Murder-Set-Pieces (2004) User Reviews

From the "Naked Dead Girl Cult" school of juvenile film-making...

[Maciste_Brother · 3/10 · 30 January 2006]

Here's my review of the "controversial" MURDER SET PIECES:

Story: beefy German-speaking serial killer murders tons of naked women in Las Vegas. For 90 minutes, we see various naked women getting killed by the serial killer. The women are tortured, sliced, diced, chainsawed, etc, to death.

That's it.

There's very little attempt to create suspense or understanding into the few characters populating this claustrophobic flick. It's all surface. No depth whatsoever. And any level of realism in MSP was thrown out of the window because the abysmal acting, certainly from all the bimbos. I mean, we are talking HG Lewis level of acting here.

The main actor, Sven Garrett, was OK but he's definitely not a seasoned pro. He looked more like he belonged in the WWE than a horror film. The lack of coaching or practice, which is standard in low budget films, was evident with Garrett. For instance, he was totally unconvincing as a photographer. I'm sure he never held a 35mm camera in his entire life before making the film. He should have spent a bit more time researching for his role than doing weights at the gym. Oddly enough though, the casting of Garrett is one of the few "original" aspects about MSP. Garrett is a somewhat good-looking, somewhat Neantherdal looking (depending on which angle he's shot from). Unlike MANIAC or DON'T GO IN THE HOUSE type of films, where the psycho is always homely, the director probably thought having a hunky serial killer would make sense due to the humongous amount of women murdered in MSP. His presence and the director's intent to show off his physique are the only things that contrast with the plethora of naked girls in the film. This includes the pointless scene with Garrett in a swimsuit and having visions of 9/11.

The serial killer's psychosis is confused and, like the rest of the movie, hopelessly muddled and badly written. Why does he kill all these women? Because is grandfather was a Nazi? In one scene, you see him chew on a corpse. Is he a cannibal? Is he a Neo-Nazi cannibal? He also has sex with his victims while he kills and tortures them. Does this mean he can't get it up without blood or violence? Is he a an impotent Neo-Nazi cannibal?

If it wasn't for the really bad acting on the women's part, the movie and the level of violence towards women seen in it would have been impossible to watch. The ONLY truly "disturbing" aspect of MSP is the unrelenting violence made towards women, which is numbing. The women all blend together and I couldn't tell who he was killing after a while. Just look at the film's credit to see the number of anonymously named women written for this flick: Basement Girl #2, Hooker #3, High Chair Girl #1, Tree Girl #2, Dildo Girl #1, etc. Because the violence made towards women is so unrelenting (I've lost count after 20 minutes into the movie...) but also because of what is left out of the landscape: we basically only see the beefy psycho killing naked, screaming women. We see almost nothing else. Are there any other people out there? Whatever happened to the scene with the medium/card reader seen in the trailer? This somewhat minimalist approach to the "story", more to do with the director's complete inability to come up with any other idea than killing naked women, accidentally creates the film's only distinctive quality, and indirectly, the film's unrelenting violence shown towards women became more and more disturbing as it went along. Disturbing because I suddenly realized that what I was watching was something clearly made by people with, hmmm, a *lot* of issues.

The direction is stilted and awkward. You can really see that the director was "influenced" by films like "Texas chainsaw Massacre" (the film starts with flashbulbs illuminating a corpse of a naked woman...) or HALLOWEEN, and a lot of nights spent at strip clubs trying to woo investors. Oddly enough, the look and direction of MSP reminded me more of THE BOOGEYMAN (1980), Ulli Lommel's horror opus. The filmmaker has no vision or understanding of what horror is. He just used clichéd aspects of horror movies (gore, naked girls, Nazies, chainsaws, naked girls, Halloween, etc) and tried to make something shocking. The director's inexperienced is obvious throughout the film and seeing him try to combine heavy subjects like serial killings, sex, violence and 9/11 was the only true entertaining aspect of MSP. Watching all these missteps was fascinating, to say the least, and the reason I gave this 3 stars instead of 1.

Here's a question I have for the director: Would the film have been more effective if, let's say, the women actually had kept their clothes on? Probably. Because the nudity is so gratuitous (and, in the end, unrealistic) that the only thing I got out of watching MSP is the number of "actresses" out there who are willing to take their clothes off for a few bucks for roles in a low-budget film; how many of them actually had sex with the producers; and how "interesting" the casting sessions must have been ("Can you scream but with your clothes off?"). Scenes of the Photographer taking pictures of two naked 'playmate' women against a tree were included only to titillate the male audience. It's eye candy, for sure, but in the end it's more of a disservice to the film's 'realism' than anything else.

MURDER SET PIECES suffers from the fact that it's too trashy to be seen as a serious "shocking" portrait of a killer and it's not fun enough to be seen as great exploitation.

fairly mediocre

[shredfeak · 5/10 · 3 March 2005]

What the other reviews have pointed out is right on track. It's far from a brilliant horror film, and relies on a LOT of sex and sadistic killing (which will be good or bad depending on your taste of course). I think this one may end up being known more for it's incredibly hot chicks than for the blood and gore. There's a TON of hot strippers/hookers, and mostly naked. A real surprise. Of course they always end up getting killed in brutal ways but that goes w/the territory i guess.

