4. Traces of Death (1993)
A shockumentary which thrives on misery and death, Traces of Death makes its obvious inspiration, the notorious original Faces of Death (which coincidentally had a ban slapped on it by the BBFC) look like the world's cuddliest film. It parades for the viewer a horrifying cavalcade of real life death including the notorious R Budd Dwyer on-air suicide and the demise of actor Vic Morrow and two kids when a helicopter fell on top of them during the making of Twilight Zone: The Movie. There is also footage of dead children and babies, a man flattened by a bus, the shelling of a Serbian marketplace that killed almost 100 people. The film also has the temerity to pinch the 'Pit Dernitz gets eaten alive by lions' footage from the 1975 Mondo Movie - Savage Man, Savage Beast. The film is banned in Britain after the BBFC couldn't find any artistic merit in it (yes, that old gem of an excuse). They also said that there was no journalistic merit behind the film (usually Mondo Movies/Shockumentaries try to provide a context to the footage they are using - however flimsy). The film just exists to pander to the lowest common denominator - the desire to witness real life death. And this could never be condoned by the censors.