Customer Reviews

Pieces

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

NO SPOILERS IN ANY WAY! (which would be easy to do by accident here)
I can't even begin to express the excitement I'm feeling, sitting here right now salivating over an Official DVD release of one of my favorite Genre pictures of all time!!! Juan Piquer Simon's PIECES!!!! If you understand as well as have any appreciation for the "Golden age of Gore" films (raw horror movies made between 1981 to 1986) or as what they refer to them now as "Grindhouse Films" this is a MUST OWN. The only print of this wonderfully little sleazy gorefest that has EVER been available was a BADLY TRANFERRED, washed-out and badly side-cropped fullscreen print (Depending on which label was on the VHS you could tell which "side" the film was centered towards in order to avoid showing the "decapitation in the grass" aftermath.BUT, I still get great joy out of even for all it flaws) that's been on DVD for all these years in public domain. This is time to rejoice!!!!
THE FILM: PIECES
Opening in a flashback with what (at the time, and still is) was one of the most taboo, brutalistic & disturbing axe murders ever shot, the movie quickly leaps to the "present" and follows a "typical" Italian (even though it's Spanish)Giallo style approach, with Sexy female college co-eds getting slaughtered on campus by a black gloved killer who likes to keep "trophies" from each girl (Chainsaws are the killer's fave instrument of destruction). Christopher George and wife Linda Day-George co-star as the stereotype, hardboiled gumshoe and the sexy, sweet undercover cop who starts teaching tennis on campus in order to investigate while remaining under the radar of the killer. (Hopefully.....)
The movie is FILLED with GREAT kills, beautiful college girls in various states of undress, hystericaly campy one moment and then sucker punches you the next, Dubbing that's so bad at times it actually ADDS to the fun experience, some lines that you can't help but laugh hysterically at ("BAAAAASTARD!!! BAAAAASTARD!!!"LOL) and quote for days, a few good red-herrings to try and keep you on your toes and a reveal and twist ending that most will have probably figured out by the halfway point, but it stays fun and keeps your attention very easily. There's also the wonderful, surprise at the ending that will have men cringing and women laughing for hours, but will have you thinking "Friday the 13th pt 1".
Not a big budget movie. But not a stinker in the cinematography dpt either. The camera is used effectively and the musical score is at times quite creepy & unnerving and REALLY creates some tense moements,reminding you at times of Fabio Frizzi or Goblin with it's 80's synth pulsing rhythmic themes. The scare stabs sound need to be noted as well. Ranking up there with the "ratchet noise" from the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Don't expect 2008 big budget/studio quality here folks. Picture yourself at the filthiest, darkest, scariest movie theater in Manhattan at midnight, with sticky floors and all strangers around you. THAT was the environment you had to go to in order to view this slice of sleaze cinema. It's nasty. It's dark. It's an original taboo breaker. It's gore was not only realistic, but carried impact as well. It actually contains a well thought out "who's doing it?!" pace as the cops try to stop the killer from collecting another one of his "Pieces". A cool twist and completely fantastic double-shock ending, in the vein of the 1st two Friday the 13th film's cap it all off.
A great way to spend a saturday evening if double billed with "The Burning". Ahhhhh......My idea of a perfect night.

I have this as part of my Blood Bath compilation of movies for along time that was the only way you could get a copy of this. Pieces is a film you either love or hate. For the skeumish and the easly influenced this is not a good film to see. If you like limbs and other parts cut off and being used for a real Jigsaw puzzle that this film is for you. From the first few minutes to the last second of the film the blood really flys. Like all NASTY films of the time there is a bit of sleaze and sex, but mostly the butchers made this film bannd in the UK. The film starts with a gruesome scene of the killer as a young child butchering his mother after she caught him playing with a Nudy puzzle. Years later he now starts making a puzzle out of the flesh and body parts of women. Most people can't stand this movie because the acting is almost impossible to watch and other people argue that the rip off film Torso is much better. Most versions of this movie have terrible restoration problems, particurlly with the DVD looking like a VHS in which case my version does. Still if you like sick gory films it's worth a watch.