The best scene IMO is the one with Tony Todd (Candyman, NOTLD) in an adult books store. It's priceless to say the least. The creative aspect of film making is a bit weak in MSP. It's just too one dimensional, even though I like some of the elements. Give us more substance Nick. It's also not as gory as what the promoters would have you believe and the writing isn't very interesting. Fairly basic set-up: sicko takes girls to his house and has sex with them, then tortures/kills them. That's pretty much all there is to it.

Not a terrible movie, but not great either. There are some pretty original elements as far as hearing what goes on inside the killer's head. If the end had been better, it would get a higher rating. If you want to see a better horror flick i'd recommend Saw, much better script and more entertaining.

The only thing that shocked me was the boredom

[blackmariah · 3/10 · 29 December 2005]

I love a good messed up movie. What I DON'T love are movies that bore the hell out of me and insult my intelligence with sub-par acting, writing, and direction.

There is no plot here. There is no character development. There is nothing but a bunch of murder set pieces surrounded by the thinnest veil of story. I guess the movie is accurately named, but if all they wanted to do was string together some effects shots then they should have just done that and forgot about tying it all together with some stupid story. Don't insult me by trying to make stuff like this meaningful unless you can actually pull it off. In other words you do the story first and work on the deaths second.

I've noticed some people on the board talk about the "perceived" misogyny in the film. Look... if you have to use the word "perceived" then you obviously don't know what the hell misogyny is. This movie is absolutely filled with it. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, Silence of the Lambs had a misogynistic killer, but the presentation here is purely exploitative to the point of stupidity.

Stupid. That's a word that describes this movie quite well. The scene in the porn shop was stupid as hell and quite possibly the dumbest thing I've seen committed to film in quite some time. The killer walks in looking for a snuff film called "The Nutbag". This is obviously a reference to Palumbo's previous film. Anyone ever notice how only the crappiest movie makers make such overt references to their own works? Anyway, the store manager proceeds to cuss the killer out in one of the most forced scenes of dialogue this side of high school drama class (most likely due to horrible writing. Tony Todd isn't exactly a bad actor). Then, just as the killer is about to off the clerk... there's a hold up. Yeah. Deus ex machina, our saviour (this movie is so bad it's making me quote Donnie Darko... sad).

So why am I giving this three stars and not one (or, preferably, none)? Because the effects are three stars by themselves. The Toe Tag team obviously know their stuff. Too bad the director is so unbelievably amateurish that he makes most of the effects into absolute jokes through his sheer incompetence.

This movie is nothing more than a Z-grade American Psycho ripoff. Lame acting, lame writing, lame directing, lame everything but effects. Watch American Psycho, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, or Silence of the Lambs if you want a GOOD serial killer movie. Watch any of the Guinea Pig films if you want blood and guts. Just don't watch this garbage. I went into this film WANTING to like it, WANTING to be entertained by it... but instead I was just bored out of my skull.

Avoid unless you're a fan of good effects. From a technical standpoint this is a good movie. From any other standpoint it's just stupid.

Miserable-Sick-Pointless

[Coventry · 2/10 · 21 May 2007]

You know you're in trouble when the DVD opens with the director proudly announcing that multiple production studios rejected his project and that members of both cast and crew were arrested several times because the explicit nature of the footage bordered on being illegal. There's only one thing worse than an untalented horror director, and that's an untalented horror director suffering from a gigantic ego. Even though the introduction is only a couple minutes long, you can clearly tell that Nick Palumbo worships himself and that he's a little bit too proud of his own work. Referring to "Murder-Set-Pieces" as simply a bad film would be too easy, because it actually doesn't even qualify as being a film. In order to make a film, and yes that even includes a mindless horror film, you require character drawings, continuity and something that at least remotely resembles a storyline. "M-S-P" features none of the above. Palumbo's precious life work is nothing more than an overlong compilation of vile and ultra-sadistic images that are edited together without the slightest attempt to build up a plot and/or tension. I'll be the first to admit that the violence, gore and raw sex easily rank among the most disgusting and sickest footage ever captured on film, but it's all very pointless and leading nowhere and thus it automatically loses all of its shocking impact. Ravishing young women are briefly introduced, usually whilst performing a strip-act, and only moments later they end up nailed against the walls of a torture chamber, screaming and begging for their lives in vain. The maniac responsible is a nameless German immigrant who lives in Las Vegas and severely suffers from sociopath tendencies. His granddaddy was a prominent Nazi (maybe even Hitler himself, as the script even fails to properly explain that) and apparently that's his only excuse for butchering and sexually abusing young girls. The whole thing simply doesn't make any sense. If he's a Nazi, then why doesn't he aim his anger at Jews or other religious groups? If he's simply a woman-hater, then why do the pointless childhood flashbacks exclusively revolve on him walking across a railroad? This photographer dude just is the dumbest, most random serial killer in the history of horror cinema and even though he leaves behind thousands of obvious clues at each crime scene, there doesn't seem to a single cop working in Las Vegas. There's a negligible 'sub plot' about the 10-year-old sister of one of the his victims investigating the habits of the killer herself, but the elaboration of this is totally implausible and actually just too stupid for words.

