The phrase comes from the French version of Faces of Death, the 1978 mondo film presented as a documentary investigation into death and the human body, with narration by Francis B. Gross. The French release, known as Face à la mort, helped the film reach a wider European audience, and short dubbed narration clips like this one later circulated online among horror fans and meme editors. Its lasting appeal comes from that documentary framing, which lets creators borrow a serious, archival voice for dark jokes and unsettling edits today.