Faces of Death at Forty

If you were a teen in the early 80s, you'll certainly recognize this:



Though it pales in comparison to what you can see today by popping over to YouTube, at the time this video was edgy and cool... and "forbidden." You'd send the oldest-looking teenager into the video store to rent it, or perhaps stack it in the middle of a half-dozen other cassettes you were renting for the weekend VHS party, (yeah, those were a thing), hoping the clerk wouldn't notice that you were trying to get out the door with such a storied piece of cultural zeitgeist and embarrass you by pulling it away in front of all the other customers. Horror!

Of course most of the film was fake. Even as kids we could figure that out. But it still held an allure, because when other kids talked about a scene, you had to be able to converse with first-hand knowledge or risk being exiled to the square corner. "What, you haven't seen it?! You're such a church dork."

Online magazine We Are the Mutants has published a 40 year retrospective of the film. If you remember watching it, you'll find the article charmingly nostalgic, recalling a more innocent era huddling in a dark living room with your friends after the host's parents had gone to bed, consuming too much soda and Doritos while thrilling at this "illicit" experience you and your friends were secretly enjoying. If it was all before your time, on the other hand, you'll probably wonder what all the fuss was about. Either way, it's a fond tribute to a strange piece of pre-internet subculture.