Pieces - Grindhouse Releasing BluRay Review

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Film Review

UNRATED US THEATRICAL VERSION (83 Min)

Boston, 1942: A young boy is working on something quietly in his room. When his mother comes in, she discovers he is putting together a nudie pin up puzzle! She freaks out and begins berating him, tearing up his room looking for other adult materials. She violently smashes his bureau mirror as well. The boy, now shaken, leaves and then returns....with an axe!! He proceeds to butcher his mother with it. Meanwhile, outside, a visitor arrives and can't get in. Before long the police are called and the boy is discovered crying in his closet covered in blood....

40 years later we are taken to a college campus somewhere in Boston. A pretty young girl is skateboarding around happily, until she accidentally runs into a large mirror being moved by some workers. This crash signals the beginning of a murder spree by the chainsaw wielding Jigsaw puzzle killer! The first victim is a beautiful college girl who's quietly studying on the grass. A gardener begins chainsawing some brush...and then the young co-ed!! Her head gets sawed right off, creating a gushing wave of red blood. The local police swarm around the school immediately. They are led by Det. Lt. Bracken (Christopher George) who begins setting up a new investigation to find the mysterious psychotic killer. Pretty soon, the chainsaw attacks continue and young nubile girls are turning up mutilated all over the place. Det. Bracken decides he needs people on the inside to help him figure out the killer's secret identity. He employs a sharp young student named Kendall James (Ian Sera) and a tennis coach named Mary Riggs (Lynda Day George) to lookout for any strange happenings on campus. The killer strikes several more times in the most outrageously brutal ways before the shocking climax.

Pieces mixes aspects of the Italian giallo (the black cloaked killer, red herrings, sexy women, offbeat humor) and American slasher film (highly gory chainsaw/knife attacks, college setting) with Juan Piquer Simon's own Spanish herbs and spices to create a very entertaining, very nasty horror film. Pieces really doesn't try to be anything but an excuse to string together several gory, well crafted FX heavy murder sequences and in this case it works especially great. There are some draggy parts here and there but as a super bloody Grindhouse era film, it's certainly a classic of its kind. If you're looking for a slasheriffic film to satisfy your gorehound needs, Pieces won't dissapoint!

FUN FACTS

• Pieces was featured on a double bill with Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes at The LYRIC Theater on NYC's 42nd Street aka The Deuce.
• Posters for Friday The 13th and King Frat can be seen on the wall in one scene.

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  Blu Ray Cover

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  US One Sheet

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  Spanish One Sheet

Blu Ray Review

PICTURE: Presented in (1:66:1) Widescreen. 1080p High-Definition. The newly restored transfer is beautifully bright and clear. Artifacts are non-existant making the vibrant cinematography even more pronounced. Juan Piquer Simon's horror classic is enhanced through this upgrade with colors and blacks that are more intense and deeper than previous versions.

AUDIO: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 - Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• MIL GRITOS TIENE LA NOCHE - SPANISH VERSION (86 Min)

• 42nd STREET MEMORIES (81:47, HD): The most notable extra included is this excellent documentary by Calum Waddell on the notorious days of the grindhouse era on New York City's 42nd Street aka The Deuce. You'll get to hear humorous and lurid stories of what the scene was all about from the people who lived it. Featuring interviews with: Sam Sherman (Producer), Terry Levene (Producer), Bill Lustig (Maniac, Vigilante), Buddy Giovinazzo (Combat Shock), Frank Henenlotter (Basket Case), Joe Dante (Piranha, The Howling), Larry Cohen (Black Caesar, Q: The Winged Serpent), Greydon Clark (Hi-Riders, Joysticks), Jeff Lieberman (Squirm), actress Lynn Lowry (I Drink Your Blood), Lloyd Kaufman (Troma Films), 42nd Street Pete, Scream Queen Debbie Rochon, John Skipp.

• AUDIO COMMENTARY with star Jack Taylor:: The actor who portrays Professor Arthur Brown in the film speaks with Calum Waddell about his experiences working with Juan Piquer Simon as well as directors like Jess Franco, Roman Polanski and John Milius.

• INTERVIEWS WITH Director Juan Piquer Simon, co-star Paul L. Smith (POPEYE, DUNE) and producer Steve Minasian.

• THE VINE THEATER EXPERIENCE: Presented in 5.1 Surround Sound: Listen to the audience of The Vine shriek, cheer and laugh as they watch the movie. It's like you're right in there in the theater watching along with them!

• Extensive Gallery of film stills and Poster Art

• Grindhouse Releasing Trailers

• A Collectible Nudie Puzzle Replica (Limited Edition)

• Biographies on Cast & Crew

• Liner notes by legendary horror journalists Chas Balun and Rick Sullivan.

• EASTER EGGS: Special Introduction by Director Eli Roth at a screening of PIECES at the New Beverly Cinema and Extra Interview with Juan Piquer Simon.

• THE FINAL WORD: This Deluxe Edition Blu Ray is a stellar restoration of the 80s cult slasher masterpiece. Grindhouse Releasing's track record for special home video editions are second to none and every film they choose is given the finest treatment. They've packed it chock full with goodies for the discerning horror cinema aficionados and is something you can revisit and appreciate again and again. We give it our highest recommendation!

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Peter Roberts is the co-founder/editor-in-chief of the Grindhouse Cinema Database (GCDb) and contributor to the GCDb's sister site Furious Cinema. A Massachusetts native, he is an avid film fan that has been immersed in the world of entertainment and pop culture his entire life. He is a professional digital media designer and educator.