“You can’t kill the boogeyman.”
The 1980s were the golden age of the Slasher film. It began with John Carpenter’s Halloween and many (many, many) imitators followed. This fine documentary chronicles their rise and fall.
As the quote above attests, you can’t kill the boogeyman. Once the boogeyman was unleashed on theaters with 1978’s Halloween and our old buddy Michael Myers. Soon Jason Voorhees (well, Mrs. Voorhees really), Freddy Krueger, and a host of other slashers followed. This great documentary focuses on the horrible history of the slashers that we love to watch do their gruesome work. The interview list reads like a who’s who of behind the camera boogeymen.
We’ve got interviews with Wes Craven, John Carpenter, Joseph Stefano (screenwriter of Psycho), Jeff Katz (director of development at New Line), producer Debra Hill, special effects wiz Greg Nicotero, Amy Holden-Jones (writer/director of Slumber Party Massacre), makeup wizard Stan Winston, Rob Zombie, Sean S. Cunningham (writer/director of Friday the 13th), makeup madman Tom Savini, Betsy Palmer (Mrs. Voorhees from Friday the 13th), composer Harry Manfredi (of Friday the 13th), Fangoria editor Tony Timpone, Paul Lynch (director of Prom Night), John Dunning (producer of My Bloody Valentine), Joseph Zito (producer/director of the Prowler), Armand Mastroianni (director of He Knows You’re Alone), Rabbi (!?!) Herb Freed (director of Graduation Day), Felissa Rose (of Sleepaway Camp fame), and Fred Walton (director of When a Stranger Calls).
All of these participants have interesting things to say as we traipse our way down our bloody memory lane. For fans of the slasher genre, this is a fun trip (though it probably isn’t as comprehensive as they might hope for). Nothing causes more imitators than success and the success of Halloween led to a string of holiday themed slasher variants such as Black Christmas, New Year’s Evil, Graduation Day, Prom Night, and the list goes on and on.
Joseph Stefano, in what might've been his last interview
Going to Pieces is presented in fullscreen. Special features include a text message from author Adam Rockoff (the documentary was based on his book of the same name). There’s also a commentary track from producers Rachel Belofsky and Rudy Scalese and editor Michael Bohusz.
A collection of bonus interviews from John Dunning (4 minutes), Paul Lynch (2 minutes), Bob Clark (director of Black Christmas, 5 minutes), Joseph Stefano (10 minutes), Fred Walton (5 minutes), and Stan Winston (2 minutes). There’s also a horror trivia game (with three levels of difficulty), Going to Piece’s trailer, and a collection of trailers for other ThinkFilm DVDs. I was hoping for a collection of slasher trailers, but alas it was not to be.
I thoroughly enjoyed Going to Pieces, but be prepared to want to dig out the films featured out of your DVD collection or run down to your local video store to rent them. I know it put me in the mood to watch them again hearing from these filmmakers. Don’t let the boogeyman get you.
Going to Pieces: The Rise & Fall of the Slasher Film is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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