You Don’t Have To Go To Texas For A Chainsaw Massacre!
Well, that’s helpful to know. It also helps to know this:
“While we out fiddling with that music, the lousy bastard was in there killing her! BASTARD! BAAAAASTAAARD! BASTAAARD!”
And with that classic dialogue, it is time to celebrate #31daysofhalloween with the “over-the-top” bad taste and great grindhouse entertainment that is:
“Pieces!” It’s Exactly What You Think It Is!
How can you go wrong with a poster like that! And look at this one, which includes a special line underneath the title on the left:
“AN IMPORTANT FILM”
Indeed!
“Pieces” is a notorious shocker from 1981 that was banned in several counties, and included some of the bloodiest scenes in motion picture history! In fact, look how they chose to promote the film:
It always begins with a young boy who is traumatized…flash forward to college, when young co-eds are being cut up by a chainsaw killer! The madman is attempting to put together a human jigsaw puzzle made from body parts – “PIECES!”
“Pieces” is far from a great movie, but it IS a classic 80’s horror film in style and tone.
In the 80’s, horror films turned very violent, with slasher movies turning screens blood red:
This era may not have produced great films, but they were shocking and fun to watch, perhaps no more so that this classic:
“Night Of The Demons” is a great 80’s horror film, and iconic “Scream Queen” Linnea Quigley was in many of them, and you can read more about her here:
If you love this era of film, then the newly remastered Blu-Ray version of “Pieces” is for you!
Grindhouse Releasing has a great special edition of “Pieces” on Blu-Ray, including the U.S. theatrical and Spanish versions of the film, and a bonus video of American horror director Eli Roth presenting a theatrical screening of Pieces to a Los Angeles cult audience!
Roth most recently directed his homage to the 80’s cannibal films, “The Green Inferno.” You can read about it here:
Perhaps the greatest extra bonus on the new “Pieces” release is this:
42ND STREET MEMORIES: All-new feature-length documentary about the legendary “Grindhouse” era of New York’s 42nd street, including interviews with Bill Lustig, Larry Cohen, Frank Henenlotter, Buddy Giovinazzo, Jeff Lieberman, John Skipp, Lynn Lowry, Terry Levine and other exploitation icons!
This was a fascinating era in movie history: Times Square was lit up with theaters playing the wildest sexploitation movies of the time, nonstop for 24 hours a day!
I can’t wait to see this new documentary, and if you want to see some of the greatest “grind house” films of the era, you can check out my story here:
Sexy “Honey”! Dirty “Brine!” Grindhouse Classics, “Prurient” Style!
Folks, these were some wild wild films!
42nd Street was a seedy, dangerous place in the 70’s and 80’s, and the movies had to deliver!
Here are some more of the classic movies of that era:
You see, the films were full of sex and violence, and legend has it that the movie theaters of Times Square were as well! That meant you need films like this to keep the customers satisfied:
Lurid, pandering, and usually hilariously bad, these films are worth checking out just to see how gullible the public was at the time! Here are a few more great examples:
So celebrate the month of “Shocktober” with #31daysofhorror – let me know if you are falling to “Pieces!”
Categories: Books / Media, Camp Cult Classics, Classic Horror, Cult Classics, Exploitation Films, Extreme Cinema, Grindhouse, Horror films, JRsploitation, Sexploitation Films
We have just been discussing ‘Pieces’. I really must get around to watching that DVD. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.