Body Parts

source: Body Parts

I saw this movie in college and forgot almost everything about it except for the car chase scene with the handcuffs, so when I saw it again recently, I was pretty much waiting to see if it was as cool as I had remembered. It was, and there were other scenes that induced a chuckle in this cheesy entry. Jeff Fahey, who looks like a poor man's Ray Liotta with better skin and not as much acting ability, plays a nurturing criminal psychologist who spends his days dealing with crazy criminals who say * a lot. After studying a dangerously wobbling wheel on the car in front of him during his commute to work in the morning, he is actually surprised when it snaps off and he gets creamed by an 18 wheeler. Maybe I was in a weird mood, but the sight of him flying through the windshield was unintentionally hilarious. After he gets the killer's arm sewn onto his stump, he begins to act strangely. He starts to cut himself and curse while shaving with the killer's hand. He cracks his kid in the side of the head while wrestling in the family room. He tries to choke out his wife while she's asleep. I found all of this to be really, really funny for some reason. I just couldn't take Fahey's performance seriously. What can I say? It just made me think of the Simpson's episode where Homer gets the hair transplant from Snake the convict. The gore effects where decent, and the sound effects, unusually enough , were very well done, especially the "flesh ripping" sounds that come into play later in the movie. I dare you to keep a straight face when the killer comes back in a neck brace and tries to get his arm back. He is silent except for his mugging face and gurgling sounds as he "takes back what's his". Yeah this movie is "bad", but if that is a good thing to you like it is to me, it's worth seeing. Plus, if you are an unfortunate Blockbuster slave who can't get movies anywhere else, I believe that this is one of the few horror movies they carry that was made before "Scream" and doesn't revolve around Freddy Prinze Jr. or star any Arquette family members. Whatever happened to the talented Mr. Fahey anyway?!

Right from the opening scene, if you let it, this movie will give you goose-bumps. Not that the first scene consisting of two people talking is particularly scary, it is just shot in such a brilliant subtly eerie way (as are all the scenes) that you can't help but be somewhat creeped out. The plot--involving a man receiving a new arm after losing his in a terrible auto accident and discovering that it belonged to a serial killer that happens to want it back--sounds ludicrous, yet somehow Red lets the story unfold seamlessly and realistically and you find yourself believing every detail. This movie is about as intensely spooky as you can get, and every last moment of terror is executed perfectly. Red never lets you relax, because the minute you think things are settling down, something completely unexpected and wonderfully of-beat will leap out of no where are scare you silly. And finally, Body Parts succeeds in the extraordinary-visuals category not by throwing a bunch of flashy special effects in your face, but by remarkably original scenes fantastically constructed from ordinary things that become almost mesmerizing. This is the best horror film I have seen to date (August 20, 2000) and I have seen many. Just remember not to take it all too seriously, because this movie relies on emotions and characters to convey it realistically, not situations or plotting which are more fantastical than real-life based. But if, like myself, you let yourself become completely absorbed in the story, characters, and suspense, you are in for a true treat.

As bad and ridiculous as this movie was, i found the premise compelling and the questions it posed. Jeff Fahey started to look more and more demonic as the movie went on, and his hair changed too. I wouldn't recommend the film, but i think it was horrifying in a Frankensteinian way and fun in the way Blue Velvet was fun, in that dark, film noir kind of way,but Parts was without the aesthetics. I had to laugh because certain scenes reminded me of Robinson Crusoe on Mars, and then in other parts i actually wondered what was going on, like maybe there was a cohesive, tightly woven plot. I think i was mistaken on that. Too bad, the movie sort of had some kind of appeal. Anyone agree? I kind of thought the painter who received the other arm was a classic nut case in a way that was so over the top as to be humorous. I actually felt that his family relationships were kind of honest and touching, even though they saw their dad unraveling. Perhaps one of the highlights of the film.

Happy family man (Jeff Fahey) is in a horrible car wreck and loses an arm. It is replaced with a "donor's" arm. He soon finds out his arm belonged to a vicious executed murderer--and has a mind of its own! I saw this film in a theatre back in 1991. I had no interest in seeing it originally (I personally can't stand Fahey) but some critics gave this rave reviews (!!!). After seeing it I couldn't imagine WHAT they saw in this crap. It hasn't improved 14 years later. OK--this has been done before most notably as "Mad Love" back in 1935. But that film wasn't even remotely serious. This one expects us to believe various body parts can be grafted onto other people AND retain the personality of their owners!!!! It's a stupid premise and we're supposed to take it seriously! That's the main problem with this--it's too ridiculous to take seriously. Also the explanation at the end made little sense. I'm still not sure what was going on--or why. Acting doesn't help. Fahey is good but he's TOO good for such a dumb movie. Kim Delaney is great as his wife--but given little to do. Lindsay Duncan is HORRIBLE as the evil doctor--in a way she's so bad she's kind of fun to watch. Only Brad Dourif is any good. He (wisely) doesn't take his part too seriously and adds a funny spin to his lines. Also this is pretty boring. It moves at a snails pace (even at just 88 minutes) and there's no blood and guts till the last half hour. Unfortunately the "special" effects are unintentionally hysterical--get a good look at the obvious dummy when Dourif is thrown out a window! Silly, dull and REALLY idiotic. This has been mostly forgotten--let's hope it stays that way. I give it a 1.