Back in the 40s, a woman scolds her son for putting together a jigsaw puzzle depicting a naked woman. Understandably the boy then hacks his mother into...pieces. Forty years later the killer is on a college campus, and he's determined to finish that jigsaw puzzle, but he's upped the ante and using real chicks. Why go on a killing spree forty years later when the puzzle could have easily been solved before then? Hell if I know, this is a slasher film. Maybe he's just sick of getting screwed on those jigsaw puzzles with the missing pieces they always seems to be selling at Goodwill. Using a chainsaw and clothed like a killer from an Italian giallo thriller, he goes about the campus collecting whatever body part is needed for the next piece. If you ask me, a chainsaw really isn't the most efficient tool for a slasher movie killer to use since there seem to be more cons than pros attached to them if you really think about it. It does get the job done and eliminates all that tiresome hacking with an ax or machete. A detective played by Christopher George(who everyone should recall played the reporter in Fulci's City of the Living Dead) is on the case and has difficulty...ahem.. piecing together the mystery. He enlists the help of a womanizing student and a tennis pro(a nice looking piece herself) to sift through the handful of suspects. One of them is the goofy maintenance man played by Paul Smith(the big dude who played the evil warden in Midnight Express), but it's obvious he isn't the killer considering how hard they try to make him look like the killer. The Dean and the anatomy professor are a little fishy too. So who is it?? The hell if I'm gonna tell you.
Pieces is a film that has all those ingredients all of us lovers of trashy slasher cinema love. It's got the nude chicks, the faceless killer, the snazzy soundtrack(which sounds quite a bit like Goblin at times) and gore. This is slasher movie that has a bit more gore in it than most of the other films of the time. That's probably because this wasn't done by a major studio like the Friday the 13th films, and probably wasn't under the microscope of the MPAA. It is a slasher film, but it has that killer with the black gloves and floppy hat that makes it also feel like a giallo. It also seems to have inspiration from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre(the chainsaw of course) and Blood Feast(the collecting of body parts from young women). I guess you could say that it's pieced together from other horror films. Grindhouse Releasing have put together another fine 2 disc package for this film, so it's worth the cash if you're thinking about buying it.
To anyone who hasn't seen it and is a fan of the 80s slasher genre, I'd highly recommend it.
Piece out.

Okay, so "Pieces" may not be "The Exorcist" of its generation, but it is still a classic for so many reasons. Long overdue, however, was an "official" release, and we have Grindhouse Releasing to thank for that. The Diamond Entertainment cut just did not do "Pieces" any justice.
What really made "Pieces" a classic was its "unintentional humor." For example, the lady police officer is attacked assaulted by a Kung Fu master, then the guy just stiffens up and drops unconscious to the ground... But when Kendall, the "hero," arrives, it's all well; it's his kung fu professor, after all. Everybody is laughing and smiling as he says "...must have been bad chop suey!" And can somebody PLEASE explain to me... What was up with the skateboarding girl? How did THAT fit into the movie? Did I miss something?
You can watch the uncut version, dubbed in English, or you can watch the original Spanish version, with a different soundtrack (and less hokey dialogue)... or you can watch the uncut version as it was played at the Vinehouse Theatre, and join in with the audience hooting and hollering at the dialogue. Even the interview with Paul Smith, who played the creepy custodian Willard, was very interesting. I had no idea that some of these European movies had dialogue taped in English, Spanish, or whatever language the actor(s) spoke.
In closing, this edition of "Pieces" is a must-have for collectors of horror.

Welcome again my lovers of horror, and for those that have been keeping up with my horror movie reviews. This time around, after having already reviewed "The Prowler" and "The Burning" I figure I might as well go back to the '80s for another forgotten fan-favorite of the slasher film subgenre known as "Pieces".

