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Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh AKA Picking Up the Pieces
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - United Kingdom - 88 Films Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (31st January 2016). |
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The Film
 "Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh" (1991) A young couple are about to make out in their car late at night at a park, when unexpectedly a sadistic killer dressed in black pulls them out of the car, and using a power saw, slices off the top of the girl’s head to remove her brain. The boyfriend is unharmed physically but is completely traumatized after having to witness the slaying, and is questioned by the police investigating the scene. On the ground are two detectives - Sweeney Birdwell (played by Jake Dengel) and Joe Blocker (played by Joe Sharkey). Sweeney is fascinated by the disgusting murder, while Joe can’t stomach the sight of the gore. The only clues they have are that the killer wore an Egyptian Fez and that there was a note written in ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics. The trail is leading toward the Egyptian neighborhood, but the two bumbling detectives have a few hurdles to jump, both professionally and personally. At home, Sweeney’s wife (played by Beverly Penberthy) may be more disgusting than the gruesome murder scene. She is a chain smoker leaving cigarette butts in piles in and around the house. Her voice is completely gone so she must use a talkbox to her throat to speak. She bosses Sweeney around a lot, so it is quite clear who metaphorically wears the pants around the house. Joe is living single, severely depressed, and sexually impotent due to trauma from a case from years ago. Their police chief (played by Don Brockett) is not happy with the work or lack of work that Sweeney and Joe are doing. The number of mysterious killings is growing, with the mysterious murderer in black killing with various power tools, such as attaching a vacuum to a victim’s mouth and sucking out her insides, or a nasty killing with an asphalt drill and a stabbing with a parking meter pole. Joe notices that the cases are quite similar to killings that happened years ago in Las Vegas and suspects that the killer may be the same. They ask for detective Taylor that worked on the Las Vegas case to come out to Pittsburgh for help, but unexpectedly his daughter Deedee Taylor (played by Susann Fletcher) comes instead. Her father is missing and she is convinced that his disappearance may be connected to this new killing spree. Although detectives Joe and Sweeney are in no mood to babysit the young meter-maid from Las Vegas, she is their best hope for finding the killer… The slasher film genre was at its peak in creativity in the late 70’s and early 80’s with film series such as “Halloween”, “Friday the 13th”, and “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, and standalone films such as “Maniac”, “Dressed to Kill”, “The Burning” and others brought in audiences as well as detractors from the moral right. Creatively the films were a showcase of special effects, scare tactics and music scores for terrifying atmosphere, though these were rarely considered “critical favorites” by the mainstream critics. But by the late 1980’s the steam had severely run out. Slasher films had become a complete farce and parody genre, with the 1989 released sequels such as “Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers”, “Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan”, and “A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child” being box office bombs, critically trashed, and failed to bring in audiences. Slasher films were borderline comedy films, with films such as “Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers” (1988) and “Child’s Play” (1988) being closer to comedy films for their over-the-top humor and cartoonish style rather than the scary slasher films. “Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh” was released in 1991, the year that the critically acclaimed multiple Oscar winning film “The Silence of the Lambs” was released, taking the slasher film to a level of acceptance never before seen. It was also very serious in tone, rather than the silliness audiences were used to seeing in serial killer films of recent times. Although there was newfound interest in slasher films again, “Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh” was more absurdly comical and closer to “Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers” from a few years back, both in tone and in story. Originally titled “Picking Up the Pieces”, “Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh” was made as an intentional comedy film with guts and gore galore. The biggest attraction for the film to the slasher film genre is the special effects, which were created by effects master Tom Savini whose previous work such as “Martin”, “Dawn of the Dead”, “Creepshow”, and “Day of the Dead” for director George Romero, the original “Friday the 13th”, “Maniac”, and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2” were all standards of high quality makeup effects and gore. But besides Savini, no other major crewmembers were known for horror. Director Dean Tschetter had never directed a film before, only having experience in theater, ballet, and opera on stage prior. None of the producers had much producing experience and none for horror films. Writer Tom Tulley had been an actor in minor roles here and there, but nothing major in the horror genre and this was his first (and only) written story to be made into a film. Savini’s effects are the drawing point of the film, with some extremely nasty effects in the morgue scene, the scalp-removed head in the opening, and the face clawing and melting scene toward the end being specific highlights. Though the effects are very good, compared to the earlier work done in the Romero films, “Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh” falls a little short. Not only that, but the extreme gore didn’t seem to fit together with the comedic nature of the story and characters. Jake Dengel who played Sweeney and Joe Sharkey who played Joe were the main leads were interesting to say the least, but neither really had the charisma or character trait to keep audiences gripped. On the other hand, the character of Deedee Taylor played by Susann Fletcher was the one really moving the plot forward though she was introduced a little late into the film. A film starting with her character and later meeting the two detectives might have made a better narrative structure. Beverly Penberthy playing the chainsmoking Mrs. Birdwell is one of the oddest characters of all, and her side story of going to an extreme rehabilitation clinic is almost like an MTV video rather than scenes derived from a slasher movie. There is actual payoff to her character to the film, but it’s a farcically comical and not necessarily a good payoff that it could have been. Don Brockett who played the angry police chief was a standout performance comically with his crazy hair, obese figure, and very memorable raspy voice. Interestingly, Brocket had a part in “The Silence of the Lambs” released the same year. This could be considered a spoiler so please consider this as being warned! It is depicted on the cover so it doesn’t come as a big surprise that the killer is a woman. Having a woman as a killer was not new, as it had been done before. Going back to films such as “Psycho” (1960), “Dressed to Kill” (1980), “Friday the 13th” (the original and not the sequels), and “Sleepaway Camp” (1983), those films played with the idea of gender and tricking audiences into who the killer was. “Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh” also plays with the gender game, and like the 1988 film “Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers”, both films have a detective (or two) as main characters trying to solve the mystery, connections to human sacrifice via Egyptian mythology, and how both are comically silly and filled with blood and gore. “Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers” was over the top in both blood and laughs, but “Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh” seems to be a little below in both areas. Another thing that hurt was that the film was slightly cut to avoid an R-rating in America, so some of the great special effects such as the sawing of the scalp in the opening were shortened, sadly. In the US, Paramount Pictures released the film theatrically with very little fanfare and quickly disappeared. Note this is a region ALL Blu-ray which can play back on any Blu-ray player worldwide.
