Pieces (1982)

(aka Mil gritos tiene la noche, One Thousand Cries Has the Night)

Director: Juan Piquer

Starring: Christopher George, Lynda Day George, Frank Braña, Edmund Purdom, Paul L. Smith

Grindhouse Releasing are starting to get back into the swing of things with a couple of very interesting releases which hit shelves in October; Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond (1980) and Juan Piquer Simon’s Pieces (1982). These two releases share certain similarities in their approach, but one is a masterpiece and the other is, well how can I put this… absurdly entertaining.

Pieces owes much to Lucio Fulci’s early 80′s output, with its use of a familiar face (Christopher George – City of the Living Dead), to the overall feel of the film. And, although much of Fulci’s output during this time can hardly be called solidly scripted, much more sense can be made of Fulci’s work than can be of Pieces. But comparing Pieces to anything by Fulci is probably giving Pieces too much credit from the get go. It’s hard to take Pieces seriously and it’s probably closer to comedy than it is serious scares, whether intentional or not.

In 1942 a young boy sits quietly on the floor putting together a puzzle. His mother approaches and when she sees what he’s doing she about loses her mind. The boy is putting together a puzzle of a naked woman, and his mother is absolutely appalled. When she threatens to take all his ‘toys’ away he proceeds to beat her about the head with an axe, ultimately putting her decapitated head in the closet. I guess that told her.

Forty years later a series of brutal murders start taking place at a respected University, girls are being chopped up and body parts are disappearing. The first girl is that of a student studying in a park, she gets disturbed by a chainsaw wielding maniac who proceeds to slice off her head. Willard the gardener finds the body and the red herrings begin in earnest, or at least we hope this early in the game.

Needless to say we know the killer is the kid from the films prelude, but who knows why he’s started killing again, and it’s never really answered. The killer doesn’t know how to let things go, especially since he’s still got that risque puzzle which is covered in the blood stains from his mothers murder.  While the killer murders and mutilates the dorm room dames he collects specific body parts from his victims and completes the corresponding body parts on the puzzle.

As we know from every other slasher movie, when girls get their clothes off the voyeuristic killer is always around the corner ready to penetrate the nubile young girls with his… er, chainsaw. Um, yeah. A chainsaw isn’t the most convenient of murder weapons, granted. But it worked in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, so it’s got to work in a slasher too, right? That is obviously beside the point. At one moment in the film the chainsaw is raised in a phallic manner at waist level as we see the killer’s shadow walk proudly towards his victim with his motor running.

The second victim is a girl who goes for a late skinny night dip in the school pool, the killer catches her in a fishing net and drags her to the pools edge, then reaches for his chainsaw. The girl had made plans to meet up with a boy at the pool, and finally he decides to show up – only to discover the body and Willard with blood on his hands. He runs to get help, and the police, who are on campus investigating the crimes, come in an attack Willard arresting him.

This is where things gets a little silly, to say the least. Lieutenant Bracker (Christoper George) who is investigating the case not only has to ask what the murder weapon is, even though a chainsaw is sitting in front of the dismembered body, COVERED in blood. And, even though Willard is caught blood handed and resisting arrest they don’t even get excited they’ve made the arrest. Bracker quickly lets Willard go as they “Don’t have enough evidence”. I’d actually be surprised if a case has ever been solved, especially considering Lt. Bracker also gets the kid in on the case. I mean, seriously! Still, it provides plenty of laughs, and that is really not something to complain about.

Flashdance (1983) has a lot to answer for. A mainstream movie hit such as Flashdance even manages to seep into our beloved horror genre. So prepare yourself to sit through some ‘great’ dancing music as the young women gyrate in their fetching leotards, all we can do is we wait for the killer to make an appearance and do his thing. When he finally appears, he manages to keep up with his victim with little effort, in fact he’s pretty much taking a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park while the poor victim to be is running in a panic! The dancer makes it to the elevator and is approached by a familiar figure. The figure follows her into the elevator, all the time hiding a BIG chainsaw behind his back. When he enters the elevator he whips out his member from behind his back and slices off her arm. Now, there’s a man that knows how to use his tool!

Since things aren’t going that well in the investigation an attractive female professional tennis player is hired to keep on eye on the campus. She takes the role of tennis instructor for the school. Her day job happens to be that of an undercover cop, but her abilities are surely in question when the Lt. asks the boy, or his star pupil, to keep an eye on the tennis player turned cop turned teacher to make sure nothing happens to her. But she gets to show of her professionalism when another body turns up and she screams “BASTARD, BASTARD, BASTARD” to the air. One of the highlights of this pretty silly movie.

If it wasn’t for the insane plot developments and crazy gore scenes Pieces would probably be a pretty boring film. There is still a water bed massacre to witness, some totally out of place karate action, some absolutely hilarious dialogue, and most importantly, a ballsy ending. This might just be about the fastest 90 minutes you could hope to have with a film this badly made, and it’s not really surprising that this film receives such high praise.

Oddly enough, as far as slasher movies go, this Spanish horror is a lot closer to the Italian giallo than it is Friday The 13th et al. The killers identity is hidden from our voyeuristic eyes as he stalks his victim clothed in a black coat and gloves, the chainsaw replacing the knife (although the all important knife makes an appearance or two). There are red herrings a plenty and we are left to guess the killers identity, perhaps this is why the movie has such staying power; there is that extra layer that is missing from regular slasher movies. The Italian flair isn’t that surprising considering Joe D’Amato was involved in the films script, although he’s far better know for his Euro Sleaze than he is giallo.

Grindhouse Releasing have done an absolutely awesome job on this must have DVD. The print of this film is quite stunning for this kind of film and the colors are very rich, especially those blood reds. The disc is also packed with extras, and given a whopping 2-disc treatment; more than we could have dreamed for.

Presentation: Hi-definition anamorphic digital transfer; optional Spanish soundtrack with original score by Librado Pastor.

Special Features: Special audio option – Vine Theater Hollywood experience; interviews with director Juan Piquer and genre superstar Paul L. Smith; Gallery of stills and poster art; liner notes by journalist Chas. Balun; original Spanish opening sequence; theatrical trailer; Eli Roth easter egg.