"Suspension of disbelief" is pushed to stratospheric levels in this turkey. When psychologist Bill Chrushank (Jeff Fahey) loses his right arm in a car accident, the arm of an executed death row inmate is grafted on in its place. The arm works, but mild-mannered, loving family man Bill discovers that the arm is possessed by a force he cannot control. Mark (Peter Murnik) has the murderer's legs, and Remo (Brad Dourif) has the murderer's other arm. Their limbs are also "possessed" by the spirit of the murderer, whose head has been transplanted onto a different body. Now, with the help of the surgeon who wrought this monstrosity, he wants his body parts back so he can reconstitute himself.
This piece of drivel has a (you should excuse the expression) distinguished pedigree. 'Les Mains d'Orlac,' a novel by French author Maurice Renard, was made into a 1924 silent film adaptation, 'Orlac Hande', starring Werner Kraus and Colin Clive (yes, Dr. Frankenstein). In 'Mad Love' (1935), brilliant but twisted surgeon Dr. Gogol (Peter Lorre in his U.S. film debut) is obsessed with Yvonne Orlac, a beautiful actress and the wife of renowned pianist Stephen Orlac. Although Dr. Gogol's intense devotion frightens Yvonne, she pleads for his help when her husband's hands are mutilated in a gruesome train wreck. Dr. Gogol emergently grafts the hands of a recently executed murderer onto the ends of the pianist's arms. The operation is a success but Stephen Orlac has a bad feeling about his new hands and his suspicions are confirmed in a series of unsettling incidents. In the 1940 Boris Karloff vehicle "Before I Hang," a crusading doctor is transfused with the blood of a murderer, and he is transformed into a Jekyll-and-Hyde character who can't control his murderous outbursts. Then there was 'The Hands of Orlac' (1960) with Mel Ferrer and a low-budget 1962 version entitled 'Hands of a Stranger' featuring Sally Kellerman in an early screen appearance. 'Body Parts' is based on yet another French novel, 'Choice Cuts' ('Et Mon Tout Est Un Homme') (1965) by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, which apparently won an award (go figure).
Jeff Fahey, in the lead role, has never been a particularly satisfying or charismatic screen presence. Only Brad Dourif has some good lines and delivers them with great gusto. However, when his arm is ripped off and his corpse is thrown out a window only to land on a police cruiser, it is so obviously a dummy that it's amusing. Kim Delaney, at the peak of her beauty at age 29, is great to look at, but her acting skills aren't called upon much in this flick. 'Body Parts' also gets the Dubious Achievement Award for Gender Equality in Film in that the mad doctor in this flick is a woman. And although this film is set in New York City, don't expect to see any recognizable New York landmarks except in long shot, because once again the film was actually shot in that great all-purpose American city, Toronto, Ontario.
