By Geno McGahee
The 1974 classic THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE changed the direction of horror and brought in the chainsaw as a suitable weapon for a killer. In 1982, a movie like no other was made…a stylish masterpiece of absurd proportions. That movie noted that you “didn’t have to go to Texas for a chainsaw massacre.” That movie was PIECES.
We begin with a young child putting together a puzzle of a naked woman when his mother barges in and goes crazy, insisting that she is going to burn all of his stuff. As she’s collecting it, the young child attacks and kills her with an axe. The police don’t believe that he did it and place him with his relatives and the story moves forward. Now, apparently the kid has kept the puzzle and is collecting human body parts to create a new sort of puzzle and the police are eager to stop this killer.
Lt. Bracken, played by the amazing Christopher George, is on the hunt. George was an amazing actor, playing in other horror gems like GRIZZLY, MORTUARY and one of my other favorites, GRADUATION DAY. He was amazing and it’s a shame that he wasn’t in more. He was cut down too soon. I guess heaven needed a Christopher George. They also planted Mary Riggs (Lynda Day George) at the college where all the murders are taking place to try to find some info on the fedora-wearing, chainsaw-wielding madman.
One of the college kids, Kendall (Ian Sera), the stud of the school. He’s nailing all the chicks and brags about it. Strangely enough, he’s very odd looking and has curly hair. I always found dudes with curly hair to be people who struggle getting chicks…or at least trouble being the biggest attraction for the chicks. This is fiction and we have to accept that Kendall is a lady’s man. He is recruited by Bracken to help because he has all the inside connections and can perhaps solve this faster than they can.
There are plenty of suspects. My favorite is the man that is never seen without a chainsaw, Willard (Edward Mannix). He is a dimwitted yards man that is also a peeping Tom. When he finds a bloody chainsaw, he picks it up and becomes an immediate suspect. He fights the police with great force and even Kendall can’t find a way to hurt him. Surprisingly, they let him go pretty quickly. You figure they could hold him for resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.
Another potential is the Dean (Edmund Purdom). He is mysterious and very proper. He seems unlikely but that makes him likely. He also has an accent of some sort. I’m guessing German, but I might be wrong. There’s a handful of other potentials but this movie is more about the fun factor than the whodunit aspect, although it’s still an element that I thoroughly enjoyed. Most killers in real life can blend into society quite well. Look at Ted Bundy. So, it could be argued that this movie is incredibly realistic.
The kills in PIECES are second to none. They went all out with blood and gore here and it’s done in a very artistic way. The acting is so over the top that you can’t help but to love it and the score of the film is wonderful. They did everything right here and more. One of my favorite moments is when Mary finds a dead body, chopped in half, in the showers and walks out screaming “bastard” at the top of her lungs over and over again. It was great. We also have a cop puking and many other wonderful things that they added. It’s the little things that mean a lot and this had many little things that added to the enjoyment.
PIECES is one of the best slashers of all time with the best ending of any horror film or non-horror film. If you are not standing at the end of this clapping, there is something wrong with you. I can’t recommend this enough. It’s got it all.
Rating: 9/10
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