Theres only one way to appreciate this gonzo slasher, and thats with an enthusiastic crowd. A movie that thinks subtlety and nuance are towns in the Midwest, Pieces throws in everything for the sake of an entertaining show and lets nothing not the bad dubbing, the horrific acting or the outrageous plot stand in its way. On a New England campus, nobody notices a co-ed being hacked up with a chainsaw on the front lawn in broad daylight, so the Dean brings in Keystone Kops Christopher George and Frank Brana, who spend the rest of the movie wondering what use a heavy breathing maniac could have for the limbs he steals from his victims. In a film with no shortage of unintentional laughs, special mention must be made of the sequence where a co-ed gets into a lift with a black-garbed, heavy breathing psychopath, who she doesnt realise is carrying a chainsaw until he revs it up.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
