Fall Frights: GOING TO PIECES: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SLASHER FILM (Film Review)

Via Fangoria.com:

In the spirit of Halloween ’09, we’re breaking out reviews (some new, some old) of some Fall Frights you may want to work into your monthly viewing.

GOING TO PIECES – FANGORIA Archives: Originally Published 10/2006

When a documentary tackles a subject as specific, and with such specific appeal, as slasher films, the challenge lies in conveying that attraction to the unconverted while not simply feeding the fans a buffet they’ve already fully sampled. The Starz original GOING TO PIECES: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SLASHER FILM is more successful in offering devotees a gorenucopia of clips and talking heads (still attached to bodies) recounting the subgenre’s history than it likely will be in convincing non-fans that this grisly strain of cinema is a worthy one.

The hour-and-a-half show is based on Adam Rockoff’s book of the same title, which stands as the single best study of stalker cinema ever published. Weaving revelatory interviews with both luminaries (John Carpenter, Sean S. Cunningham) and the less celebrated (Joseph Zito, Tom DeSimone) throughout his text, Rockoff combines the enthusiasm of a fan with clear-eyed assessments of the individual films (it’s nice to find someone else who thinks that SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE, for all its claims as a feminist satire on the subgenre, is no less formulaic and exploitative than many others of its ilk). The Starz adaptation, directed by Jeff McQueen, is less critical, but gives equal face time to the filmmakers listed above (including Carpenter, pictured) and others as it tracks the progression from HALLOWEEN through the many holiday horrors it spawned, the supernatural variations of the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series and the resurgence in SCREAM and its own derivations.

The interviewees, who also include Fango’s own Tony Timpone (and who are frequently, for some reason, taped while walking toward the backward-tracking camera), relate a number of stories that will be familiar to die-hard fans, but a few fresh nuggets are shared; Paul Lynch, for example, reveals that Paramount was outbid for his film PROM NIGHT by Avco Embassy, inspiring the former studio to go after FRIDAY THE 13TH. And for those buffs, there’s an inherent appeal in seeing faces and voices put to names like MY BLOODY VALENTINE and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME producer John Dunning and GRADUATION DAY director “Rabbi Herb Freed.”
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via Fall Frights: GOING TO PIECES: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SLASHER FILM (Film Review).