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Overall Rating : 6.5/10
Directed By :
Rob Zombie (Halloween (2007) )
John Carpenter (Halloween (1978)
Wes Craven (A Nightmare On Elm Street)
Betsy Palmer (Friday The 13th)
Supplied By : THINKFilm
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Mar. 13, 2007
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| PLOT A documentary on the history of the slasher film. |
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| THE REVIEW GOING TO PIECES is a documentary on the history of slasher films that was produced by Starz Media and aired on the Starz networks. The documentary starts by noting that Horror as been around since ancient times from the the gladiator days to mythology figures such as cyclops and mentions that such acts depicted within the Horror genre are only natural to crave as there have been Serial Killers that date back for centuries. It goes on to examine how some of the first Horror stories were told in plays in Paris France in 1897 and how audiences ate them up with excitement. From then on these stories went on to graduate to the cinema screens as Alfred Hitchcock and Michael Powell released PSYCHO and PEEPING TOM, respectively laying the groundwork for what was to come for the genre. The majority of the beginning of the film focuses of HALLOWEEN and FRIDAY THE 13TH and even giving a nod too PROM NIGHT, seemingly making these said three for their involvement for kick starting the slasher film craze. I was kind of disappointed here as the documentary seems to want to believe that the history that made the genre what it is, started with HALLOWEEN and FRIDAY THE 13TH, however there is no mention anyway her of the original THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE which was made in '73 before these two. CHAINSAW didn't have much blood(nor did HALLOWEEN....none at all) but I have always seen Leatherface as a slasher icon and one as serving as inspiration for many films after it.....I was surprised the film didn't credit it as being a pioneer slasher film. The documentary also goes on to show the many films that followed the many trends to come and go, such as tapping the same leading lady to star in your Horror film (Jamie Lee Curtis - HALLOWEEN, PROM NIGHT, TERROR TRAIN) to branding your film with a holiday oriented title, to the various back stories to films. Perhaps my favorite section of the documentary is the talk of how most critics slammed Horror films for being to violent and against women's rights - which makes me feel good to know that their are critics like myself and women alike who defy this outlook the rest of "them" have for us.....the biggest naysayer against Horror films seems to be Roger Ebert, and well... i've never been a big fan of his anyway - now you see why... Without explaining the whole doc to you i'll just sum it up and say that this film features interviews with the likes of John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Sean S. Cunningham, Rob Zombie, FX masters Tom Savini and Greg Nicotero and Amy Holden Jones and many more. It was especially great to see Holden Jones as with the top names(Carpenter, Craven, Zombie etc.) If you see them on one documentary you have basically already heard all they have to say here, but with Holden Jones it's great to have her shed some light on her film SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE, and the fight she put up against feminist groups canning the film - I myself has always seen SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE as an underrated gem...I love it! Overall, GOING TO PIECES : THE RISE AND THE FALL OF THE SLASHER FILM is a great documentary to add to one's collection, but I feel it isn't quite complete enough for the true slasher fan as it leaves out many films that helped the effort(like I said where is the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.....they actually show more on the remake than the groundbreaking original.... what is up with that? Also an omission to even being mentioned is the great film THE FUNHOUSE, again I say what is going on here?). Also at it's runtime(a little over 80 mins) it seems a little short to cram such an extensive history into that time frame, thus some film don't get recognition and the one's that do.....some of them don't get enough. |
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| GORE
METER N/A |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 4.5/10 The documentary is set to a techno type theme with Horror inspired tunes chiming in.....the score is handled by FRIDAY THE 13TH composer Harry Manfredini. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM In the end, the documentary isn't as extensive as I would've liked but for the people who don't set out to watch every slasher flick, like many die-hard fans do, this is a nice quick piece of the "Horror Genre Pie" so to speak.... and for that i'd recommend, and although the title says "Rise and Fall" of the Slasher Film, it's my opinion that they never "fell" as it seems to be a formula that will never die . But I must admit, it was funny hearing Tom Savini say THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT sucked in a nice sort of way. This DVD will be released on March 20, 2007 |
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