'Pieces' is required viewing for any Giallo fan because it's almost an intentional parody of Giallo films. I mean that in a good way.
We begin in Boston 1942. Like all true Giallo it pretends to be filmed in America when it's clearly not. Hence the opening caption "Boston 1942" and numerous maps of the USA hanging on walls next to portraits of President Ronald Reagan.
Anyway, we begin with a flashback of an adolescent boy hacking his mother to pieces after she punishes him for playing with a pinup jigsaw puzzle. GET IT? Pieces of a woman's body in the puzzle, being hacked to pieces, hence 'Pieces' the title.
All grown up the psycho killer has moved to the prime hunting ground of a Giallo college campus, where couples casually make love in the bushes, girl go skinny dipping at night, take showers in the locker room alone, and do sexy aerobics late at night. It's a serial killer's dream! The killer himself goes totally unnoticed, despite the fact that he's always wearing a long trench coat, carrying a chainsaw, breathing louder than Darth Vader, carrying around potatoes sacks of blood body parts, (not exaggerations) and doing all this while leering over girls in various stages of undress. He arouses no suspicions. Again, this feels more like a parody film.
Despite the fact that girls are being chainsawed to death left and right on campus, the police choose to NOT warn the students about the killings! Instead they send a blonde cop in undercover to lure the killer out. But with some many students doing things nude and at night it could be long time before he gets around to her.
We'd think the students would have picked up on the large number of blood crime scenes and students disappearing all on their own. Then again, since they don't notice a guy with a chainsaw casually walking the halls maybe they really are that stoned.
The biggest laugh is Flatfoot (Paul Smith) as the campus custodian. Logically he's a suspect. He too carries a chainsaw around campus. Again, no one seems to notice.
SPOILER WARNING!!! In the end it turns out the killer has been using the body parts of his victims to build his ideal woman. Of course we all saw that coming.
But just as the closing credits are about to roll the composite corpse reaches out and literally rips off the hero's genitals! There's no explanation for why this happens, the closing credit just roll.
I really enjoyed this film and so will anyone whom enjoys Giallo or enjoys making fun of Giallo.
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