Going to Pieces
Every evil. Every nightmare. Together in one film.
Going to Pieces looks at the rise of the slasher film, considered by many critics to be a subgenre of horror that appeals only to the emotionally unstable. Tracing the evolution of graphic and violent films from the 1960s until today, directors, writers, and actors look at the genre's influence on film-making and the recent renaissance of gore.
Member Reviews
Interesting look back - RobBC
According to the talking heads in this nostalgic look back at the “dead teenager” films of the late 70’s and 80’s, man has always had a dark fascination for the violent and macabre. While I find it somewhat difficult to draw a straight line linking primitive cave paintings and gladiatorial spectacles to Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, I must agree that these films did indeed strike a chord with a generation suddenly thrust from the breezy hedonism of the disco era into the conservative dictates of the Reagan years. Heavily influenced by both the charnel excesses of Italian splatter films and the claustrophobic camerawork of Hitchcock, the American Slasher Film quickly became a genre unto itself until cheaply made knock-offs with increasingly formulaic scripts heralded its demise; or rather its descent into self-mockery and parody. Reviled by critics who branded them as gratuitous exercises in blood-drenched misogyny, defended by filmmakers who saw them as an artistic catharsis appealing to that “reptilian” part of the human psyche which delights in violence, and still adored by fans who just want some moist entrails to go with their T&A, these films continue to carve out a niche on late night cable and dusty VHS collections everywhere. Personally I just enjoy the cheesiness of it all as time and fashion slowly turn one-time ghouls into camp icons.Fanfare...not investigation - ABC99
Going to Pieces aims to examine the slasher genre but instead chooses to simply defend it. I like slasher films but I can't say that problems don't exists within the themes. The taking heads featured in the documentary defend their films to a point where they seem to lack self awareness. While critics are scarely used in archive clips not one single interview takes place to represent a single argument that the slasher genre may have themes that are racist, sexist, hostile and ethically problematic. The archive footage is great but it is wasted on the content. It is more of a DVD extra.Fun But Flawed - Al_Stech
This is an interesting but very flawed documentary on slasher films. What's interesting is all of the people interviewed (John Carpenter, Sean Cunningham, Tom Savini, Rob Zombie, Wes Craven, etc.) and the way it covers some more obscure films. It also does a nice job of including some really classic scenes. Where this is weak though is that it's often historically inaccurate and sometimes even entirely factually incorrect. For example, this documentary asserts that the prototype slasher films were "Psycho" and "Peeping Tom" (which I agree with) and then argues that the genre was dormant until "Halloween". There's no credit given to "Black Christmas" or even more strangely, the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Later in the film, you see scenes from "Black Christmas" (there's even a little section on Canadian horror which made me really happy!) and they show the poster for TCM2, but to forget these films in the history of slashers is pretty inexcusable. I'd suggest watching this for fun, the film excerpts, and the interviews, but discounting most of the rest, because it's sometimes factually wrong or forgets important history of the genre.
Member Reviews
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Interesting look back - RobBC
According to the talking heads in this nostalgic look back at the “dead teenager” films of the late 70’s and 80’s, man has always had a dark fascination for the violent and macabre. While I find it somewhat difficult to draw a straight line linking primitive ...Fanfare...not investigation - ABC99
Going to Pieces aims to examine the slasher genre but instead chooses to simply defend it. I like slasher films but I can't say that problems don't exists within the themes. The taking heads featured in the documentary defend their films to a point where ...Fun But Flawed - Al_Stech
This is an interesting but very flawed documentary on slasher films. What's interesting is all of the people interviewed (John Carpenter, Sean Cunningham, Tom Savini, Rob Zombie, Wes Craven, etc.) and the way it covers some more obscure films. It also does ...