New To Blu: Pieces (1982)

Michelle reviews the 1982 horror film, Pieces.

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“The most beautiful thing in the world is smoking pot and fucking on a waterbed.” 

With this sort eloquent dialogue, you know that a film is going to turn out to be special. Pieces, an early eighties Spanish exploitation/slasher film, is home to many such hilarious lines and even more buckets of blood. They just don’t make ‘em like this anymore (and maybe that’s a good thing) but for a fan of shlock there is nothing better. The plot, what little there is, concerns a killer who stalks nubile young co-eds on a college campus and brutally hacks them to death with either a butcher knife or a chainsaw. He is trying to compile his own sexy lady out of all the different body parts he chops off. Dating was pretty hard before Tinder was invented, it seems. You have your usual assortment of inept detectives, clueless bimbos, and hot-to-trot female reporters—most of which get turned into minced meat by the end of the film.

Speaking of the gore, there are some great murder scenes in this flick. They do it the old fashioned way, with lots of pig carcasses and buckets of slop. One of the female actresses got so scared that she peed her pants and they left it in the film! They didn’t have the budget for reshoots back then and why waste such good footage, right? There are inconsistencies and plot holes everywhere and the writing is so ridiculous that it just adds to the confusion. Pretty much every five minutes some character drops cheesy dialogue gold—you and your friends will be quoting this flick for a long time after watching it. This is a classic gem of a cult film and it will get lots of play in midnight theaters, I predict. There is a whole lot of gratuitous nudity in case people getting eviscerated doesn’t hold your attention enough.

Bath time is just the best!

Grindhouse Releasing recently released a two disc special edition of Pieces on Blu-ray. The Blu-ray part of the package includes the U.S. theatrical and Spanish versions of the film, a new documentary about the history of 42nd Street, a re-scoring of the film, a new commentary for the U.S. version by star Jack Taylor, and the extras from the 2008 special edition DVD release. The soundtrack CD part includes the original soundtrack of the U.S. release of the film composed by CAM, taken from the original master tapes. If you ordered early (which I did) you also got a cool little replica of the nude woman puzzle from the opening of the film. Grindhouse Releasing always has lavish packages for these types of films and they do not disappoint here. The film looks and sounds wonderful and has an awesome transfer.

Overall, this film is a welcome addition to any cult horror movie fanatic’s collection and the special edition is definitely worth shelling out the extra cash for. As the tagline says: “It’s exactly what you think it is!” It’s a sleazy, filthy, trashy piece of cinema that still holds a certain amount of charm for the right kind of person. Go get it you pervert!

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-Michelle Kisner