Pieces (1982) (Blu-ray Review)
Directed By: Juan Piquer Simón
Starring: Christopher George, Lynda Day George, Paul L. Smith
Rated: UR/Region O/1:66/1080p/Number of Discs 3
Available from Grindhouse Releasing
Grindhouse Releasing is proud to present the sickest and most violent of all the early ’80s slasher movies. A psychopathic killer stalks a Boston campus, brutally slaughtering nubile young college co-eds, collecting body parts from each victim to create the likeness of his mother who he savagely murdered with an axe when he was ten years old! PIECES is a wild, unrated gorefest, with enough splatter and sleaze to shock the most jaded horror fan.
Pieces is one of the most off the wall movies I have ever had the pleasure of seeing and I say that with the most love that I possible can. This was a movie that I had always heard about and soon after Grindhouse released their first release of it, a two disc DVD set, I made it my mission to see it. I finally did see when I got that release for my birthday no less. I had to special order it from the local Hastings, but I gt it, I watched it, and I loved it. Words can’t even express how excited I was when I heard it was coming to Blu-ray and now here I sit finally (days away from another birthday) with THAT release in hand and being just as entertained by this movie now as I was those years ago. Of course it also helps when you take into account that the movie looks better than you could ever imagine something as grindhousey as Pieces looking. The DVD wasn’t bad, but this jump from SD to HD exceeds my expectations, with things looking clean and clear, giving the movie a bit of a polished look we’ve never seen before. It really is like someone took that old reliable car that has never let you down and gave it a top-notch paint job. If you want to see how night and day old movies can look when handled with love, then you need to pick-up this Blu-ray from Grindhouse Releasing. We always have people going back and forth on just who is the Criterion of the horror and genre world, well let me tell you right now, it is Grindhouse Releasing. And if you’ve never seen Pieces before, what can you expect? Oh brother, you can expect one hell of a weird and bloody ride. After a couple of female co-eds end-up chopped up with parts of each missing, the Authorities team up with a male student and campus p.i.m.p. Kendall aka Casanova (Ian Sera) and send in an undercover female detective Mary Riggs (Lynda Day George) to figure out just what is going on and who did it. That finger will be pointed in a few directions along the way, with lots of cool kills and gore topping it all off.
Some have called Pieces is a pretty bad movie, but a movie that is bad in a good way. I’ve never found this movie to be “bad”. I admit it is an insane movie, but that insanity is part of the overall charm for me. Sure, you might find yourself laughing as people are murdered violently and having sex in pretty well populated places, with very few people if anybody noticing. Sometimes they find ways to cover the lost logic in it all up and sometimes they don’t even bother. You might find it fascinating as a maniac carries around what seems to be a pretty damn large chainsaw and manages to keep it hidden in daylight, night-time, and very tiny elevators, were you can apparently hide those things simply behind your back. Logic isn’t to be found within the often bloody canvas of Pieces. But, if your watching this, like I tend to often say, you most likely are not looking for much logic to begin with now are you? If you are looking for a gory good time, rest a sure that is indeed what this movie is. Besides, kinda hard to hate on a movie where a FREAKIN’ KUNG FU FIGHT breaks out in the middle of nowhere and straight out of left field, giving us perhaps the weirdest cameo ever. That also isn’t even mentioning the ending of this one. Who can forget that once they’ve seen this? Bottom line is, this is a great release and not only do you get the awesome movie (that I like more and more each time I see it), but you get some great extras, including the documentary, 42nd Street Memories, that could have been sold on a release alone, because I think it is that interesting. You get that, lots of other cool extras, and Pieces looking better than it had ever looked in two different versions here and it may already be the best horror release we get in 2016.
Extras
– Limited Puzzle: Limited to first 3,000 Copies!
– TWO complete versions of this shocking gore classic
PIECES (83 minutes) – the original, unrated U.S. theatrical version, presented in English
MIL GRITOS TIENE LA NOCHE (86 minutes) – the original uncensored director’s cut, presented in Spanish with original score by Librado Pastor
– Spectacular new 4K transfers – scanned from the original camera negative
– Brand new audio commentary by star Jack Taylor
– Special 5.1 audio option – the Vine Theater Experience!
– In-depth interviews with director Juan Piquer Simón and genre superstar Paul L. Smith
– 42nd STREET MEMORIES – all-new feature-length documentary containing interviews with Sam Sherman, Bill Lustig, Larry – Cohen, Frank Henenlotter, Buddy Giovinazzo, Jeff Lieberman, John Skipp, Lynn Lowry, Terry Levene, and many other exploitation icons
– Extensive gallery of stills and poster art
– Exhaustive filmographies
– Liner notes by legendary horror journalist Chas. Balun and Rick Sullivan
– BONUS CD – original soundtrack – newly remastered from the original studio tapes
– Other Hidden Features as well
Quality of Transfer: 100%
Pics borrowed from the awesome folks over at http://www.mondo-digital.com/pieces.html
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Pieces
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