"Murder-Set-Pieces" desperately wants to be disturbing and controversial, but it never surpasses the quality level of infantile amateur rubbish due to the lack of logic and incompetent plotting. Whenever there isn't any filthy rape or torture going on, "M-S-P" is dreadfully boring and nearly impossible to sit through. Heck, even when there is filthy rape and torture going on it gets boring after a while. The make-up effects on the girl's bodies may be very graphic, but still most of the actual murders are committed off screen. That's just lame and even a bit hypocrite considering the self-assurance of the director. One thing I can't possibly deny is that Mr. Palumbo has a great taste in women and he's clearly also able to talk them into playing humiliating and degrading roles. Okay, most of them are first-time actresses and professional strippers, but still I think they imagined their film debuts to be slightly different. Lead performer Sven Garrett terribly overacts, especially when he shouts out his lines in German, and the guest appearances of veteran horror icons Gunnar Hansen and Tony Todd are hardly even worth mentioning. Hansen briefly appears as mechanic who has a Third Reich flag in his living room (wow, how courageous!) and, judging by his facial expressions, Todd didn't even seem to be very interested in playing the clerk of an adult bookstore. For the record, in the sequence at the bookstore, the German killer dude refers to Nick Palumbo's previous film "Nutbag" as a real snuff film. Yeah right, talk about gigantic egos. In short, "Murder-Set-Pieces" certainly isn't worthy of all the internet-hype and it honestly isn't half as shocking as it wants to be. This film is nothing more than the overactive imagination of a wannabe artist and real horror fans won't be the least bit impressed.

My honest opinion of "Murder-Set-Pieces"

[psychoticpleasures2004 · 1/10 · 12 January 2007]

Let me set the record straight, first and foremost—I am an enormous fan of the horror genre. I have never had more fun with any other type of film. There is nothing that I enjoy more than kicking back with a good scary movie.

I'll be honest. When I first heard about "M-S-P," I was a bit apprehensive about seeing it. Some of the reviews I'd read on its graphic content made me wonder if this was a film I should sit through. After all, this *was* the film titled the most "graphic and disturbing horror film ever made." I finally got my hands on an uncut copy a few months ago. I sat back with a good friend of mine and popped the disc in. As the film progressed, the two of us began to chuckle. Those small, child-like giggles soon turned into full on hysterical laughter. "M-S-P" is a film so laughably bad, the two of us couldn't believe our eyes.

What is called the most graphic and disturbing horror film ever made is nothing more than gore for the sake of gore, violence for the sake of violence, and vicious bloodshed for the sake of vicious bloodshed. That's not what the two of us found so funny. What we found so incredibly hilarious was the fact that this film was ever made in the first place. Who could've possibly been behind this pathetic drivel? Then, I stumbled upon the homepage and MySpace of writer/director Nick Palumbo. Oy vey. Where to begin? This is a man so positively hellbent on making a name for himself, it's actually downright sad and most of all, pathetic. Most of the hype around the film comes from him himself. *He* is the one calling this film shocking, disturbing, graphic, violent, terrifying. *He* is the one responsible for the public's knowledge about the film's content. *He* is the one claiming film labs refused to print it and the set was intruded upon by uniformed officers brandishing rifles and guns. He *wants* more than anything to go down in the books as the most controversial horror director in history.

If those are your aspirations, fine. If you have the talent to back it up, wonderful. Sadly, he does not. What he presents the audience with is a weak script that goes basically nowhere. There is no story arc, there is no character development, there is nothing but bloodshed. Most of the dialogue in the film makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. It is an incredibly poorly written script that must've been only about twenty pages long upon its completion. Mr. Palumbo does not care about story. He does not care about dialogue. He does not care about creating characters an audience can identify or even sympathize with. When a new character is presented, he or she (mostly she) is simply killed off. That's it. Time to move on to the next scene of vicious bloodshed. I felt absolutely no remorse for any of the characters getting the axe because they simply were not believable. This film contains some of the stiffest, forced performances I've ever seen, most of which came from Sven Garrett.

I read an incredibly poignant, smart, and honest review by film critic John Fallon that perceived the film as a "'Look at me, look at me! 9-11 footage! Look at me!' opus." Very true. Mr. Palumbo desperately wants you to look at him. He wants you to believe the film is all of the aforementioned adjectives. He wants you to believe he himself is sick and depraved. He is not. The film is not. It's just another pathetic film that tries way too hard and simply does not deliver.

Garbage, not worth time or money

[greboca · 1/10 · 10 January 2007]

I've read the hype. I've anticipated checking it out for myself. I was even a little hopeful that the negative feedback about this flick (both here on IMDb and EVERYWHERE ELSE on the web) was just backlash. I guess I should have known.

