2006
Thinkfilm DVD
This is a documentary that was based off the book of the same title. It premiered in October 2006 on the Starz network of channels. Somehow ,even though it didn’t get the Starz channels, I saw it right after it premiered. And loved it. I had a VHS that I recorded it too. But until last year when Movie Gallery was closing I had no idea that a DVD was released. So I was looking around Movie Gallery for DVDs, and by this time all old stuff was down to a buck. I found this in the documentary section and from the rental records it had only been rented about 10 times total. I quickly snatched it up.
Going to pieces is about the beginning ,the end, and the rebirth of the slasher horror sub genre. It does a pretty good job of explaining the origins of this genre that became super popular in the early 80’s. It says the normal thinking of “Psycho” and “Peeping Tom” as the prototypes of the slasher film. Then talks about how “Halloween” was the first slasher film to really become a huge hit. Sure there was slasher films before “Halloween”, stuff like “Black Christmas”, “Texas Chain Saw Massacre”, and all the Italian giallos.
Then from “Halloween” ,we get interviews and various info about all the slasher films that followed in it’s wake. The documentary does a great job with combining interviews with the writers, directors and stars of the films, along with behind the scene pics and clips from the films. We also get lots of clippings from Variety that show us how for a 5 year period pretty much every slasher put out made big money.
Then we get a long segment on the fall of the genre. This is blamed on how the later 80’s slasher films were more about the gore FX and less about the story. Which I would have to agree with. Plus cause so many films had been released in such a short period the audience got burned out on the genre. Then the backlash from certain groups didn’t help. We get clips from the infamous episode of Siskel and Ebert in which they say that all slasher films are demeaning to women. And Siskel even goes so far as to give out the home address of Betsy Palmer, who was the killer in the original Friday the 13th. What I find strange about this backlash is most of the slashers had a strong moral message. Usually the people to die either had premarital sex or did drugs. Plus in most slashers of this era a female is the one that kills the killer in the end. This female has now been nicknamed “The final girl” by horror fans.
Then the last segment is about how in the mid 90’s the success of “Scream” brought the slasher genre back. And we get information about all the “Scream” clones that followed. To me this is the least interesting part of the documentary. Mainly cause besides “Scream” I never cared for any of the clones that came out.
The DVD has a decent amount of extras. We get a commentary with the producers and the editor. This is a fun informative track that adds to the appeal of the film. There is some bonus and extended interviews. Some of these are really great. My favorite is the one with the late Bob Clark. There is also a trailer and a pretty well done trivia game. The game has 3 parts, a true or false part, a novice part and an advanced part. I aced the true or false and novice parts. But some of the questions on the advanced part are pretty tough. If you are a fan of the slasher genre this is a great documentary. And I seriously doubt we will ever get a better one. Going to pieces: the rise and fall of the slasher film gets a A.