DVD Review: ‘Body Parts’

Body Parts

In the late 80’s and early 90’s was an interesting time for horror movies. While there certainly a number of great movies from that era there were also a massive amount of movies that were trying something different that walked a fine line between serious horror and (often unintentional) comedic fodder. In my opinion, the 1991 film “Body Parts” is such a film. If you have not seen it, here’s an overview of the plot:

Bill is a psychologist that spends his time working with inmates at a prison, specifically with murderers with a need to heal somebody. On his way to work one morning he is in a horrible car accident and loses his arm. He participates in an experimental new procedure in which he receives an arm for a donor. At first, everything goes well and he makes a recovery but soon he starts to have visions of violence and murder and the arm even does stuff on its own, usually things of a cruel nature (including attacking his wife as she sleeps).  Naturally curious, he confronts the doctor about his arm and finds out that it came from a mass murdered. He also discovers that there are two other donor recipients from the same murderer and after tracking them down and meeting them discovers they are having the same visions (one, an artist, is using his visions for paintings and doing quite well with it). Shortly thereafter, they all discover there is somebody coming after them and it leads Bill to a showdown with a most unexpected killer.

I was trying not to give too much away but most people will probably be able to guess how this turns out. This movie has a lot of good things in its favor. It has a good cast: Jeff Fahey (Machete), Kim Delaney (Army Wives), Brad Dourif (Chucky from Child’s Play) and it good production value. The special effects are high quality for the era. I think there the film has an issue is in the final act. It really builds up a good story and some tension but in the last third f the film sharply turns into a gore-based story and sometimes borders on silly. It’s still fun to watch but it just kind of surprises you and for a moment you’re wondering what happened. If you’re a fan of this particular age of movies you will enjoy it. It’s entertaining for what it is and has a lot of good qualities just be prepared for a change in tone towards the end.

Overall, the transfer is high quality. The video quality is clean and crisp and I didn’t notice any noise or sound issues. It’s likely as clean as you can possibly make this film become. I have no complaints about the overall quality of this blu-ray.

Bonus Features

  • NEW Audio Commentary With Director Eric Red
  • NEW I Dare You To Read The Script – An Interview With Director Eric Red
  • NEW Something Unstoppable – An Interview With Actor Paul Ben-Victor
  • NEW Molded For Cinema – An Interview With Actor Peter Murnik
  • NEW That One Hurt – An Interview With Editor Anthony Redman
  • Deleted Gore Footage With Optional Commentary With Director Eric Red
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • TV Spots
  • Still Gallery

One of the most interesting extras is a couple of cut scenes (gory scenes) that didn’t make the film and especially the director’s commentary on why they were removed. It would have been cool if they put them in the film but it was probably a quality issue since cut pieces are not usually preserved the same way as the feature. Still worth a watch.

“Body Parts” is available from Scream Factory January 28, 2020.

 

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