Search - Murder Set Pieces on DVD

Chad B. (abrnt1) from CABERY, IL
Reviewed on 1/22/2010...

One of the worst horror films I have ever seen. A pointless movie that drags on without any focus whatsoever. Makes Day of the Dead 2 & Plan 9 From Outer Space seem like film masterpieces. The removed footage couldn't help this abomination. It's incompetent filmmaking at it's worst. The film is a boring waste of time. BTW I watched the unrated version of the film and the gore efx were awful.

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Cut to pieces... Avoid like the Plague... Get the Original D

dooby | 02/16/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I wasted $20 buying this Lion's Gate DVD from Amazon. Don't make the same mistake. This DVD is the severely mangled, MPAA-sanitized version with 22mins of footage cut out to achieve the required R-rating. There is no earthly reason to buy this R-rated version. Murder, Set, Pieces is not Shakespeare; it is not some great artistic masterpiece; it is a nasty, brutal slasher/gore flick. You are going to watch this for the nastiness and the gore, not for some deep psychological insight. It does deliver the goods but only in the unrated Director's Cut, not in this lame R-rated version which has every element of gore and nastiness painstakingly snipped out. In the end I had to fork out another $29 to order the original Uncut Director's Cut (Fright Flix Productions) from Xploited Cinema. For some unfathomable reason Amazon does not stock the Director's Cut.



Both versions present the film in its original 1.85:1 widescreen. Sadly both version are NON-anamorphic (not enhanced for widescreen TV). The sound quality is very good but there was a problem with the DD 5.1 mix on my Lion's Gate DVD. The audio seemed to skip repeatedly, with glitches and flubs especially prominent during the dialogue sequences. In the end I had to resort to the alternate Dolby Stereo track which was fine by contrast. No problems with the Fright Flix audio. Both versions feature a full-length commentary by Nick Palumbo and actor Sven Garrett, moderated by "Ultra Violent" managing editor, Art Ettinger. However the Director's Cut also comes with a separate video Introduction by Writer/Producer/Director Nick Palumbo. The Director's Cut also includes a Deleted Scenes segment which is absent from Lion's Gate's R-rated release.



Note: The 5-star reviews on this site refer to the uncut version. The MPAA-mangled Lion's Gate version belongs in the garbage bin."

A would be cult classic hacked to pieces

romir | 01/11/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I've read all the user reviews and it would really be nice if they would point out which version they watched cause it sure as hell was'nt the R version.I can't feel but shear disapointment after watching this version of the film.because it becomes quickly apparent that it was literally hacked to pieces.leaving what I assume is just enough to qualify as a movie.I would almost bet that you'll see more disturbing images and subject matter in saw 3 then this.

so hey dont worry watch on cause there's nothing controversial left in the R version unless your easily offended by subject matter or shots of the burning trade towers.cause as far as explicit violence goes it's not here."

A word on censorship.

Andrew MacEwen | 12/28/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"You people are missing the point: ANY horror movie that has 20 minutes removed is likely to be destroyed in its impact. It could be a power-of-suggestion film like The Haunting or The Innocents and this rule will still hold true. A film like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, as intelligent and well-rounded as it is, will become fractured and frustrating, because the key sequences upon which the rest of the film hinges will have been removed. No aficionado of art cinema will view a censored version of Salo, because the removal of the offending portions will severely hamper the integrity of the work (i.e., the film as an integrated whole). Furthermore, there are horror classics, such as the best of Lucio Fulci's films, that are completely structured around the gore set-pieces; and while these films are wonderful phantasmagoric experiences, if you remove the gore, the whole edifice tumbles down like a house of cards.



I'm not naïve, I'm well aware of what Murder-Set-Pieces is: a bottom-line freak show, with nothing else to recommend it apart from consistently good photography. And it's true that the removal of so much footage will do even more damage to such a film as this than usual. But I can't overstress that the idea of censorship is equally unacceptable whether the offending material in question is the human dartboard from Bloodsucking Freaks or the blinding of Gloucester from King Lear.



Okay, so maybe I've overstated the point. But I think it can use some overstating.

"