Pieces (1982)

December 30, 2021 7:41 PM

A frustrated Boston detective searches for the maniac responsible for mutilating a number of university coeds.

Currently streaming in the US on Shudder, Tubi, Kanopy, and Pluto TV.

posted by DirtyOldTown (4 comments total)

This director really thought he was doing something here, some kind of follow-up to giallo. And he... was not. Such a weird mix of trash, grottiness, and occasional brief fits of inspiration.

Interesting as an artifact.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:59 PM on December 30, 2021 [1 favorite]

lol saw this back in high school, in the 80s. oh boy...
posted by supermedusa at 8:29 AM on December 31, 2021

Four minutes in and I’ve already spotted three anachronisms. It’s possible that I’m not the right audience for this movie. I also laughed when I saw the jigsaw puzzle.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 9:03 AM on December 31, 2021

I don't know if anyone would really consider the director, Juan Piquer Simón, nor the producer & sometime screenwriter, Dick Randall, as being top tier filmmakers but I think they have a certain charm when working together. The Spanish genre film market in the 70s and early 80s and Simón in particular tended towards making films lightly "inspired" by the cult films the Italians were making and Pieces isn't really any different. Pieces, to me, really seems inspired by Torso and the late 70s & early 80s Italian slasher movies (rather than giallos per se) like New York Ripper. Dick Randall tended to be an "everything and the kitchen" type of producer, shoe-horning plots, actors (Bruce Lee impersonator Bruce Le makes an uncredited appearance here as an example), and stolen special effects. Then add in Spanish genre stalwart character actors Frank Braña & Jack Taylor. Put all that in a blender? You got one deliciously incoherent movie - like a mustard and cream cheese watermelon banana sausage smoothie. Saying that, as much as I like Pieces, despite or because of its flaws, my favourite of Simón's oeuvre is the seminal Slugs (I seriously love that film).

MST3K fans are likely very familiar with Simón's film from the following year under its reissued title (Fanfare links): Pod People.
posted by Ashwagandha at 4:41 PM on December 31, 2021 [3 favorites]