Produced by Rudolf Scalese
Distributed by THINKFilm
It has been one hell of a ride over the last thirty years in the horror business. Fans have witnessed ups, downs, and near stops on the roller coaster ride of slasher pictures. Now, with the new era of faux-grittiness increasing and consuming much of the genre, it is time to take a step back and look at what really made scary movies work so well. There is only so much that extreme violence and blood splatter can make up for, and quality is not one of those things.
Enter Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film, a documentary based on Adam Rockoff’s book of the same name that looks back at all the years of blood, mayhem, and madmen that managed to do so much with so little. Not only is there nostalgia to be had but also a spark of what is to come and what filmmakers can do to ensure quality over quantity.
Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film launches with a look at why we are so infatuated with the macabre. More than just a few people went to see Christians eaten by lions, and though that kind of blood lust has tamed, there is still that side of humanity that wants a taste of death.
Going to Pieces does a great job of never becoming a contest of who made the best slasher film. Each filmmaker has his own strengths, and the debate on remakes weakening the horror pool is not brought up in even the slightest aspect. Though some of the remakes in question are shown, little to nothing is said about them other than displaying how the films must keep growing and progressing to meet the needs of modern moviegoers.
Even if the technical aspects or cultural relevance is not to your liking, this DVD could be viewed as a best of the best clips fest. All the goriest uncensored clips are arranged around well edited interviews that never drone on and on. If nothing else it is a great teaching tool to inform the younger audiences of today that a good horror movie does not have to be loaded with big names and CGI to provide entertainment value. Hell, in some cases blood isn’t even needed to make a classic.
It goes without saying that the feature itself is something that could be watched over and over, but does it retain that same replay value with the commentary track playing? Producers Rachel Belofsky and Rudy Scalese join with editor Michael Bohusz to lay down the track that would hopefully shed some light on what went into making this film. Sigh. Well, it would have been nice to hear some new information, but these three folks regurgitate an abundance of the same facts and trivia the viewer has already seen in the documentary itself. The thrill-less talk about how interviews and footage had to be cut down to make it into the project also aids in watering down the audio track. Redundant is what best describes the commentary track … redundant and tame.
If you make it through the commentary track and are in need a boost to keep the blood pumping, then it would be high time to check out the largest section of special features: the bonus interviews. It isn’t really fair to call these bonus, as extended would be a much more truthful word or even the term deleted. When conducting an interview, there may be times that the interviewee may go off on a tangent and spill info that may not even pertain to the horror or slasher genre. In some cases the facts and trivia could be seen by some to be totally boring. We certainly get a mixed bag of that here.
The last special feature to cover is Horror Trivia. This interactive game is split into three parts: True or False, Novice, and Advanced Multiple Choice. Many of the questions stem from the things the audience can learn by watching Going to Pieces, but a few may stump even the most hardcore of genre fans. Horror Trivia really puts the commentary and some of the bonus interviews to shame by giving the viewer what they are looking for.
Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film is a must have. The extra features may not be the kind one would expect, but the quality of the documentary and the vast amount of films covered make this something that belongs on each horror fan’s shelf.
Special Features
Filmmaker commentary
Message from author Adam Rockoff
Bonus interviews
Trivia game
Trailers
5 out of 5
Special Features
3 out of 5
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