Murder-Set-Pieces (2004)

Some films, regardless of their content, come with a certain degree of built-in credibility. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, for instance (an undeniable classic, don't get me wrong) is largely seen as one of film's greatest masterpieces, and it is characterized as a masterfully-crafted psychological thriller, distinguished by its artful cinematographic signature, its talented and sensitive cast, and the writing and realization of Norman Bates, a character whose distinct personality and harrowing believability have made Psycho an iconic horror film. Some films, on the other hand, come fresh from the studio with a big label pasted right on the front, saying, in big block letters, one word which perfectly describes Nick Palumbo's 2004 exploitation film Murder-Set-Pieces:

SCHLOCK.

The basic premise of Murder-Set-Pieces takes very little explanation: a psychotic neo-Nazi German immigrant, struggling with deep-rooted psychological issues, takes to habitually kidnapping young women, engaging them in rough sex and then brutally murdering and eviscerating them, taking pictures throughout the process. In the midst of all this stands the younger sister of this killer's girlfriend. From the very start, our young protagonist recognizes something strange about her sister's boyfriend, but can she manage to make her sister listen to her worries before it's too late?

I'll spare you the 82 minutes of eye-rolling and impatient sighing that you'll undoubtedly engage in should you watch this movie: no. The little girl's friend gets kidnapped, the little girl goes to the murderer's house (presumably to kill him?,) the little girl finds the man covered in blood, a fight ensues and she stabs him with a pair of scissors and runs away. Cut to an incredibly vague and confusing ending where the murderer sits on a bus and makes eyes with a young woman before raising his camera to his face, suggesting to the audience that he will kill again. Done.

If it sounds painfully derivative to you, then you've seen enough slasher movies to know that there are really few surprises to be had here. The film has nudity, bloodshed, and plenty of terrible acting (mostly from the young Jade Risser, the protagonist of the film, who seems to read her lines without fully understanding what's going on around her,) which is all par for the course with exploitation films such as this, and frankly, there's very little here which makes it special. There is gore, but it's presented in such a way as to make the violence especially mundane, and the themes which underscore the plot (mostly revolving around the psychology of a killer, and the done-to-death exploration of the supposedly-inexorable connection between violence and sexuality) are both predictable and underutilized.

All of this isn't to say, however, that there isn't fun to be had during the movie. First of all, despite the dreadful acting from the protagonist (and we ought to forgive her, because she's young and the part wasn't written particularly well anyway,) I must say that Sven Garrett, the too-insane-to-not-love antagonist, is a lot of fun to watch. His performance is over the top and entirely sincere, and so it's hard not to be compelled by his scenes--and luckily, he gets the majority of the screen time. He portrays his character (who has a tendency to make horrific objets d'art out of his victims, Ed Gein style,) as a metrosexual psychopathic photographer with an obsession with Nazism and physical fitness, and he pulls it off with genuine intensity and a believability factor that is surprisingly effective. Tony Todd (most famous for his role in Candyman, as the antagonist) also makes an appearance, here as the owner of an adult bookstore, where the Photographer stops to request a copy of a film called The Nutbag (an earlier film by Palumbo, and here portrayed as a genuine snuff film,) right before a shootout in which everyone, save for the Photographer, dies. It's a fun scene, and Tony Todd is great as always.

I also have to point out that the cinematography in Murder-Set-Pieces is genuinely great, especially for an independent film shot on such a low budget. The camera work is purposeful, artful, and effective, and there are points in the film where actual tension is genuinely felt--this is helped very much by the exquisite cinematography. The soundtrack, also, is great, and makes great use of industrial and hardcore music. The soundtrack really helps to give the film (especially the scenes which follow the Photographer through his fetishistic exploits) a gritty, midnight-movie atmosphere, and I commend the filmmaker for his use of incidental music.

In addition to these qualities, I'd also like to commend the filmmaker for making a film which is, frankly, somewhat ambitious. In most films in this genre, we tend to follow the protagonist around for an hour and a half while she (and it's almost always a young woman) watches her friends die all around her. In Murder-Set-Pieces, we spend most of the film following the antagonist, getting a view on his mind and his history, and getting a unique take on the psychology of a serial killer. Thus, Murder-Set-Pieces really is, in a practical sense, more of a psychological thriller than anything else, although the copious gore (which, by the way, is produced masterfully by Toe Tag Productions) really sends home the message that, at heart, it desperately wishes to be a splatter picture. The story-telling itself also tends to be rather experimental and non-linear: we see the Photographer killing a woman in his basement, followed by a trippy flashback to his youth where he (as a very creepy little boy) watches a young woman (and this plot point is never explained) make seductive gestures towards him. Cut to footage of the 9/11 attacks (this, too, is never explained). Cut to the little girl, struggling through her lines again. Cut to the Photographer, working out in his killing-room. The editing is spastic, fast-paced and non-linear, and this, I'll admit, is fairly ambitious. The pacing in general, by the way, is very good, and you will not be bored throughout, even if you do find yourself alternating between cursory laughs and heavy sighs throughout.

In general, Murder-Set-Pieces is schlock. It maintains a pretty shallow profile throughout, even though it may suggest depth at some points. The acting is terrible (even from Sven Garrett--I said he was fun to watch, that doesn't mean his acting was good.) The story is trite and predictable, and executed in ways we have all seen before, too many times. Despite these points, I will say that it's a fun movie to watch, as long as you refrain from taking it too seriously. What I see here is a fairly ambitious feature from a relatively young independent filmmaker, with some interesting ideas and some very good cinematography. It may be shallow and predictable, but there is still a lot of entertainment to be had.

5/10

Day One

Welcome, readers, to The Movie Geek's Hideout. My name's Jon, I am a current freshman at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD, and since I was young I've loved three things very, very much: rock music, hamburgers, and the cinematic arts. I can't say for sure what it is that first sparked my love affair with film (except for the obvious fact that most of us love movies--they're an integral aspect of contemporary culture, and have been throughout the 20th and 21st centuries) but for as long as I have had the capability to spend my time watching and enjoying movies, I have done so quite vigorously. Growing up, (and to this day,) some of my favorites have included the original Star Wars trilogy, Gremlins, the 1933 King Kong, the Back to the Future trilogy, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Over time, my tastes expanded quite rapidly and I developed a fairly eclectic and open-minded taste for movies. Some of my current and long-standing favorites, in addition to the ones listed above, are Dirty Harry, Pulp Fiction, The Big Lebowski, Apocalypse Now, Sleeper, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Forbidden Planet, Cool Hand Luke, Rear Window and Double Indemnity. I have also never been one to shy away from exploitation films, monster movies and various other "guilty pleasures," and so I am also an avid fan of the Godzilla (or Gojira, for the sake of inclusiveness) series of films, and pictures such as Reefer Madness and The Last House on the Left. Lately I have also developed a passing interest in horror movies, and I have always loved oddball comedies, chase movies, detective movies and science fiction. In all, I have seen many movies, and to list all of the ones I have liked would certainly take more time, patience and space than I have on hand right now. At any rate, below is a tentative list of reviews and features to come, and I hope that this most recent venture of mine will come to be fruitful for me and for you, my readers. Assuming that I end up having readers. Which is not a definite outcome.

Anyway, and in no particular order, here is what you should be looking forward to as a reader of The Movie Geek's Hideout:

-Review of Patton
-Review of Bullitt
-Review of Raising Arizona
-Review of Friday the 13th
-Review of Phantasm
-Review of Event Horizon
-Review of Dragonslayer
-Review of Suspiria
-Review of Heavy Metal
-Review of The Last House on the Left (1972)
-Review of From Beyond

~Jon