I came across this movie by coincidence online, and figured I might as well watch it since I had a good 90 minutes of free time. Now, having seen many slasher films, including all EIGHT (count 'em, EIGHT) of the original Friday the 13th films, and the previously mentioned "The Prowler" and "The Burning", I know my slasher-horror. So I know the feeling of half-satisfaction in my movie lover's gut isn't just indigestion...what we have here is a half-done slasher film.

Don't get me wrong, "Pieces" isn't a throwaway movie. There's a sufficient amount of stuff to enjoy here. We got:
-A considerable amount of blood and gore, necessary with basically any slasher film, so it does it's job there.
-Several cases of nudity, also an almost obligatory factor of slashers.
-An opening that grabs your attention, which is a great move on the director's and writer's side.
-A rather hilarious scene featuring one of the most stereotypical Asian guys I've ever seen... the accent, the martial arts skills, the attitude, it's priceless!
-An ending that makes you go OH SNAP!

So we do have plenty of good aspects about this movie, so what gives it the 3-star rating? Well I thought a lot of this movie moved at a rather slow pace. The characters all felt pretty stereotypical, and even though I love myself a good police story, the one presented here wasn't all that exciting. Save the investigative cops for the "Saw" series!

Well, that about wraps up this review. Overall, "Pieces" is not a bad movie by any means, but coming from a generation that brought us the Friday the 13th and Halloween films, it's been outshined pretty easily. Watch it if you're a slasher film lover and want to watch all the horror movies remembered in the hearts of us gorehounds! Thanks for the time, and peace. (or should I say...Pieces!)

I purchased this movie when it first came out and I am very pleased with my purchase. Picture and sound is great. I had an uncut version, but in full screen. The picture quality sucked tho as it looked like a VHS RIP. The sound wasn't all that to cheer about either. It was a Canadian release tho, I remember. Luckily, I got what I paid for it because I sold that version when I had preordered this one. Ditch all the fake bootleg versions. This is the best and only version to get. You will be pleasantly surprised with the picture and sound compared to the bootleg version.

...so spoke the announcer at the end of the televison commercial for this movie during it's theatrical release. It was spoken in that deadpan, matter-of-fact voice right after the memorable "You don't have to go to Texas for a chainsaw massacre" tagline.

Well, for THIS (at the time) twelve year old, that was like the old "drag the carrot on a string for Bugs Bunny" trick: I KNEW I HAD to see this one...I mean, the R-rated movies would let you in with your folks, but this one said "sorry kid, I don't care if your old man IS buying the ticket, you CAN'T see this"...but thanks to video rentals in the next couple of years, I WAS able to watch this what in MY mind was the Everest of horror movies.

Now, anyone perusing this movie or reading this review should likely understand that if the film's title is "Pieces", you really shouldn't expect master thespians nor outstanding cinematography nor pretty much anything ELSE in the level of technical or professional greatness.

However, for horror fim fans, there's a gold mine. You want blood? You got it. Dismemberment? Yeah, we got that too. Gratuitous nudity? Well of COURSE. Twisted (if somewhat predictable) plot? You betcha. From the opening sequence to the shocking (and almost physically painful) ending, you are grabbed and held...enough so to make you overlook the transparent story and largely pedestrian acting. The movie drags a bit in places, but never long enough for you to really fall out of the mindset.

And as all of us horror-philes know, bad acting is and of itself something to cherish...there's one line spoken by the second-banana police detective (Not the lovely Lynda Day, but the other, male detective...although Miss Day has a doozy of her own) that my friends and I STILL use to this day that was so over-the-top, so over-acted, that it continues to get a chuckle every time we hear it. I won't spoil it, but I'm willing to bet you'll know it when you hear it.

I'm not even going to get into the absolutely pointless but equally hilarious scene with the Asian professor...that you should experience for yourself.

I definitely recommend any horror, slasher, or exploitation flick fans to add this one to their collection...

