Lost Media: Traces of Death
Mondo Cane may not have been the first of the genre - but it laid the groundwork for all titles to come. Released in 1962, its title which translates to “Dog World” in English would be fundamental in inspiring almost all others who would work within this genre. The film was a collage of shocking images, of which exposure was a rarity up until this point. The curiosity for violence and gore would only grow as time went on.
In 1978 the next big thing in Mondo would be released to massive success. Faces of Death was presented as an actual documentary showing grotesque deaths and extreme practices of depravity. However, all of the original footage in this film had been faked for the screen - the exception being news footage licensed out by the directors to blend the lines between what was reality and what was staged. The success of this film led to numerous sequels, and would eventually inspire an even more notorious franchise.
If Mondo Cane helped kick off the genre and Faces of Death added fuel to the fire, Traces of Death was the gust of wind that whipped the bushfire into an inferno. Released in 1993, Traces of Death pushed all the staged footage aside to showcase nothing but the horrors truly only possible in reality.
While it would go on to spawn its own sequels, the first Traces of Death stands as one of the most important shockumentaries of all time - inspiring countless others to curate and create their own films of true gore.
Traces of Death: The Directors Cut on VHS. DIR. CUT is stamped over the label.
The Directors Cut of Traces of Death in our archive is currently the only known copy of this rare edition of the film. Given to a person who had helped provide footage for the film during the mixtape era of the 90’s, it is a very rare piece of lost media which has yet to be released anywhere. This original VHS, its notable variance from others being a simple stamp which states “DIR. CUT” over the label. It contains two scenes which were removed from the final release of the classic shockumentary.
Sleeve for the tape, which has no notable variances from the final release.
The first scene is sourced from the film Despair by SPK. Despair is “an Infamous underground film made by pioneering Australian industrial band S.P.K. that is part music video, part mondo/death film and part live performance.” The scene in question can be viewed at the 45:52 mark of Despair. The runtime is condensed to 1:27 for its inclusion in Traces of Death.
This scene was widely considered the most notorious of the film, however it has been hinted by Dominik Guerin of SPK that it had been faked with plasticine. The truth of this footage’s authenticity seems to be lost to history.
This scene was removed from the final release of Traces of Death for one of three reasons. At request of SPK, because assuming the footage is real it was deemed too shocking, or because it was thought by the director of Traces of Death to be fake and did not suit the philosophy of his film.
The second scene has a runtime of 5:21. It shows extreme BDSM torture of a man by Ann Murray. Murray was a notorious dominatrix and fetish film-maker, who faced obscenity charges for her work. This footage was presumably removed for its explicit sexual content, or to avoid legal repercussions as Murray had been arrested in the past for her films. The exact source that this footage came from however is unknown.
This director's cut tape also contains the text “For Promotional Purposes Only. Not For Sale or Rental” along the bottom of the screen for the film’s duration. These three factors are it’s only variance from the final cut.
Left: Screenshot from the Despair segment. Right: Screenshot from the Ann Murray segment.
Document hand signed by Budd Dwyer. Footage of Dwyer’s suicide is one of the most well known scenes featured in Traces of Death.
Document signed by Budd Dwyer can be purchased HERE.
