Spare Parts (1979)

A honeymooning couple stay at a hotel in New Mexico. It all seems normal until an ambulance pulls up and takes the husband away. The wife, with the help of a truck driver, finds the awful secret to the hotel and the ambulance service.

Director:

Rainer Erler

Writer:

Rainer Erler

Stars:

Jutta Speidel, Wolf Roth, Herbert Herrmann

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jutta Speidel	...	Monica
Wolf Roth	...	Bill
Herbert Herrmann	...	Mike
Charlotte Kerr	...	Dr. Jackson
Christoph Lindert	...	The Intern
Bob Cunningham	...	Sergeant
Tedi Altice	...	Motel Owner
Ben Zeller	...	Medic

Storyline

A honeymooning couple stay at a hotel in New Mexico. It all seems normal until an ambulance pulls up and takes the husband away. The wife, with the help of a truck driver, finds the awful secret to the hotel and the ambulance service.

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Plot Keywords:

ambulance | truck driver | car off a bridge | semi truck | roadside motel | 

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Taglines:

They only choose the young and healthy for... SPARE PARTS

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Did You Know?

Goofs

Monica and Mike leave their motel room at sunset. When Monica returns to the room after Bill is abducted and looks out the window at the ambulance, daylight can be seen through the windows even though it is dark outside when the ambulance itself is shown.

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Connections

Remade as Deadly Harvest (2008)

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Soundtracks

How Much Is Anyone Worth
Written by Donald Arthur
Music by Eugen Thomass
Performed by Ronnie L. Williams

User Reviews

Feeble conspiracy thriller

I was drawn to watch this movie in part because it was a foreign production filmed and set in America, and that promised that the movie would have a unique angle. The portrayal of America is surprisingly balanced - there is a deep and deadly conspiracy in the story, but the movie does give us plenty of innocent and helpful American characters at the same time. Unfortunately, this interesting balance is about the only good thing I can say about the movie. Certainly I can't blame the filmmakers for the atrocious dubbing, but they are guilty of other things. At 105 minutes, the movie is way too long (and slow) for its own good. Along this tedious journey are some real unbelievable plot elements like the fact the protagonists don't consider contacting the police until very late into the story. The movie is also directed with no sense of style, with no tension or any great feelings coming from the movie at any moment - it always feel flat. It's capped off with one of the worst opening/closing credits songs I have ever heard in a motion picture. There is the occasional hint of a decent (though not original) thriller here, but as a whole it simply does not work.

Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

21 May 1979 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Spare Parts

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pentagramma, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min 104 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1