Today, the idea of body horror likely brings to mind a certain kind of terror and imagery: the warped mutated flesh of David Cronenberg’s films, The Thing’s grotesque aberrations of the human form, the torturous extremity of Martyrs or the bodily degradation of Todd Haynes’ Safe. Arguably, one could trace that fear to Frankenstein and its monster crafted of desecrated corpses (a grisly idea director Brian Yuzna would take to its ultimate conclusion in his Bride of Re-Animator.) Horror cinema forefather Robert Wiene – of German Expressionist classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari fame – also provided a milestone to the history of body horror with 1924’s The Hands of Orlac; its plot of an accident victim receiving new hands transplanted from a killer and fearing that their murderous intent is corrupting him has been remade a number times in the nearly 100 years since. But only one remake can boast that it reimagines that devilish premise as a ‘90s action-splatter flick.
Body Parts opens with a visceral highway pile-up that leaves police psychologist Bill (Jeff Fahey) with a severely damaged right arm; and in retrospect, these details gain a disturbingly ominous air in light of director/writer Eric Red’s own deadly car crash a decade later. Thankfully – or rather not, considering subsequent events – a doctor in the field of experimental transplants is able to restore Bill’s arm via a prototype graft. It’s not long until gruesome visions begin plaguing his nightmares and the new limb begins unconsciously acting with sadistic violence that leaves his family terrified. Maybe it could have something to do with the arm’s death row tattoos?
The first hour pays strong homage to Body Parts’ origins, embracing the psychological fears in losing control via other flesh while delving into the mystery of other transplant recipients and their haunted limbs with increasingly gory pulpiness. Once legs with a mind of their own nearly cause a fatal car crash, all bets are off on what madcap consequences the movie will unleash next. With the haggard Fahey in the lead and great support from Brad Dourif, as a painter whose limb has brought him artistic success, Red gradually escalates the unease from unnatural twitches in the limbs to an action blowout of a final act.
Kicking off that tonal shift with a chaotic bar brawl, Body Parts takes cues from more outrageous remakes of Hands of Orlac (specifically 1935’s comedy remake Mad Love) to erupt with gory mayhem. The arrival of a neck-brace-wearing stranger never ends well in any version of this story, and Red dives headlong into a growing body count and intense vehicular carnage. Psychological intrigue is eschewed for a suspension-rattling chase between handcuff-linked cars and limb-tearing shotgun blasts. Red would go on to explore action and gore with his werewolf picture Bad Moon (1996) among others, but never again to this degree. With its gonzo gore-splashed finale, Body Parts reaches even further back to evoke Frankenstein’s patchwork man. Fans of absurd premises embraced with gritty aplomb, of action-horror hybrids and of practical splatter effects will find something enjoyable about Body Parts.
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