The fact of the matter is, MURDER SET-PIECES is a giant steaming pile of crap. Unimaginative crap. Boring crap. Poorly acted crap. Unbelievabley BAD crap. An acquaintance of mine had ordered the unrated/original cut off the MSP website, and knowing that the R-rated Lions Gate version was about to drop, I asked to borrow his to check out this so-called "masterpiece of horror". What a joke. I'm so glad I haven't bothered to try and buy a copy myself. Here's a few takes on this gigantic misfire:

THE ACTING - horrid. The lead is a joke, a hulking boring one-dimensional lug who looks like he was dragged out of the gym - unwillingly - to mutter poor dialogue. When he slipped into German, I couldn't help but stifle laughter.

THE DIALOGUE - atrocious. Come on Nick, give us SOMETHING. I'll say this, the dialogue matches the acting-- flat and poorly done.

THE GORE - well you'd think that at least the film's saving grace would be the gore fx, right? WELLLLLL... sorry to say, no. In fact, there is VERY LITTLE GORE in this film. I have to think that the Lion's Gate cut version must have concentrated more on cutting-out nudity than gore. Sure, there's blood. Whoop-dee-doo. Guess what, I can go to a costume shop and get a gallon of fake blood too. So if you're anxious to see splats of blood hitting walls/floors, this movie is for you. If you actually want GORE EFFECTS, look elsewhere. The ToeTag team have done much better work in the A.Underground films (which I wasn't too keen on, but have to admit the FX were stunningly well conceived).

THE NUDITY - yeah, there's a great number of nekkid ladies in this film. If you're under 15 years old and don't have an internet connection, than this movie will really pop your corn. Otherwise... *yawn*. When there's NO CONTEXT, then naked bloody ladies just don't have any affect on the viewer (especially a seasoned horror fan). It's pointless... just like this whole film. Oh, speaking of pointless...

THE 9/11 FOOTAGE - tacky, tasteless and downright unnecessary. Just like this whole film.

It's downright hilarious that the director thinks he's made a masterpiece here. I suggest he start watching the horror-titles he constantly throws-around and take some lessons from REAL film-makers, because he just isn't anywhere CLOSE to their league or level of talent.

The only "disturbing!" thing about this film is the giant waste of money and resources this poor-excuse-for-a-horror-flick represents. Apparently the budget was approx. 2-million, and it was (as the director will quickly point-out) shot on 35mm. Big bloody deal. It still ends-up being a giant wasteful dump of a movie with no characterization, no plot, no FX, and no reason for existing. Some of the best horror-films were shot on a shoestring budget on 16mm. Go figure.

Avoid this at all costs.

No really, I want my money back!!!

[shanghaisusie-1 · 2/10 · 10 January 2005]

I love horror movies and this was just terrible. It was ridiculous and an insult to the genre (and the audience). There weren't any good "jumpy" moments and the laughs we had were because of the things we whispered to each other because it was so bad. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't expecting this movie to change my life but I didn't think it would be awful- and it really was. I know reading a bad review of a horror movie wouldn't stop me from seeing one but after seeing this, I feel compelled to try. It was pretty bloody, but you didn't see a lot of the murders. There was a lot of badly implied violence and a lot of blood. I can't write a real critique about the movie because I don't really think of it as a real movie. The plot holes were enormous, the acting was terrible, blah blah, blah. I guess there is something to say about the fact that this managed to be a monotonous, boring slasher film. I have seen stupid slasher films- but not one that was so repetitive and yes- boring. I also agree with the other review that it was gross for it's own sake and shocking as well. Some of the things that I am sure are controversial (people murdered and images in his dreams)seem to just be there because they can be or to try and prove something. I don't think they worked at all and I was mad that he would use them in such a cheap way. Normally, I think any film that makes you feel anything this strongly has to have something redeeming in it. Not this one, it was 2 hours of my life completely wasted.

Murder Set Pieces - More like murder to sit through

[kinskiguy · 1/10 · 19 January 2007]

What a total waste of time this movie is! Talk about a misleading ad campaign. If you are a fan of either Cerina Vincent, Tony Todd, Gunnar Hansen, or Ed Neal you will be disappointed. They are all only in the movie for a cup of coffee! They are listed just to suck people in.

The movie has little plot if any at all. It is certainly not scary at all. The jacket claims that it is the ultimate Serial killer movie! Please, not even close! There are warning posted also stating that it is one of the sickest, most repulsive films ever made! I know one thing, I was sick of watching it really early in the game. So they got me there. In all honesty it was just plain boring to me, not intense, scary, or interesting in any way.

Cross a 10/10 with a 3/10 and what do you get

[itrevorallen · 6/10 · 22 April 2020]

The good: So much hate and disgust amongst reviews and comments. The quality of this film's gore is beautiful, so much so it's actually unrealistic. To truly cause trauma you must be more realistic, this film got so carried away (I've been a Paramedic for most my life, believe me nobody bleeds this much). The acting was sound, camera quality was great, lighting did justice in all aspects, clearly the "quality" of the film was excellent.

