Attention fans of 42nd Street grindhouse sleaze! Have you picked up your PIECES yet? The film, that is. Originally titled ‘Mil gritos tiene la noche’ (USA/Spain/Puerto Rico, 1983), Spanish director Juan Piquer Simon’s magnum opus is the definitive giallo-tinged, 80s slasher film. It has everything an exploitation horror fan of the era could ask for: a black gloved, chainsaw wielding killer, young co-eds, classic one-liners, and copious amounts of gore and nudity. Its famous tagline, “You don’t have to go to Texas for a chainsaw massacre” (obviously meant to cash in on the success of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), rightfully sets the tone for exactly what this film is – an all-out slasher masterpiece. Los Angeles-based video label Grindhouse Releasing spared no expense on this one. This highly anticipated blu-ray release – from its abundance of featurettes, alternate Spanish language version, and CD soundtrack – is a thing of sheer beauty!
The story begins in early-forties Boston with a young boy innocently assembling a not-so-innocent puzzle. Mom comes in, has a fit, and the boy takes matters into his own hands. Fast forward to a Bostonian college campus in the early 80’s, airheaded co-eds are mysteriously being sawed apart by a deranged killer. The police (the inspector role wonderfully played by Christopher George) are called in to investigate and then the real fun begins. I don’t want to give away any spoilers here, but the movie is called “PIECES” and is centered around a puzzle (we intermittently see scenes of a bloodied black gloved killer meticulously working on his nudie puzzle). As the producers put it, “It’s exactly what you think it is!”
And now, a note on the English version soundtrack: there is some confusion out there in a few blogging and movie review websites regarding the composer of the score, the most common being that it’s by a “band called CAM”. As I’m sure most of you library record collectors out there already know, the soundtrack is actually compromised of cues that were culled from the renowned Italian library label, C.A.M. (Creazioni Artistiche Musicali). The synthesizer heavy score includes tracks by Italian library luminaries Stelvio Cipriani, Fabio Frizzi, Carlo Maria Cordio, et al. If the some of the cues sound familiar, many of them were also used in the video nasty classic, ABSURD (a.k.a. Rosso sangue), among others. As an added bonus, a CD copy of the complete score is included as part of this lovely 3-disc package. Don’t be a baaastaaard!! Order your copy at DiabolikDVD.com today!
SPECIAL FEATURES
– TWO complete versions of this shocking gore classic:
PIECES (83 min.) – the original, unrated U.S. theatrical version, presented in English
MIL GRITOS TIENE LA NOCHE (86 min.) – the original uncensored director’s cut, presented in Spanish with original score by Librado Pastor (with English Subtitles translated directly from the Spoken Language)
– Spectacular new 4K transfers – scanned from the original camera negative
– Brand new audio commentary by star Jack Taylor
– Special 5.1 audio option – the Vine Theater Experience!
– In-depth interviews with director Juan Piquer Simón and genre superstar Paul L. Smith
– 42nd STREET MEMORIES – all-new feature-length documentary containing interviews with Bill Lustig, Larry Cohen, Frank Henenlotter, Buddy Giovinazzo, Jeff Lieberman, John Skipp, Lynn Lowry, Terry Levene, and many other exploitation icons
– Extensive gallery of stills and poster art
– Exhaustive filmographies
– Liner notes by legendary horrors journalists Chas. Balun and Rick Sullivan
– BONUS CD – original soundtrack – newly remastered from the original studio tapes
– Beautiful embossed slipcover
– AND OTHER SURPRISES!
Color – 1.66:1 – 1983 – UNRATED – ALL REGION
**If you’re in the L.A. area, join RENDEZVOUS & Grindhouse Releasing for a special PIECES blu-ray release party on Friday, March 11th at the Hyperion Tavern in Silverlake. There will be a free screening of the film at 8PM, followed by a special guest DJ set by recording artist UMBERTO. Grindhouse Releasing will be on hand selling copies of the blu-ray, and TWO vinyl copies of the soundtrack will be given away, courtesy of TwoHeadedDog.com! Full details at rendezvousLA.net
Overseas Trailer
US Trailer