When I first heard about this movie, I read about the story: Guys gets a killers body-parts, and now "someone" wants them back. Then I studied the cast: the main character was played by Jeff Fahey (who I knew from "The Lawnmower Man" and "Silverado"), and then I saw Brad Dourif (from the "Child's Play"-movies amongst other spooky flicks, like "Alien 4" and "Nightwatch" ). I thought that it would be watchable only because they were in it, but it actually had a quite interesting story, which raised a couple of questions, such as the mysterious nature of body-part-transplanting, and how bad it could go! I think there was some spectacular stunts in this movie, and many original ideas (especially when Fahey gets in a driving vehicle!), and it never really stops being exciting! - The final scenes are pretty gross, but generally I thought that the movie was okay! My rating is 7/10

This was a really good gruesome thriller. Story is self was not all that great, A Guy loses his arm and He get's Killer Arm, which he can not control's at times. I like the fact movie flowed really well, there were not boring at all, there were some very gruesome deaths scenes, near the end of the movie, which I did not expect all at all. I really enjoyed the whole movie, I liked how the story ended. The acting from everyone in cast, well some of cast were really good, there could have been better. I don't know if was the acting or not, his wife really annoyed me at times. Overall I give this movie 7 out of 10 really Good movie.

I love bad movies and even I found this one stupid. A talented screenwriter and director could have done so much with this premise, but instead we are treated to nonsense. What the heck was with that barfight? Did Hal Needham stop by for the day to direct that? I half expected Dom DeLuise to come running out and start bonking people.

The movie wasn't bad. Not spectacular, but not bad. I thought it was pretty scary. Not so much because of the story, but more of how it was presented by Jeff Fahey. It really helps you to get into the movie if the actor is into it. And he definitely was. There are some people that don't have the acting skills to tell the story as it should be. Jeff didn't have that problem and I thought he did well. The story was pretty intense at some moments. It wasn't really far fetched. It kinda makes you wonder how it would be if we could transplant whole body parts. I think that how religious you are would affect how you view it very much. I liked the story because it was based on a good and unexplored idea as of today because we don't have the technology to try it. But it's fun to wonder how the world would react and change if we could do it. You should see it, if you haven't already, at least to know your own thoughts on it. Instead of simply taking mine, you should go find your own. Happy viewing!!!

"Suspension of disbelief" is pushed to stratospheric levels in this turkey. When psychologist Bill Chrushank (Jeff Fahey) loses his right arm in a car accident, the arm of an executed death row inmate is grafted on in its place. The arm works, but mild-mannered, loving family man Bill discovers that the arm is possessed by a force he cannot control. Mark (Peter Murnik) has the murderer's legs, and Remo (Brad Dourif) has the murderer's other arm. Their limbs are also "possessed" by the spirit of the murderer, whose head has been transplanted onto a different body. Now, with the help of the surgeon who wrought this monstrosity, he wants his body parts back so he can reconstitute himself. This piece of drivel has a (you should excuse the expression) distinguished pedigree. 'Les Mains d'Orlac,' a novel by French author Maurice Renard, was made into a 1924 silent film adaptation, 'Orlac Hande', starring Werner Kraus and Colin Clive (yes, Dr. Frankenstein). In 'Mad Love' (1935), brilliant but twisted surgeon Dr. Gogol (Peter Lorre in his U.S. film debut) is obsessed with Yvonne Orlac, a beautiful actress and the wife of renowned pianist Stephen Orlac. Although Dr. Gogol's intense devotion frightens Yvonne, she pleads for his help when her husband's hands are mutilated in a gruesome train wreck. Dr. Gogol emergently grafts the hands of a recently executed murderer onto the ends of the pianist's arms. The operation is a success but Stephen Orlac has a bad feeling about his new hands and his suspicions are confirmed in a series of unsettling incidents. In the 1940 Boris Karloff vehicle "Before I Hang," a crusading doctor is transfused with the blood of a murderer, and he is transformed into a Jekyll-and-Hyde character who can't control his murderous outbursts. Then there was 'The Hands of Orlac' (1960) with Mel Ferrer and a low-budget 1962 version entitled 'Hands of a Stranger' featuring Sally Kellerman in an early screen appearance. 'Body Parts' is based on yet another French novel, 'Choice Cuts' ('Et Mon Tout Est Un Homme') (1965) by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, which apparently won an award (go figure). Jeff Fahey, in the lead role, has never been a particularly satisfying or charismatic screen presence. Only Brad Dourif has some good lines and delivers them with great gusto. However, when his arm is ripped off and his corpse is thrown out a window only to land on a police cruiser, it is so obviously a dummy that it's amusing. Kim Delaney, at the peak of her beauty at age 29, is great to look at, but her acting skills aren't called upon much in this flick. 'Body Parts' also gets the Dubious Achievement Award for Gender Equality in Film in that the mad doctor in this flick is a woman. And although this film is set in New York City, don't expect to see any recognizable New York landmarks except in long shot, because once again the film was actually shot in that great all-purpose American city, Toronto, Ontario.