Question: How, exactly, does Max die? When Machine rips the tape off his mouth, does he fall forward onto a blade of some type?
Question: Can someone please explain what a snuff film actually is? I've heard that they don't exist, and they are just a rumor, but can someone clarify all this?
Answer: A snuff film is a movie where someone is actually killed on film, where the intention is to sell the movie afterwards. There are several other instanses where people are shown murdered on film (news reports, the Zapruder film, dictatorships documenting executions, etc.), but if the purpose of making the movie is not commercial, it is not a geniune "snuff" film. FBI experts and other law agencies state that they have never seen a genuine "snuff", and that it is most likely just a rumor, especially since the concept of someone willingly selling evidence of their own crimes to strangers and remaining undetected for 30 years, is highly unlikely. See http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_258.html for more details.
Answer: Machine first rips off the tape then slits his throat with a knife he had hidden. If you put the movie in slow play, you will see what I mean.