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After graduating from the Madrid Film School, aspiring filmmaker Juan Piquer Simon directed 1964’s España Violenta, aka Violent Spain. The short was about the Spanish Civil War and was so controversial that the fascist government had Simon arrested. In 1977, Simon made his first fictional film, Where Time Began, based on the novel by Jules Verne. The film received US distribution through American International Pictures, where Simon met producers Samuel Arkoff and Dick Randall. Simon continued working with Randall on movies like Supersonic Man and Mystery on Monster Island, another Jules Verne adaptation. It was the early 1980s, and slasher films like Friday the 13th made huge profits at the box office. Wanting to capitalize on this, producers Randall and Steve Minasian asked Simon to direct a slasher film called Jigsaw. Simon agreed, and his first horror film, Pieces, premiered in Spain in 1982 and in the US in 1983.
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Synopsis
At a Boston college, a mysterious figure is stalking and killing various girls with a chainsaw in a gruesome fashion. Lt. Bracken (Christopher George) and his partner, Sgt Holden (Frank Braña), are hot on the case. They interview various staff members, including Dean Foley (Edmund Purdom) and Professor Brown (Jack Taylor), who they suspect is responsible. To help with the investigation, Bracken enlists local student Kendall (Ian Sera) and former tennis player Mary Riggs (Linda Day). After each murder, the killer takes various body parts off his victims, such as their arms and legs. As the body count continues, numerous suspects begin to emerge, including the groundskeeper Willard (Paul L. Smith). Who is this mysterious co-ed killer, and why are they taking pieces of their victims? Also, who randomly attacks people in the middle of the night because of lousy chop suey?
Review
While American slasher films like The Prowler and The Burning were gruesome, Pieces takes it to a new level. The kills have a vicious quality that could only come from foreign slasher films, both in gore and tone. From the schoolgirl getting decapitated with a chainsaw to the reporter getting a knife through her mouth, they’re something else. The filmmakers manage to make the kills insanely bloody in a cartoonish way while mixing in some genuine sleaze. In one of the film’s most infamous kills, the victim urinates herself right before getting sliced in half. The movie works in some Giallo qualities, namely the cloaked figure with black gloves and how everyone is a suspect. Everyone has unique qualities that make them stand out and give you reasons to think they might be guilty. Could it be the neurotic professor, the womanizing student, or the standoffish dean?
The late great Christopher George, who was the gym coach in the movie Graduation Day, is terrific as always. He has enough charisma and smartass quips to make him believable as a cop, and his scenes are a treat. Character actor Edmund Purdom from Absurd does a good job playing an unassuming dean that slowly reveals his dark secrets. Admittedly, Linda Day, aka Lynda Day George, is about as good at acting as she is at playing tennis. Also, it’s probably just the bad dubbing, but Ian Sera comes off a bit bland as the oddly womanizing Kendall. There are some dead spots during the film’s hour and twenty-five-minute runtime, but it never feels dull. It helps that the score, which is mainly composed of stock music, helps add a creepy feeling to the proceedings. Overall, Pieces is, like the tagline says, exactly what you think it is.
Buy Pieces from Amazon: https://amzn.to/39vVJlM.
Disclosure: The above link is an affiliate link, which means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
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