The 80s was a boon era for horror movies, and witnessed the rise of the slasher genre as the new king of the hill. What followed was a wonderful mix of trashy camp, fun gore, and the occasional gem of brilliance, like The Thing or Halloween. This is not the latter, and technically, this isn't my favorite of the 80s, but the ones that would rank above this are called for on other days.
This is a fun romp and a Spanish director's view of American horror.
Pieces (1982) is not a complicated tale, and a lot of the plot points are either incomprehensibly unbelievable or so predictable, Stevie Wonder saw it coming. SPOILERS AHEAD...
Ready?
Here we go! In 1942 Boston (aka Madrid), a young boy is putting together a risque jigsaw puzzle when his intolerant mother comes in and scolds him. Like any other reasonable boy, he proceeds to then chop his mother into pieces with an axe and handsaw. When the cops come, the boy hides in a closet and pretends to be the sole survivor of a brutal attack (Let that be a lesson to all you moms out there, don't try to separate a teen boy from his naughty pictures).
Many years later, a serial killer is killing young co-eds on a college campus. He's back to rebuild his mother piece by dismembered piece.
Pieces is the kind of enjoyably bad movie you can love in spite of or because of its flaws. But, disregarding the 70s blaxploitation/porn music, there are actually some decent performances to be found. Primarily the young killer, who plays the cold calculation of his character a little too well.
I give it a loving 6 out of 10.
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