Bloodsucking Pharoahs in Pittsburgh

Alternate titles : Picking up the Pieces

Tagline : "The Cannibalistic Crazies with a Deadly Appetite for Life!"

A madman with a petrol generator and a selection of electric power tools is stalking the streets of Pittsburgh, carving up various young couples, prostitutes and demented old ladies in loving detail and taking their body organs.

Investigating these bizarre killings are detectives Joe Blocker and Sweeney Birdwell (Joe Sharkey and Jake Dengal), a couple of bungling idiots, who the police chief despises with a vengeance. One of them, Blocker, dealt with a similar case in Las Vegas and is alarmed at the slew of similar killings in his new home town.

Sending for his former partner to help him look into this new case, he's surprised when the daughter Deedee (Susan Fletcher) turns up instead with news that he's since disappeared and she's convinced this is somehow connected to the Pittsburgh murders.

As the killer is leaving behind notes for the police in hieroglyphics they begin to investigate the Nefertiti restaurant in the city's Egyptian district (they have an Egyptian district?) which is run by the mysterious Jackie Cairo, but what would he want with all these bodily organs?

Borrowing elements from "Blood Feast", the film sadly misfires on the comedy side of things, and on the whole is rather dull. The special effects, believe it or not, where by Tom Savini, though with one exception, aren't particularly gory. But as this was being released by a major studio they probably cut a lot out of it.

All in all, the film proves to be mildly entertaining, but pails in comparison to other horror comedies of this ilk.

Overall Marks :  4/10.

Terrifying Trivia

• The original title of the film was "Picking up the Pieces", but the producer felt it wasn't catchy enough so changed it prior to release..
• The special effects in this were provided by Tom Savini, who is well known for his effects work on George Romero's zombie films, as well as films like "The Burning" and "Friday the 13th".
• The films budget was $250,000.
• The role of Sweeny Birdwell's wife, Emma, was played by producer Beverly Penberthy.
• Filmed on location in Pittsburgh, though doesn't utilise any notable locations.
• Apparently director Dean Tschetter fell out with one of the producers after the film was completed, as he had the final say on how the film was to be editied and he disliked the final cut. Though he is still credited on the film print, promotional materials credited the director under the "Alan Smithee" pseudoname.
• The stunt co-ordinator on this was Savini's friend Taso Stavrakis, who he worked with on both "Dawn of..." and "Day of the Dead". Taso also plays the role of Semmet Cairo, who the Vegas cops gun down during the flashback scene..
• Pat Logan, who plays Lober the restaurant chef, also played the zombie Uncle Rege in the 1990 "Night of the Living Dead" remake.
• Several of the killings were originally longer and bloodier, but where trimmed by the US ratings board. These were included as extras on the long out-of-print US DVD from Power Programs and current UK BD release from 88films. Strangely, they were left intact in the old Japanese VHS from Pack-In Video, which looked like it may have been authored from a workprint version, as it also retained the original title "Picking up the Pieces".

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