Brutal terrorist group showcases their violence in glossy new video

By: CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom

(CNN) - A shocking and frightening new video produced and released by a terrorist group formerly associated with al Qaeda is showcasing horrific killing sprees in Iraq deliberately recorded on camera.

"The Clanging of the Swords” is a graphic and disturbing film made by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Running over an hour, it displays bombings, executions, kidnappings, beheadings and more.

Analysts say the video proves ISIS - a group so extreme that al Qaeda has disowned it - is becoming an even deadlier threat, and they wonder who is providing it with weapons, and the equipment needed to produce the videos.

"This is funded," says Nadia Oweidat, a Middle East Analyst. "This is geopolitics. There is money behind it. It's not just idiots; these idiots have somebody controlling them and providing them with equipment that is very expensive. You can't just get it in a cave."

A far cry from the grainy out-of-focus terrorism videos that have proliferated in the past decade, this one has glossy camerawork and high-level production techniques – as if these terrorists had taken cues from Hollywood movies like "The Hurt Locker" and "Zero Dark Thirty" in order to maximize the terror for viewers.

The opening shots are filmed using an aerial camera flying over Fallujah. Later, you see a brazen daytime raid on a small Iraqi Army base. Once the militants have taken it over, cameras enter the base and show the gruesome aftermath – numerous dead soldiers.

One frightening sequence shows ISIS fighters disguised as Iraqi soldiers setting up fake checkpoints, and looking for members of Iraq's military. One man, accused of just that, is hauled off and executed.

Another horrifying sequence shows a man literally being hunted down, chased by a car as he is shot at. Once shot and on the ground, he pleads for his life.

"I'm just a driver," he says repeatedly, "just a driver."

Then, the frame freezes and what appears to be the man's Iraqi Military ID is shown. It is an attempt by ISIS to prove to viewers the man is lying about being a civilian.

Right after that, sheer brutality, as a hail of bullets is shot into his back.

That's not the worst of it.

At one point, you see a raid on the home of a man accused of having worked with the United States to combat al Qaeda as a member of the Awakening Councils. He and his two sons are made to dig their own graves. A title card announces later they were all beheaded.

To judge from the video, ISIS's reign of terror is far from over – but experts say that's exactly the reason the group is producing such propaganda.

Oweidat, for one, is convinced the tactics will backfire in the long run.

"ISIS can only be beaten at their own game by showing their brutality – their propaganda is the only tool that can defeat them."