Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987) & Pieces (1982) - Halfway to HalloRe'ewind - Episode 119

Do not adjust your calendars - Matt and Devlin have jumped the gun by six months with this Halfway to HalloRe’ewind double bill - a very special episode where we pitch to horror film agnostic Patrick two tenuously connected 1980s slashers in the Canuxploitation sequel-in-name-only Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II and the Spanish-American co-produced mayhem of Pieces.

In Devlin’s choice Hello Mary Lou, the vengeful spirit of a would-be 1950s Prom Queen escapes containment in then-modern-day 1987 Hamilton High, seeking a vessel through which to ruthlessly reclaim her position atop the social totem pole, and seek out the jilted boyfriend who was responsible for her fiery public death - now the high school principal played by Canadian icon Michael Ironside. Pairing Nightmare on Elm Street-esque, phantasmagoric practical effects, Catholic sexual repression, and teen high melodrama, this film came relatively late in the slasher cycle, and emerged as a cineliterate magpie of the decade’s tropes.

Matt’s pick Pieces sees a chainsaw-wielding maniac seek out pretty women to carve up and reconstruct into a corpsey jigsaw on a college campus in a suitably sleazy example of the relatively early days of the slasher subgenre. A mysterious madman, ludicrous giallo-aping death scenes, buckets of gore, and foxy undercover tennis detectives mark a wild cult classic from the video nasty era.

Judge Patrick (residing) assesses the films’ merits and the pleas of the panel, as Devlin and Matt make their case to get fresh eyes on some springtime slashing.

Head to rewindmoviecast.com for an introductory essay by Matt! And as always, merchandise and movie shirts, hoodies, totes and more are available at devlindoesdrawing.teemill.com, including our new Slasher Tropes Bingo artwork.

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