Where the film fell short There is literally no plot. In 5 sentences (or less) I could explain everything that the film depicts / offers. When a film goes through the effort to cross as many lines as this, and dares to approach certain taboos, a purpose is quite necessary. After an hour I found myself checking how much time was left becusae I was bored. (Though I am left wondering, did the director actually expose an infant to the graphic scenery/treatment that was depicted? Movie or not, those cries seemed quite authentic.) Also the music production team couldn't have done a worse job.

If you went through the trouble of seeking this out, as I did, you must be a fan of extreme horror. Which this film certainly is. If this isn't your style, go back to your Hollywood horror or another genre you can stomach. But really, with the cover artwork and plot as described, what did you expect?

6/10

Murder-Set-Pieces: Famous faces in a movie with zero production value

[Platypuschow · 1/10 · 4 July 2017]

Its a rarity that I give a movie a 1, a 1 is for when a movie literally has absolutely no redeeming features at all and that's hardly a frequent event. I give a movie a 1 about as often as FOX news report something without bias.

What threw me was the lack of production value, the movie looks awful despite a surprisingly high budget for a movie of this type. Three people with name value (Tony Todd, Cerina Vincent and Gunnar Hansen) star but must be doing a favour for someone as I simply cannot see how they would have been roped into this mess any other way.

And when I say roped into I mean literally, reinforced diamond lasso covered in superglue level of roping! The story is thin, it all looks terrible, several scenes are hard to watch and I don't mean gore or violence I mean sexual violence and graphic torture that is done in such a way that you just feel wrong watching it. Like walking in on your parents sleeping together, you've seen "That" plenty of times but under these circumstances, with these variables and your parents in the mix it's something that will stay with you forever, haunt your dreams and possibly cause an expensive few years of therapy.

Bottom line here is that Murder-Set-Pieces must have been made by a sick puppy with no knowledge of film making and who must have spent the money on catering, extras or perhaps liquefied his assets at the bar but it certainly didn't go on the film.

Hilarious

[scornedhatred · 10/10 · 4 September 2006]

I read reviews of this movie stating it was "bad" or "horrible." In all honesty, it was far from it. When I first turned this movie on I was only there for the gore. Nothing more, nothing less. I wasn't expecting anything utterly amazing to begin with, but came out rather surprised. The story-line isn't anything special, and the acting isn't right up there either, but that doesn't change the fact that it is one hilarious movie. If you're looking for a whole lot of nudity and gore with no real attachments, this is where you want to be. Personally, I've never seen anything like this movie. This is a movie that is completely worth renting.

i liked this film

[wrightworth007 · 7/10 · 4 August 2007]

I will start by saying that this movie is ridiculously brutal!

However there is something to be had here, for so long i've watched movies about serial killers and wondered to myself what actually goes on in there heads?? this movie goes some way to explaining it to me, the movie is really sick with lots of gore (and i mean lots), rape and racism but the brutality of it all is so realistic its almost like watching a genuine snuff film! not for the weak of heart by all means! This film has come up against some really poor reviews but if like me you are a die hard fan of the genre and like some good old gratuitous bloody violence than i highly recommend it!

so watch this movie and enjoy!!!

Not very impressed

[edwardgpaddington · 1/10 · 27 February 2006]

I was bored of MSP before I even saw it, the awful, awful hype will be remembered for way longer than the actual film. I was lucky enough to watch the DVD with a friend who'd paid his hard earned money for it and saved me the trouble of buying it myself. Well, where do I start? The acting? Oh dear. For a movie costing $2 million plus you'd think a good chunk of that could go towards hiring a decent leading man. He was dreadful, quite shocking. OK, if this was a micro-budget job I'd make allowances, but Sven was bad. The young girl played by Jade Risser was the only member of the cast with any talent, and she was 11 years old! I thought the cameos were just another cheesy cliché too. I'm trying really hard to think of something positive to say.. the toe tag effects were excellent and... that's it I'm afraid. If I hadn't endured all the pre and post hype from Mr.P. on every genre site online I would probably said this was a bit of a boring, predictable, silly film. Since Mr.P. has made a complete plum of himself and will, I imagine, continue to do, I'll add that this was a bit of a boring, predictable, silly film and a woefully over-hyped waste of 2 squillion dollars. I think Mr.P. probably is capable of making a decent film. That's if he can just shut up, make the movie and let the product do the talking.

Lacks of a spirit. Tons of blood, sex, violence need an equilibrium.

[insomniac_rod · 5/10 · 3 July 2006]

Yes, MSP has tons of good gore, violence, unpleasant sex scenes, but it lacks the most important thing: an interesting plot. Without a plot, all the violence displayed in the movie is non sense and uncalled for.

Sure there are some disturbing scenes but that's not enough to shock an audience. Some people could get repulsed by some really violent scenes but that's it. This is a movie that won't stay in your mind for a long time, and less important, it won't become even a cult classic in the genre.

