Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh (1991)

Two cops and a detective's daughter go after a chainsaw killer.

Director:

Dean Tschetter

Writers:

Dean Tschetter, Tom Tully (story)

Stars:

Jake Dengel, Joe Sharkey, Susann Fletcher

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jake Dengel	...	Sweeney Birdwell
Joe Sharkey	...	Joe Blocker
Susann Fletcher	...	Deedee Taylor
Beverly Penberthy	...	Erma Birdwell
Veronica Hart	...	Grace (as Jane Esther Hamilton)
Shawn Elliott	...	Jackie Cairo
Pat Logan	...	Lober
Don Brockett	...	Police Chief 'Buzz Saw' Ryan
Robert Stoeckle	...	Gus Klimt
John S. Moyer	...	Unfortunate Boy in Car (as John Moyer)
Jhonnie Marie Sims	...	Unfortunate Girl in Car (as Johnnie Marie McCague)
Richard M. Sieg	...	Police Caterer
Jerry Ross	...	Healthy Waiter
Bob Perkins	...	Television Reporter
Debra Gordon	...	Mavis the Wet Hooker

Storyline

Two cops and a detective's daughter go after a chainsaw killer.

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Plot Keywords:

chainsaw | camel | woman shot in the forehead | wagon | mummy | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 May 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Picking Up the Pieces

Filming Locations:

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$250,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

References Blood Feast (1963)

User Reviews

Odd horror comedy

Strange movie, part slasher, part parody, part detective story. The idea of mad killer murdering people and keeping bloody souvenirs in order to satisfy bloodlust of ancient Egyptian god is somewhat reminiscent of H.G.Lewis' Blood Feast (of course, Fuad Ramses didn't use power tools). The director borrowed a few ideas from various horror movies and tried to create crazy combination of black humor and thrills, but it is obvious that he wasn't too familiar with the genre. Mr. Tschetter mentions The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or films by H.G.Lewis as the main inspirations for Picking Up The Pieces in the commentary track of Bloodsucking Pharaohs DVD. He also talks about being shocked when he first watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and when he found out that such movies as Herschell's gore epics really existed. Picking Up The Pieces is a horror comedy as directed by an artist usually involved in producing Shakespearian theater plays.It is professionally shot and occasionally amusing but most jokes don't work. Blocker and Birdwell- two cops with lots of personal problems trying to catch insane murderer, are quite interesting duo- Blocker throwing up each time he glimpses blood and Birdwell provoking his buddy by mentioning Blocker's embarrassing sexual problem. Some parts of the movie are played out completely serious, other parts that could be taken from Naked Gun or Airplane!, for example the flashback scene explaining Blocker's trauma from the past, don't seem to fit in the film. The violence is quite tame,but the DVD is surprisingly cut by MPAA although killings consist of shots of murderer manipulating with power saw (or some other tool) and shots of splashing blood. Tom Savini provided one rubber corpse with the top of the cranium sawed off and one neat melting scene. During the final showdown between cops and the killer even good old chainsaw makes an appearance. Unfortunately, nobody is hacked to pieces.