IMDb RATING
6.0/10
14K
YOUR RATING
The co-eds of a Boston college campus are targeted by a mysterious killer who is creating a human jigsaw puzzle from their body parts.The co-eds of a Boston college campus are targeted by a mysterious killer who is creating a human jigsaw puzzle from their body parts.The co-eds of a Boston college campus are targeted by a mysterious killer who is creating a human jigsaw puzzle from their body parts.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
Lynda Day George
- Mary Riggs
- (as Linda Day)
Frank Braña
- Sgt. Randy Holden
- (as Franck Brana, Frank Brana)
Paul L. Smith
- Willard
- (as Paul Smith)
Gérard Tichy
- Dr. Jennings
- (as Gerard Tichy)
Cristina Cottrelli
- Jenny - Pool Victim
- (as Cristina Cottrel)
Paco Alvez
- Alister Schwartz
- (as Francisco Alvez)
Alejandro de Enciso
- Cop #1
- (as Alejandro Enciso)
Hugo Astar
- Cop #2
- (as Carlos H. Aztarain)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
First saw this on opening night in 1983 Recently revisited and it's just so much cheesy/gory fun: atrocious acting, suspects all over the place, a killer in giallo gear, amazing chainsaw murders, and arguably the most absurd ending in slasher film history. Gotta love it!
Whether or not this movie is an accidental camp comedy or if it was intended to be as silly as it was, Pieces delivers exactly what it promises - a chainsaw massacre that's not in Texas.
While Pieces is not without its flaws, for low budgeted horror, Pieces delivers the gory goods. Notorious, for being on the UK's video nasty list, gorehounds will not be let down by this crazy and somewhat quirky 80's slasher. A killer is on the loose at a Boston,Mass area college brutally killing and mutilating gorgeous college girls to get body parts to put together a human jigsaw puzzle. For the most part, the overdubbing and acting is atrocious(with the exception of Christopher George as a police detective, who actually is really great in this), there are slow parts and subplots that go nowhere. But, I digress Pieces delivers huge as trashy grindhouse entertainment, with tons of nudity and some spectacular state of the art gore. Gore galore, with lots of boobage and 80's bush, Pieces will please fans of sleazeoid cinema and ultra violence. Add Bluto from the Robin Williams live action Popeye movie as groundskeeper and a cameo of Bruce Le showing his kung fu, you have an odd, but effective splatter film that is very over the top and cool low budget horror flick.
How could I not love this movie? It is a rare cinematic occurrence indeed to find such delightfully sleazy ingredients as chainsaw massacres, disco aerobics, on screen vomiting, pornographic jigsaw puzzles, a girl wetting her pants, and a guy salivating over a woman's feet all in one place. Only from the combined minds of Joe D'Amato, Dick Randall, and J. Piquer Simon could such a thing spring forth and judging from the number of reviews here, I'm not alone in my fondness for this movie.
Many of the cast members will be familiar to fans of these kinds of movies. Christopher George (having already been through Graduation Day and a trip to the Mortuary) is a strong lead as the no-nonsense detective on the case, while Jess Franco veteran Jack Taylor creeps around the increasingly decimated campus as an anatomy professor. Of course the victims are just anonymous dead meat, but then that's all they need to be.
Say what you will about the overall quality of the film, but one thing's for sure - Pieces doesn't suffer from a lack of blood and guts. The crimson stuff flows freely once the chainsaw starts up, and the movie actually lives up to the surprisingly honest tagline - `it's exactly what you think it is' - take it or leave it. And the ending - what an ending!
Many of the cast members will be familiar to fans of these kinds of movies. Christopher George (having already been through Graduation Day and a trip to the Mortuary) is a strong lead as the no-nonsense detective on the case, while Jess Franco veteran Jack Taylor creeps around the increasingly decimated campus as an anatomy professor. Of course the victims are just anonymous dead meat, but then that's all they need to be.
Say what you will about the overall quality of the film, but one thing's for sure - Pieces doesn't suffer from a lack of blood and guts. The crimson stuff flows freely once the chainsaw starts up, and the movie actually lives up to the surprisingly honest tagline - `it's exactly what you think it is' - take it or leave it. And the ending - what an ending!
Did you know
- TriviaBecause producer Dick Randall was simultaneously making kung-fu films in Rome, a cameo for a Bruce Lee imitator, Bruce Le, was written into this film, even though this scene makes no sense in the context of the rest of the film.
- Goofs(at around 4 mins) Though the film begins in the 1940's, a pennant for the New England Patriots can be easily viewed on the wall of a young boy when he's being comforted by the cop. The Patriots didn't come into existence until 1960, and even then they were originally known as the Boston Patriots.
- Quotes
[after exiting the room of a bloody corpse]
Kendall: You see it?
Mary Riggs: YES! While we out here fumbling with that music... the lousy bastard was in there, KILLING HER! BASTARD! BAAAAASTAAARD! BASTAAARD!
- Alternate versionsVHS edition released by EDDE Entertainment omits the important prologue scene before the credits which sets up the plot for the entire film.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Don't Scream: It's Only a Movie! (1985)
- SoundtracksA Strange Symbol
(uncredited)
From Un'ombra nell'ombra (1979)
Composed by Stelvio Cipriani
Keyboards by Claudio Simonetti
- How long is Pieces?Powered by Alexa
- Was Joe D'Amato involved as co-writer on Pieces or was not?
- What are the differences between the different length versions available in different countries?
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Le Cri du cobra
- Filming locations
- Boston, Massachusetts, USA(some exteriors)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $300,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,032,311
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $604,510
- Sep 25, 1983
- Gross worldwide
- $2,032,311
- Runtime1 hour 25 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1(original & negative ratio / European theatrical ratio)
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