Pieces [1982] [DVD] [2007]

"Pieces'' is an early '80s Spanish / US co-production from the director of ''Slugs'' and the original financiers of ''Friday the 13th'' - and if those little nuggets of nothingness don't get your hopes up, well I'm guessing the final product won't either. Anyhoo, I digress - let's get this party rolling...We open up in 1942 (not that you would know, as it strangely resembles the late '70s) and meet 10-year old Timmy who for want of a better word, loves his naked ladies. I'm not talking hardcore mind, but this kid knows what he likes. And its a jigsaw puzzle of a lady in her birthday suit! Problem is, mum isn't on the same page and promptly halts our pint sized hero by taking away said contraband only to be re-paid by having an axe ceremoniously jammed into her cranium. Man, those kids in the '40s. They weren't kidding around. Thankfully for Timmy, apart from being a connoisseur of pornography he's also a master bulls**ter, too as he hoodwinks the police into thinking someone else did his poor old mum in and its off to freedom town to live out the rest of his life... Cut to 40 years later (that's 1982... err... time fans) and someone is slicing, dicing and generally making a right royal nuisance of themselves at a Boston college campus. Using a chainsaw as their weapon of choice, no nubile young woman is safe from the maniacal advances of this back clad killer... but who could it be? The slightly oddball gardener (Paul L. Smith) who spends much of the movie rubbing his chainsaw like it were a slightly obtuse spring vegetable or the meek Professor Arthur Brown (Jack Taylor) who seemingly isn't all that interested in all this murderizing and would rather be discussing anatomy or the overly eager teen Kendall (Ian Sera) who always seems to be near each murder as and when it happens. Can hard boiled detective Bracken (Christopher George) put the clues together in time to solve this maddening mystery? Can his real-life wife and co-star Linda Day emote the word 'B*st*rd' in any other way than what makes the final cut? All this (and more!) will be revealed in what has to be one of the most fun and bewildering displays of splatter that this fella has seen in a long time.Director Juan Piquer Simón (who later wowed me with 'Slugs' and 'The Rift') takes the threadbare screenplay by producer Dick Randall & John Shadow (nice name, sounds real) and amps it up to 11 with enough wild gore and bare breasted shenanigans to fill a whole franchise of 'Friday the 13ths' (Paul L Smith's gardener may have had his hands full with bush but so did my eyes with nary a minute flicking by without a naked lady filling up the screen). Not one to let characterisation become too much of a problem, Simón fills his movie with bisected females, decapitated co-eds and water-bed bludgeoned beauties - all wrapped up in a slightly humorous 'Scooby Doo' style mystery that's about as thought provoking as an episode of 'Crossroads'... thankfully, I don't watch '80s slashers for depth or originality and this gore extravaganza delivers the goods where it counts. Lead George is solid and combined with his good ladies line delivery of 'that' word - ''Pieces'' is a low budget diamond in the rough that delivers the gooey goods and evokes the spirit of other mean spirited oddities such as 'The Prowler' - if they were somehow produced by a half wit. Highly recommended.

Excellent coming of age story reminiscent of early John Hughes. The story follows a group of college kids, their ups and downs as relationships develop and falter. The acting is excellent throughout and a worthy final film for the great Christopher George.There is a subplot about a minor crime committed on campus, but this is mainly a character driven piece. Watch out for Willard the groundskeeper, a delightful character that all the students can turn to for friendly advice. All in all a film that the family can enjoy together.Warning: There is some slight nudity in the form of a jigsaw.

The film is fine, as is the box it comes in. It actually even arrived undamaged! What I take issue with is that the set should be sold with the vinyl soundtrack, as stated on the box. Amazon has split up the box set to sell the vinyl separately, which I think is wrong and somewhat corrupt. Unfortunately it is difficult to contact Amazon to complain about such matters, hence this review. I believe a lot of other people have done the same, so buyer beware.

Wow, I wouldn't have thought Arrow would be putting out such a shoddy product with the image cropped to 4:3! Splendidly daft and lively little giallo, though.

Good film

DVD-cover says: "Collector's Edition" "carefully re-mastered for best possible picture guality" and Dolby Digital sound.This wasn't true at all. This St Clair entertainment's release of "Pieces" is below acceptable. Absolutely horrible mess!Don't waste your money on this crap! This so called "Collector's Edition" is just some old and worn VHS-tape copy and there's absolutely no extras.

Expected more out of this due to the catch phrase: It’s exactly what you think it is! Acting is subpar...

VERY ENTERTAINING MOVIE