...ah, but you'll only be admitted if you're over seventeen:)

Pieces is a movie you just have to love. On the surface, it looks like a laughably bad horror film relying on fairly graphic blood-letting for its appeal, a movie which gives us absolutely no character we can possibly like, not even the bad guy, and a film whose killer is easily identifiable early on. It is all of these things. Then you get to the ending, and suddenly the ghastly ordeal of sitting through ninety minutes of Pieces pays off with not just one but two dramatic moments guaranteed to make you laugh hysterically; before your very eyes, a bad movie transforms itself into a cult classic. This is powerful stuff indeed.

The trouble really starts forty years in the past when a little boy is quietly putting a puzzle together in his room, bothering no one at all. His mother comes in and goes ballistic, just because the puzzle happens to be one of a naked woman. Our future serial killer is rather upset about all this and decides to calm his mother down by chopping her up with an axe. You have to be impressed by the craftily evil potential of the kid, as he brilliantly sets himself up as horrible victim rather than sadistic mother-killer. His potential lies dormant for forty years, but eventually the nude woman puzzler lover in him reasserts itself. At his adult age, a cardboard puzzle just won't do. What he needs are real human pieces for his ultimate puzzle: a head, torso, arms, etc. Realizing that a college campus is a great place to meet girls, he sets out on a serial killing spree that leaves the local police department more and more dependent on an incredibly annoying student to crack the case. Young Kendall looks like a total dweeb to me, but the ladies seem to love him for some inexplicable reason. The police and college keep the murders hush hush somehow, although prudence would seem to dictate that you warn the public and have them on the lookout for a man carrying a chainsaw. I think the local police force could have used a little outside help on this one; the lead detective doesn't seem to do any real investigating, preferring to sit back and let young Kendall do his work for him. His assistant seems to exist just so the detective can keep asking him for a match for the unlit cigar he keeps in his mouth throughout the film.

There is a good bit of gore in Pieces; death by chainsaw can be pretty messy. For some reason, though, the excessive gore doesn't really have much shock value. A number of really weird plot points are thrown in at odd times, such as the kung fu fighter who shows up for no apparent reason and whose attack manages to leave his foe laughing. As I've said already, though, the ending of this film is what makes Pieces memorable. The movie ends with an unexpected, delightful little surprise, and then, to my initial disappointment, it keeps going. I thought the moviemakers were making a terrible mistake by not ending the movie when they should have, but I was soon surprised and thrilled by an even more unexpected and hilarious finish. Lovers of campy gory horror will get a big kick out of Pieces; it is a shining example of how to make a good "bad movie."

This movie is ahhhhmazing for the 1980's. I scored a copy of this, not the Grindhouse re-release (which I would looove to have!) for dirt cheap when I was trying vamp up my horror movie collection. A lot of people have never heard about this movie, and this little gem always gives me tons of kudos points when I show it to horror movie buffs. It has really good gore scenes, and tons of mutilation. I happen to fancy the beginning murder, and the shower murder in the girls locker room, that locker room one is my ULTIMATE FAVORITE! I'm usually not into 1980s horror films, but this gem has opened my eyes to the great campy fun of the 1980s. Those who are giving this movie a bad review are either gore haters, or are spoiled by modern technology that big budget horror movies produce these days. I am very picky with my horror movies, but hands down, this one delivers for any TRUE horror film buff.

If you like nasty real blood and guts show slashers then you owe it to yourself to seek this one out. The film is violent, silly, over the top, insane trash from start to finish. All the things that many sleazy horror pictures claim to be or wish to be and fall so far short of - that is what Pieces excels at. You won't even believe it when you are watching.

How did all these elements come together? I don't know but for anyone who enjoys real z grade, so bad it's surreal cinema buy your ticket now. Hop on for the ride because they really don't make em like this anymore. It's on the short list of the best trash films of all time. It honestly belongs alongside Plan 9 from Outer Space, Burial Ground, The Ghastly Ones, Bloody Pit of Horror, Nightmare City and The Incredibly Strange Creatures who stopped Living and became Mixed up zombies. If you like the pictures I just listed then find Pieces. It's a splatter house gem of the highest order. Lovers of buckets of blood and gallons of gore only need apply. Mind bending in it's outrageous awfulness you won't find any better (worse)