30 September Slashers: Day 19-PIECES

Exploitation filmmakers of the 70’s and 80’s had a knack for taking a successful film or genre, and in it’s wake, producing a slew of knock offs that often lacked the quality of the original source.  For example, the success of the Sergio Leone Spaghetti Westerns in the 60’s spawned hundreds of copy cat westerns that continued well into the 80’s.  These films varied in production value but were usually gorier and dirtier than the original source material.  This stayed true with the slasher genre as well.  Tonight we will look at one such exploitation slasher called Pieces.

Day 19: Co-ed Cut Up…..Pieces

Beginning in 1942, a young boy gets scolded by his mother because she finds him putting together a nudie puzzle.  Naturally, his response is to kill her with an ax and saw her up into pieces.  Forty years later, a bunch of girls are being murdered on a college campus.  The kicker is that every time one is killed, a piece of their body is missing.  With the help of a college student and a pro tennis player turned undercover professor, the police attempt to track down the killer before he finishes his puzzle.

This film is a must see for all exploitation fans.  The script was hilarious, the gratuitous nudity was a plus, and the gore was more extreme than in almost any other slasher.   The cops were probably my favorite part as they would chew through terrible lines.  One such line was, “we’re just buying clothes without labels and trying them on for size.”  The story was ludicrous in that the dean is trying to keep these murders under wraps and yet people are being sawed up in broad daylight with a chainsaw.  Also, not to mention that the cops recruit a college student because they are short handed. Unrealistic plot aside, Pieces is the perfect flick to watch with a group of friends while drinking some brews.

The film has been widely available on DVD for a long time but for my money, I would highly recommend picking up the Grindhouse Releasing release that came out a couple years ago.  Grindhouse always puts quality work into their releases, and this film is very deserving of such red carpet treatment.  I know I said I would get to this film about ten days ago but tomorrow I will finally play the game Truth or Dare.