faces of Death.
