BODY PARTS [1991]

 DIS-ARM-INGLY FANTASTIC! 

Come on, like you weren't expecting that.  BODY PARTS is a really terrific semi-body horror flick by director Eric Red (whose BAD MOON I watched during last year's Countdown to Halloween) which benefits from excellent performances and solid direction. Criminal psychologist Bill Chrushank is a successful doc with a lovely wife and son who loses an arm in a car crash (spectacularly filmed by Red).  While being wheeled into the operating room, he woozily glimpses another operating table surrounded by a lot of people including armed police.  Before losing consciousness, Bill sees the other man's head being severed.  Turns out this was a convicted serial killer and this was his death sentence; his arms and legs will be used in a radical new transplant method performed by the brilliant Dr. Agatha Webb.  Not knowing this at first, Bill becomes suspicious when his arm begins to act of its own volition and sneaks around uncovering the truth.  He also discovered two other men have also received transplants (the other arm and two legs respectively) from the serial killer as well.  All three men begin experiencing an alarming loss of control with their transplanted limbs and it appears the evil is in the body parts themselves.

Absolutely top notch psychological horror meets body horror film features as excellent lead performance by Jeff Fahey (LOST, PLANET OF TERROR, MACHETE, PSYCHO III) as Bill Chrushank.  But as I stated, everyone in the film gives stellar performances.  The wonderful Lindsay Duncan (UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN, THE REFLECTING SKIN, DOCTOR WHO:  THE WATERS OF MARS) as Dr. Agatha Webb is magnificent ranging from a nurturing warmth to icy coldness throughout the movie.  Kim Delaney (MISSION TO MARS, THE DELTA FORCE, DARKMAN II) as Bill's wife Karen is equally good; especially in the scene where Bill's evil arm backhands their son and Karen flies into a white hot indignant rage and whollops the hell out of Bill.  And one of the recipients of an evil arm is the always superb Brad Dourif whose attitude of "just roll with it" doesn't turn out so well for him.  In addition to the car crash which results in the loss of Bill's arm, there is a second spectacular car chase in which Bill is handcuffed to the villain driving another car; the entire car chase happens with the men handcuffed to each other out the window of their respective cars! 

A really terrific movie I can't recommend highly enough!  Besides, this is the only movie that answers the question:  "Wait a second.  This arm's not going to Guam, is it?"