Body Parts is a horror film I grew up watching. My uncle taped it off The Movie Network onto VHS many, many years ago and I would watch it over and over again. There was just something about the film I couldn’t get enough of and even today after checking it out on Blu-ray from Scream Factory, I still love the film so damn much.
Body Parts is written and directed by Eric Red, who has written a few other fantastic horror films (The Hitcher, Near Dark) and after directing Body Parts, he went on to do another enjoyable horror film, Bad Moon (also on Blu-ray from Scream Factory). It stars Jeff Fahey as Bill Chrushank, a doctor who is trying to figure out to rehabilitate criminals. On his way into work one day, he gets in an accident and loses his arm. A doctor transplants an entirely functional arm, but unbeknownst to Bill, the arm belongs to a mass murderer. Bill isn’t the only one to receive body parts, as Chucky himself, Brad Dourif, gets the other arm, and another guy gets the legs. However, it seems Bill is the only one that is being affected by the transplant, experiencing terrifying nightmares and an arm that sometimes does its own thing. As Bill investigates further, bodies start piling up and the doctor who performed the surgeries may be involved in something nefarious.
What makes Body Parts so enjoyable is the buildup to the insanity of the third act, where things really go crazy. Logic is thrown out the window and we have some gnarly scenes of dismemberment and tanks full of body parts. Top it off with Jeff Fahey’s insanity being proportionate to how wacky his hair looks, and you have an early ’90s horror film that most will end up loving. Sure, some stuff doesn’t make much sense, such as a certain detective showing up at convenient moments. Also, Brad Dourif could have been in the film a bit more and I wouldn’t have complained. Lastly, I would have enjoyed more scenes of Bill’s arm doing some crazy shit besides the little we saw.
Blu-ray
Scream Factory released Body Parts on a Blu-ray that is sporting a solid enough transfer that shouldn’t disappoint most people (myself included). Paramount is one of those companies that rarely want to spend any more money on a new transfer, so what you get is what you get. Luckily, the transfer isn’t terrible. Audio options include a DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 track. I quite enjoyed the 5.1 track, which is quite loud and clear of any sort of discernible issues.
Special features almost make this release worthy of Collector’s Edition branding, sporting a 52-minute interview with director Eric Red which is highly informative and provides all sorts of background information on the film. Other features include interviews with actors Paul Ben-Victor and Peter Murnik, editor Anthony Redman, and a new commentary with Eric Red. We also get deleted gore scenes with optional commentary. The footage is rough, taken from a workprint, but fun to check out. Trailers and a Still Gallery are what’s left to watch.
Extra Features
- NEW Audio Commentary With Director Eric Red
- NEW I Dare You To Read The Script – An Interview With Director Eric Red (HD; 52:15)
- NEW Something Unstoppable – An Interview With Actor Paul Ben-Victor (HD; 13:40)
- NEW Molded For Cinema – An Interview With Actor Peter Murnik (HD; 17:14)
- NEW That One Hurt – An Interview With Editor Anthony Redman (HD; 22:32)
- Deleted Gore Footage With Optional Commentary With Director Eric Red (unrestored HD; 10:03)
- Trailers (unrestored HD; 4:07)
- Still Gallery (no chapter breaks; 2:44)
Verdict
Some people may not like the third act of Body Parts going crazy and absurd, but I still enjoy it today as much as I did when I was a wee lad. Scream Factory jams a bunch of new interviews on a solid Blu-ray package that will please plenty of fans of the film.
