Redundant and unnecessary.
A waste of 90 minutes of my life
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
View MoreOne of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
View More"Bloodsucking Pharaohs from Pittsburgh" is a fine if only adequate cheese-fest.**SPOILERS**Following a brutal murder, Sgt. Joe Blocker, (Joe Sharkey) is assigned to a case with his partner Sgt. Sweeney Birdwell, (Jake Dengel) due to the similarity to another case of his years ago. When it becomes apparent that the killer is even using the same means as before, wearing Egyptian paraphernalia to hide the identity and taking only a single body part from victims while leaving a note in Egyptian hieroglyphics detailing the crime, he becomes even more despondent over what's happening despite the assurances of Deedee Taylor, (Susann Fletcher) his old partner's daughter. As the deaths continue and Police Chief 'Buzz Saw' Ryan, (Don Brockett) screaming at them for results to end the rampage, they play a hunch on who the killer is and are surprised to find that it reveals the killer's ploy, using the body parts in a form of ritual to bring to life an Egyptian War Goddess for his own agenda. Now knowing what to go up against, they race to stop him before he completes his plans.The Good News: This one here is a really fun and enjoyable cheese-fest that has a couple good moments for it. The main one is the cheese level that is portrayed here is a lot of fun. From the numerous jokes about the past to the scenes of confusion to the yelling and so much more, it makes for a lot of really fun times to be had from it's goofiness. The storyline doesn't hurt either, and there's some good times to be had from it's outlandish gore as well. This one has a really nice set of kills in here, that are just gory enough to matter for gore-hounds as well as making them so cartoon-ish and fun that there's more fun to be had from them as well. There's a decapitation with a giant ceremonial staff, having a jackhammer saw off both legs, a hacksaw slicing open a stomach, a victim found with their brains scooped out, using a vacuum cleaner to suck out the digestive tract and eyeballs, being crushed inside a giant hydraulic press and being exposed to acid, melting the skin off the face in a long, extended sequence with really messy, gory results. There's a lot of fun from these scenes and it has some really great moments with the cheesy gore on display. The detective work on the killer is also surprisingly watchable, not really excellent but well-done and certainly there for it's best moments. By not really slowing down the plot but actually keeping it moving along, as well as making it feel really interesting and not too bogged down and dull. The last real good part is the action-packed finale, which is great if only able to get over the enormous amount of information presented and having enough good parts to make it fun, exciting and really interesting. These here make the film entertaining.The Bad News: This one here doesn't have too many flaws, but there are a few. The scenes with the wife in the smoking center would be the biggest ones. Granted, they do give off a few really good gags and provide some laughs, that's their only purpose in the film. They're shamelessly inserted into the film merely to give it some laughs and play off the cheesy nature of the film, and take up space in the running time with their cheesiness that really sticks out for no reason to be included. Aside from the comedy, having it in the film is where it loses it's energy. The other flaw is that the ending comes across as way too packed for it's own good. There's a lot of information doled out in a short space of time, which wouldn't have happened had the scenes in the smoker's center been eliminated and actual scenes to move the plot along put in it's place. That would've worked fine and fixed these two flaws. Otherwise, these here are all that hold the film down.The Final Verdict: A rather entertaining cheese-fest, hurt mainly by very little flaws and only it's relatively high cheese-factor to lower it down. Check it out if interested in those kinds of films or if there's something in that generally appeals to the viewer, but if the cheese-fest style doesn't appeal then seek caution.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language and Brief Nudity
View MoreStrange movie, part slasher, part parody, part detective story. The idea of mad killer murdering people and keeping bloody souvenirs in order to satisfy bloodlust of ancient Egyptian god is somewhat reminiscent of H.G.Lewis' Blood Feast (of course, Fuad Ramses didn't use power tools). The director borrowed a few ideas from various horror movies and tried to create crazy combination of black humor and thrills, but it is obvious that he wasn't too familiar with the genre. Mr. Tschetter mentions The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or films by H.G.Lewis as the main inspirations for Picking Up The Pieces in the commentary track of Bloodsucking Pharaohs DVD. He also talks about being shocked when he first watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and when he found out that such movies as Herschell's gore epics really existed. Picking Up The Pieces is a horror comedy as directed by an artist usually involved in producing Shakespearian theater plays.It is professionally shot and occasionally amusing but most jokes don't work. Blocker and Birdwell- two cops with lots of personal problems trying to catch insane murderer, are quite interesting duo- Blocker throwing up each time he glimpses blood and Birdwell provoking his buddy by mentioning Blocker's embarrassing sexual problem. Some parts of the movie are played out completely serious, other parts that could be taken from Naked Gun or Airplane!, for example the flashback scene explaining Blocker's trauma from the past, don't seem to fit in the film. The violence is quite tame,but the DVD is surprisingly cut by MPAA although killings consist of shots of murderer manipulating with power saw (or some other tool) and shots of splashing blood. Tom Savini provided one rubber corpse with the top of the cranium sawed off and one neat melting scene. During the final showdown between cops and the killer even good old chainsaw makes an appearance. Unfortunately, nobody is hacked to pieces.
View MoreI rented this movie several years ago solely because I could not pass up on a movie with this title. And believe me baby, it delivered! I am a huge fan of B-movies and this is one of the best. It had a great mix of humor and horror that isn't seen enough in this millennium. The plot was a little non-sensical but who cares? The Murders were carried out in such outrages situations as an electric (yes extension cord needed) piece of lawn care equipment, butchering a victim in a telephone booth. Rock On! The lead characters are an odd couple detective duo and the movie does a great job of poking fun at this formula. The one detective is a grizzled veteran and his partner is a weak stomached sissy. Let the carnage and puke flow! The character of the wife was also humorous. Well anyone who needs to use a voice box at any point in anything is what I would consider funny. If you are a fan of the old time Z-movie of the B-movie horror Comedy pick this movie up. You will be seriously surprised by it's quality!
View MoreThis film is a waste of 90 minutes of your life. Originally titled "Picking Up The Pieces". The production values are terrible, the acting is horrendous, the characters unlikeable and the story is lame. For God's sake, one of the leads is Jane Hamilton (aka porno star Veronica Hart) and does she bare any flesh? Heck no.This film is promoted as a black comedy but the script is so unfunny that it fails this category. The gore scenes are so amatuerish that Tom Savini must have used the entire SFX budget on the one good effect (a flesh ripping scene.) Pittsburgh offers so many great locations and none are used in this film. The music is cheesy. Don't get me wrong-this movie is not one of those so-bad-it's good flix. This is a stinker thru and thru. When you're laying on your deathbed you'll wish you had this 90 minutes back.
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