Other thing that affected MSP is that it was really a lot of hype towards it. It was commercialized as "the most disturbing flick ever seen" or something like that but sadly, it's far from being even really disturbing. The fact that studio plants flamed popular Horror boards also didn't help the movie's publicity campaign. It does not even look like a snuff film.

Palumbo's direction is quite good (decent) for the movie's standards. He surely has future in the genre but he could get some help while promoting his movies. Also, the fact that having young actors (even a baby), in extreme horror situations does not means that it will increase the shock factor, it only demonstrates that Palumbo "forces" exploitation elements and sadly, they didn't fit in the movie.

Anyways, I wouldn't recommend MSP because it lacks of spirit, and it does not have a true plot. If you are fan of gore, sex, extreme violence, this could be an okay way to kill almost two hours of your life. But if you look for an interesting plot, character development, scare factor, among other things in a Horror movie, then avoid this one immediately.

The highlight for me it's the chainsaw death scene. It's brutal, gory, and disturbing. Not everything is THAT bad.

"Murder Set Puke": Trash disguised as a "Horror Film"

[BloodStone · 1/10 · 6 July 2005]

I read some of the reviews of "Murder Set Pieces" including Fango's and they panned the $hit out of it confirming what I suspected from the get-go. That this "film" is nothing more than an exercise in excess, with NO other distinguishable purpose than to out gross/shock every other film that's gone before complete with a incredibly flimsy plot. A serial killer ("The photographer") who comes across like an amalgamation of every cinematic serial killer who has gone before. And the motivation of this killer for slicing/dicing hookers & strippers (gee haven't seen that before)?? He wants to rid the world of evil (gosh that's original). No real exploration or explanation given for his current state of mind, just some insipid "flashbacks" that explain nothing. So after while, the director grows tired of destroying these "evil" women, & for no logical & tasteful reason, this sicko deems it necessary to have his killer in the "film" hack-up young girls (children). Makes one wonder what the Hell were the "parents" of these child actors thinking? The director of this festering turd I believe (like MANY reviewers have stated as well) is truly disturbed. I reiterate, M.S.P is "carnage candy" within an empty shell posing as a horror film trying to garner any publicity it can with it's shock value approach. MSP should've received an "X" rating NOT a Nc-17!

Terrible film-making

[contact_pique · 1/10 · 27 April 2006]

I looked forward to this film, as I am always interested in tracking down allegedly disturbing films and some of the comments on here were really quite positive, despite the relatively low score.

All I can conclude, is that those championing this movie are little kids who don't have a clue! Seriously, if you feel that you have any interest in films, skip this out completely, it's completely dire. The acting and direction is so amateurish that I was left cringing. And no, I don't believe it was meant to feel like that, as some posters have claimed. It was also cringe-worthy how the director felt obliged to include nudity in every scene, accompanied by the worst dated "rock" soundtrack I have ever heard. The result is not in any way shocking, and the murder scenes are also pathetic.

This film doesn't merit any more of my time, suffice to say, don't bother watching it, absolute immature rubbish.

What a hunk of junk

[timhayes-1 · 2/10 · 12 April 2007]

Have you ever watched a film that tries so hard to be cutting edge and controversial that it becomes a joke in the process? Yes? Well then, chances are you've seen Murder Set Pieces. This "film" from writer director Nick Palumbo is just one long excuse for gory scenes of death. There's no character development. No real story that can be discerned from the film. The acting ranges from wooden to stilted. The lead actor, whose name escapes me at the moment is notably awful and has the worst haircut and mutton chops I have ever seen. The dialogue (of what there is) could have been written by a twelve year old for all the complexity and maturity of it. The murder scenes are predictable and lacking in any suspense. They are just death for the sake of death. We don't care if these people die. There is no terror felt for the victims. It is just a pathetic excuse for gore. Its actually films like this that give horror movies a bad name among the general public. Oh, and don't believe any of the hype about this film either. It turns out, as reported on several news sites, that the "controversy" surrounding the film was all made up by the director to promote the film. What a waste. There's nothing wrong with self promotion, but at least have the ability to back it up with talent. Why the two star rating? Well, for all its faults, Murder Set Pieces is well shot and the lead drives a barracuda so at least there was a nice car to watch driving around town every ten minutes or so.

Everything Begins with a Picture

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 8 January 2009]

In Las Vegas, a sadistic and psychopath Nazi photographer (Sven Garrett) has sex and takes pictures of naked prostitutes first and then he kills his victims. His girlfriend Charlotte (Valerie Baber) does not suspect that he is a serial-killer, but her younger sister Jade (Jade Risser) is afraid of him.

"Murder-Set-Pieces" is an extremely violent movie with free sadism and brutality. Unfortunately there are practically only lots of gore and many naked women in erotic scenes in the plot. The bold director and writer Nick Palumbo does not spare even children from being murdered by the insane killer, but the flawed sick story does not develop the characters well and seems to have the only concern of showing graphic violence. Further, in spite of the murders, the police never chase the killer. There is only a cameo of Cerina Vincent and Tony Todd to give their names to the credit and lure the viewers. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Estripador de Las Vegas" ("Las Vegas Reaper")

M-S-P is O-T-T!