Video
88 Films presents the film in 1080p in 1.78:1 in the AVC MPEG-4 codec. This marks the worldwide Blu-ray debut of “Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh”. Sadly, the film does not look that good. There are scratches, specs and even tramlines here and there in some scenes. It’s not terrible but it’s clear that the film has not been restored or kept in very good condition throughout the years. The high definition transfer is quite dark overall. Night scenes and dark details are hard to make out in many scenes, but color stability and detail look quite good. The film was originally matted at 1.85:1 theatrically, but the Blu-ray presents the image in a slightly opened up 1.78:1 ratio. Note that this is the R-rated US theatrical version of the film, running (88:59).
Audio
English LPCM 2.0 stereo The film was originally released in Ultra-Stereo, and the 2.0 audio track replicates that. Although it is technically a stereo film, the film is mostly monaural with slight uses of the stereo separation. The Blu-ray audio track is not perfect either. There are some pops and cracks heard in the soundtrack, but dialogue is easy to understand, and the music comes in loud and clear. It’s good, but not a great track. There are no subtitles provided for the film.
Extras
Interview with Effects Legend Tom Savini (11:22) In this newly conducted interview, Savini talks about how he became attached to the small project, insights into how some of the special effects were created, and how it is still one of the more obscure films in his filmography. in 1080p, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo Animated Stills Gallery (6:05) A series of stills in an automatic slideshow format, with the pulsating and silly theme music playing through. in 1080p, in 1.78:1, in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo Behind the Scenes Footage (14:57) VHS footage of the creation of the special effects, makeup effects, and footage on set. in 1080i 60hz, in 1.33:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono Deleted Scenes (18:40) As mentioned, some scenes were trimmed to get an R-rating, and so some unrated footage is featured here as well as extended scenes. The source is a very old tape, with timecodes shown and the “Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh” logo hardcoded in the video. The picture doesn’t look good: The image is in widescreen, but slightly stretched making everyone look a little fatter than they really are. The image is also windowboxed within a 1.33:1 frame, leaving black bars on all 4 sides of the frame. in 1080i 60hz, in windowboxed 2:00:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono Interview with Dean Tschetter (13:14) In this interview with the director, he admits that he didn’t know much about slasher films before making the film, how his directing background was surprisingly in stage productions. He also gives great anecdotes on the actor’s performances, the atmosphere, and about the jokes and gags. in 1080i 60hz, in 1.33:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono 88 Films Trailer Reel (21:55) “Puppet Master”, “The Pit and the Pendulum”, “Demonic Toys”, “Bloody Birthday”, “Two Moon Junction”, “Dollman”, “Blood Sucking Freaks”, “Puppet Master II”, “Puppet Master III”, “Tourist Trap”, “Castle Freak” in 1080p, in various ratios, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo Some extras from the old US DVD from Power Program were not carried over to the Blu-ray. The DVD had an audio commentary by director Dean Tschetter and producer/star Beverly Penberthy and interviews with Beverly Penberthy and one with Dean Tschetter (differing from the one on the Blu-ray). There were also DVD-ROM features such as the screenplay and storyboards. The newly created extras such as the Savini interview and the VHS behind the scenes footage are great, but it’s a shame the commentary could not be ported over or had a new one recorded.
Packaging
This is the 11th release in the “Slasher Classics Collection” by 88 Films. The case is a red Blu-ray keep case and the artwork is reversible.
Overall
“Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh” is an obscure oddity and that has eluded many slasher film fans for many years. It’s not a genre definer at all and it doesn’t get the laughs that it should but it has some fun and nasty effects that should satisfy genre fans. 88 Films presentation is not spectacular but considering the source materials, they did a good job with the transfer. Get your generators ready!
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