Title: Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film
Writers: J. Albert Bell, Rachel Belofsky, Michael Derek Bohusz, Adam Rockoff, Rudy Scalese
Noteworthy Appearences: John Carpenter (Halloween, The Fog), Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream), Tom Savini (Night of The Living Dead remake, From Dusk Til Dawn), Stan Winston (Pumpkinhead, Friday the 13th Part III), Rob Zombie (Devil’s Rejects, Lords of Salem), Betsy Palmer (Friday the 13th), Amy Holden (Slumber Party Massacre), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp)
Run Time: 88 minutes or 1 hour, 28 minutes
This documentary has been out since since 2006, and I’m only getting a chance to see it now. But boy, am I happy to see it!
Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film is a documentary that chronciles the obsession with gore from earlier centuries, the early beginnings of horror, the full blown take-over by the likes of Halloween and Friday the 13th, sequels and innovations, the eventual slump of our beloved genre, and the new age of slasher films.
The first part of the documentary is heavily dedicated to some of the greatest slasher flicks of our time including Halloween, Friday the 13th, Prom Night, and A Nightmare on Elm Street; with films such as The Prowler, He Knows You’re Alone, My Bloody Valentine, Happy Birthday to Me, and Scream getting some honorable screen time.
The second part of the documentary focuses primarily on the villains of the slasher films. Basically it explores the existance of the antagonist – from their point of view, picking a familiar location, their relationship to the survivor girl, motive, and weapon of choice.
The third part of Going to Pieces looks at the critism slasher films have faced. Apparently slasher films in the 80s and early 90s received a lot of critism because of borrowed aspects from Italian slasher flicks and spagetti horror. The sexual nature of these films and violence against women is heavily profiled, as well as the soiling of family holidays – most noteably Christmas and the film Silent Night, Deadly Night.
The final part focuses on the slump of the horror genre in the mid 90s and the rebirth of the genre brought on by films such as Scream, Hostel, and Saw.
Behind-the-scenes information and crew profiles are mixed through this slasher history lesson. Tom Savini gets his own segment of praise, and did you know that Betsy Palmer (Pamela Vorhees) was not present for her own death scene? And that she created an unofficial backstory for her character? It’s facts like those that make Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film invaluable.
So, do yourself a favor. Go out and buy Screaming in Heels: The Rise and Fall of the Scream Queen Era and Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film, and have yourself an amazing walk through horror movie history. Although I must say, Going to Pieces is low in production quality and I could criticize that endlessly. Luckily, the subject matter in this documentary is enough to earn it an A+ from me.