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 26 November 2007]

Sven Garrett is The Photographer, a Nazi nut-job who is as proficient with his cut-throat razor as he is with his camera: when he's not taking pictures of naked babes, he's slitting their throats. His girlfriend, a pretty hairdresser, is none the wiser, but her younger sister Jade (Jade Risser) senses that all is not right with the Teutonic lens-man and decides to investigate...

Ever since it first hit the horror scene in 2004, Nick Palumbo's Murder-Set -Pieces has been the cause of much controversy; this has been less to do with the content of the film, and more to do with endless (and rather shameless) promotion from its makers (an act commonly known as 'shilling'). M-S-P's supporters claim it to be the ultimate in gruelling, no-holds-barred gory terror, whilst its naysayers, fed-up with having the film shoved down their throats, have labelled it as worthless crap.

I would say that neither is an accurate description: I've seen plenty of films that are easily as harsh (if not moreso), and loads that are less worthy of a viewing. If anything, Palumbo and pals are simply guilty of trying too hard.

As M-S-P piles on the excess, in an effort to tick as many boxes in the extreme movie-making checklist as possible, it becomes increasingly more ridiculous. Nazis (check!), explicit gore (check!), child murder (check!), misogynistic psycho (check!), lesbians (check!) chainsaw mayhem (check!), rape (check!), necrophilia (check!) full frontal nudity (check!): Palumbo has obviously never heard that less can sometimes be more.

But what works against the film on one level, works FOR it on another: as a serious study of psychotic behaviour, M-S-P is a complete failure, but, as a demented exercise in gloriously OTT nastiness, it is a definite success.

Garret is absolutely priceless as the muscle-bound maniac who murders women because he believes them all to be worthless whores; what he lacks in acting ability, he sure makes up for in enthusiasm, and he willingly does whatever is required of him to make Palumbo's vision a reality, whether it be chewing on a limbless torso, chainsawing a woman's head, killing a little girl, or receiving head from a head (which has been removed from the rest of the body). In the cinematic psycho stakes, he's no Michael Rooker or Joe Spinell, but he certainly gives it all he's got!

Aside from Garret, the majority of the remaining cast can pretty much be divided into two categories: silicone chested bimbos willing to strip for a few minutes of screen time; and familiar faces from the genre, including Tony 'Candyman' Todd, Gunnar 'Leatherface' Hansen, Ed 'The Hitchhiker' Neal, current horror hottie Cerina Vincent, and August Underground's Fred Vogel. The naked ladies are all game girls—most willing to be degraded and mutilated on-screen for the sake of 'art'—whilst the seasoned horror professionals add extra entertainment value with some fun cameos (Todd, in particular, is a hoot, as a porn store clerk who messes with the wrong customer).

M-S-P can also be praised for some excellent gore, courtesy of the Toe Tag team (of which Vogel is a member). The bloodletting in this film is consistently good, with vicious stabbings, juicy throat slashings, body parts aplenty, and the delightfully gruesome 'chainsaw to the head' effect.

With a less than perfect script, and a patchy performance from its lead, it's easy to see why horror fans got a little twitchy when this film was compared to the likes of Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer. But for those looking for a sexy, sick, silly and sordid sleaze-fest, I think that Murder-Set-Pieces deserves a go—regardless of how you feel about its creators and their dubious promotional methods.

Practically a remake of director's last movie.

[brianjcavanaugh · 20 November 2004]

Possible SPOILER follows, depending on how strictly you define it, but I thought I'd protect myself, and you.

A German immigrant photographer living in Las Vegas kills women with complete abandon, all the while his girlfriend hasn't a clue that this guy is warped, demented, sadistic, and just plain scary. Her daughter can tell easily because he's mean and spooky to her right in front of the mother. Strange how she never considers this guy a must-dump.

I didn't see the director's last movie, Nutbag (2000), but from what I've read it sounds very similar to this one. A serial killer stalks prostitutes and innocent women in Las Vegas and kills them in torturous and demented ways. On that level, Murder-Set-Pieces could be considered a remake, or maybe a re-tooling.

Usually, slasher movies and horror movies are meant to make you jump at sudden action, twist in your chair at suspense, or laugh outright at dumb victims killed quickly before they can deliver more stupid dialog. This movie has none of that. You're more likely to cringe at witnessing grotesque torture and gratuitous bloodletting over and over again without purpose. At first glance, this sounds like a horror movie enthusiast's next rental, but those who watch this will find little in common with any of their favorite films. It's more like being forced to watch one gratuitous torture-death scene after another, after another, after another, until you just want to stop the tape and turn on Jay Leno. Not great, just gross for it's own sake.

