"Science, like nature, destroys to build." – Dr. Webb

Unfortunately for everyone involved, "Body Parts" received the silent treatment at the box-office upon its theatrical release. You see, back then, real life serial killer Jeffrey “I hope you’re barbequing in hell right now fuck-wad” Dahmer was kidnapping and eating folks. The last thing filmgoers wanted to see was a movie named “Body Parts”. Over time, the picture has gained somewhat of a cult status on home video and for good reason…it’s a fine genre film.

This bad boy’s spine-chilling initial premise was the first appendage to be firmly glued to my noggin. Not only was the sole notion of having somebody else’s arm attached to one’s body chilling in itself, but the film also asked serious “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy” types of questions, with the key one being “where does evil reside”? Is it in the flesh, the mind, the blood, the soul or in my ex-girlfriend’s panties? The answer to that query was splendidly addressed in a heavily macabre and highly pleasurable fashion. I can think of worse ways to slaughter time than by following wild-eyed, crazy-haired and turtle-neck whoring Jeff Fahey around as he suffers through a mucho “out there” ordeal. Did this dude go through hell or what!? FUN STUFF! The affair’s riveting quota was jacked up by the mere fact that Fahey was at his “Faheyed” best here. He played both appealing and mucho aggressive flawlessly. In the hands of a lesser actor, the character might not have been as fascinating. What a wonderful bit of casting!

What’s more, the graphic red grub on this plate was quite esteemed by this ketchup glutton. The flick sported some truly grisly scenes that hit the screen hard while beating us like the unwanted pet hamsters that we are. Every time I thought this Mack-Truck couldn’t "up" its helping of violence…it did! Thank goodness for Chef Boya-Red! The cherry on top of this bloody Sunday was Red’s firm directorial hand. The chap was all over this one with his most stylish film yet as a director. Let me count the visual treats! The insane car accident bit with the Zoom-In freeze frame! GOLD! The weird, stretched lens, operation sequence…SOLID! The overhead “crash out of the window” shot…AMAZING! The slow motion, hardcore brawl in the bar! SPLENDID! The latter is actually one of my favorite scenes from the film which has stayed with me since I first saw it back in 1991. I felt every punch and so wanted to get in there to join in the rumble. Breaking beer bottles on heads = fun for the whole family.

On the hitch side of the ride, "Body Parts" didn’t have all of its members screwed on tight. On the minor slab, I really could’ve gone without those two grating, overly syrupy kids…BARRRRF! I very much wanted the son to tell his dad to go f*ck himself so I could buy it. TOO NICE! And why was that detective (Mokae) in the movie again, other than to act as a device to serve the plot? What a weak and annoying part! He felt like a film cop! My biggest peeve though had to do with the last block where smarts were dropped in the name of going for the jugular. Granted, that new direction blessed us with some gnarly graphic kills, mucho gunplay (I love shotguns…) and one hell of a nutty car chase with two dudes handcuffed to each other…in different cars….you do the math! OH YEAH! But the flipside was that the narrative sold itself short, abandoning the compelling semi-cerebral approach it was putting out to that point, while turning a tad “Frankenstein” influenced silly for its ending.         

Distributor: Paramount

IMAGE: We get an anamorphic widescreen 2:35.1 image.

SOUND: We get an English 5.1 Surround, English Dolby Surround, French Dolby Surround and English subtitles.

This film was shot in 45 days in Toronto, Canada and had a $10 Million budget.