Bad movie, even by low-budget horror standards

[matt-dalton · 1/10 · 26 April 2006]

Murder Set Pieces is the type of film that gives horror movies a bad name. And it's the kind of movie that makes you appreciate a good horror movie, like Hostel, even more. What makes MSP and Hostel so completely different in taste is that the filmmakers of Hostel know what they are doing and how to make a good film with characters worth caring for. The people behind MSP seem clueless and inept in their ability to create something viewers might actually like. It's a if they want you to shrug your shoulders and say "Who cares?" I love bad horror (Fulci especially), but MSP is beyond bad: It's dull, which is a killer within the horror biz.

I Loved This Film But Don't Know Why

[gavin6942 · 9/10 · 1 April 2007]

A German photographer has the uncontrollable urge to kill people (particularly women). Follow his misadventures through Las Vegas as he leaves no one left alive... but can he defeat a pre-teen girl? As the title says, I don't know why I liked this film. I suppose it's hard not to like a film with Nazi references, German butchers, mutilated people and bad German techno music (the kind you might hear at Walgreens). Oh, and the cast is pretty good, too.

Gunnar Hansen (best known for playing Leatherface) plays a racist mechanic, which is always nice. And the best scene of the movie featured Tony Todd (the Candyman) working the counter at a porn store. Every time the main character said "I'm looking for a snuff film, called 'The Nutbag'" I loved it. And then a fight ensues. Even without Todd, this would have been the crucial scene, but his inclusion really pushed it to the limit.

As far as plot, there isn't much of one. We get some glimpses into the killer's childhood (although these were the weakest scenes) and there's a conflict between the killer and his girlfriend's sister. But mostly, it's just one nude woman after another and one murder after another. Outside of a horror film, this would fail miserably. But for this situation, it seemed appropriate... (and I watched the 'R' rather than 'NC-17' version, so I cannot imagine what I missed.) The only thing I didn't like (besides scenes that seemed chopped for editing) was the sound quality. Maybe I had a bad DVD, but I got the impression the film itself was full of audio mistakes. Lots of dialog was choppy which was both annoying and distracting. The same movie with crisp sound would be a dream.

As I say, I loved it. If you want a plot, or some deeper philosophical writing... look elsewhere. But for an in-your-face nude slaughter movie, I think this is the best you'll find... unless you find a snuff film called "The Nutbag"...

Gory, Disturbing, Shocking.

[bxxzysosa · 6/10 · 3 August 2020]

This is a short review of the Directors Cut specifically.

This film pretty much has one purpose and that's to be a shocking and some what offensive slasher film and I think it did that well enough. The story isn't deep and the acting isn't always great but I really don't think this film was ever supposed to have an amazing story or be a convincing film. It really gets ridiculous at points. If your looking for something with a better story and more substance I would watch something like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. If you go into this film expecting anymore than a guy going around brutally murdering people your really not going to get anymore than that. But if you go into this film knowing it's a mindless slasher and your just there for the gore and shock value you'll probably enjoy it. Can't really recommend this film for anyone unless your really into extreme horror and haven't seen it yet. I've seen a lot of "extreme" movies in my day and this definitely had a couple rough scenes in particular I'd rather not see again. Don't bother with the film if it's not the Directors Cut. The regular release is missing so many scenes that it's not worth watching at all and loses its main appeal, which is definitely the shock value.

This worries me.

[citizencannes · 1/10 · 8 August 2007]

It's hard for me to imagine exactly what were the reasons behind making a film like this. I think I've narrowed it down to two possibilities: 1)The creators have little to no understanding of compassion, joy, or love and should be committed or 2) The thought that if you make something "extreme" enough you will find an audience and be able to make back the little money put toward this production. This is a highly disturbing film but let me clarify that statement: I am in no way stating this film has any emotional affect on the viewer. It is not pulse-pounding, gut-wrenching, supreme thriller or any other generic horror film platitude. What disturbs me is that there was at first one and then a group of people who spent time and effort making this film. That there was some soulless freak who thought this material was provocative or in the least interesting. There is no film here. There is no story. There are no characters. There is nothing at all redeeming here. The person who made this clearly hates women, loves Nazi's, wants to bathe in blood, and engage in any other behavior related to this pathetic "small boy who tortures animals" mentality. This is a plea to Nick Palumbo: You are not talented. You cannot make even bad films. You do not have the slightest understanding nor the ability to make genuine human connections. You have no talent. You are not making films but pollution. Are you possessed of the least bit of kindness? Don't you know that you can't make a disturbing film that lacks actual characters? Human beings, sir, who make real choices. Who I can believe in? You've made a soft-core porno and a terrible one at that. Do the world a favor and get yourself a psychiatrist you pathetic coward.

What should I say???

[raoul-guariguata · 1/10 · 21 September 2006]

This movie is entire crap. No style. No good acting. I, living in Germany, had to laugh about the figure of the German Nazi Slasher, who always talks fragments of German, when he is about to finish off his victims. What a piece of garbage.......

I don't really recommend anyone to go out there and watch this movie. Stay with the old slasher films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Helloween. Okay, if you like to see women being ?!§%&$ to death or the killer using a cut off head of a girl to get a blow-job done, then go ahead and you will probably have fun. It wasn't original and I personally need more than just pure gore to enjoy a movie.