Murder-Set-Pieces (2004)

36% of critics liked it
(11 reviews)
28% of users liked it
(2,158 ratings)

A psychopath cuts a bloody swath across Nevada in this gruesome horror story. The Photographer (Sven Garrett) is a nameless German fashion illustrator with an ugly past (his grandfather was a friend and associate of Adolf Hitler) and a profoundly violent nature. Working out of Las Vegas, The… More A psychopath cuts a bloody swath across Nevada in this gruesome horror story. The Photographer (Sven Garrett) is a nameless German fashion illustrator with an ugly past (his grandfather was a friend and associate of Adolf Hitler) and a profoundly violent nature. Working out of Las Vegas, The Photographer is a vicious serial killer who attacks men, women, and children with equal brutality. The Photographer periodically dates a woman named Charlotte (Valerie Baber), who has a younger sister named Jade (Jade Risser), but prefers to devote his spare time to mutilating Sin City's riffraff. Jade senses that there's something evil about her sister's boyfriend, and when Charlotte disappears, Jade begins playing amateur detective, unaware of just how dangerous her quarry truly is. According to the film's publicity materials, Murder-Set-Pieces features no fewer than 30 onscreen murders, and 55 gallons of stage blood were used during the shoot. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 23 min.
Directed By: Nick Palumbo
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Horror

In Theaters: Dec 24, 2004 Wide
On DVD: Jan 9, 2007
Studio: LionsGate Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Debra Birnbaum, New York Post
Aspires to be a highly stylized exploration of the mind of a serial killer, but it's nothing more than a gory, bloodsoaked snuff film, reveling in its own shock value as women are stabbed, strangled, raped and mutilated.
Ned Martel, New York Times
The director Nick Palumbo is determined to shock through a fictional German-born serial killer, who makes his mission clear with every thrust of knife blade and pelvis.
Ben Kenigsberg, Village Voice
The lowest form of cinematic life, a movie so utterly degenerate it makes you wish that indie filmmakers had to prove a basic standard of decency in order to buy a camera.
Dennis Harvey, Variety
Pic's nastiness is so insistent, one-dimensional and excessive it risks self-parody.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
...amateurish and flat-out irredeemable...
Staci Layne Wilson, Horror.com
Murder Set-Pieces is recommended for the fan of unvarnished exploitation grue; for those needing a little more style with the substance, dig deeper into your Argento collection.
Heidi Martinuzzi, Film Threat
Palumbo has managed to take the best pieces of horror, thriller, and truth and patch them together in a tirade of horrific and disturbing imagery.
David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor
An interesting effort to make the ultimate horror movie by imitating modern classics of the genre in a systematic way.
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
A rather sickening marathon strung together by the flimsiest of subplots and populated exclusively by blood-soaked strippers.

Read all 9 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

_kelly .

This "movie" promotes itself for being shocking, banned in the UK, and refused for processing by three film developing studios. It's not shocking, but I for one would ban or not process this film because of how absolutely poorly made it is. I don't even know… More
This "movie" promotes itself for being shocking, banned in the UK, and refused for processing by three film developing studios. It's not shocking, but I for one would ban or not process this film because of how absolutely poorly made it is. I don't even know where to being with my laundry list of complaints. It's edited like someone with severe memory loss and acute ADHD did it. It's written without any regard for form, story, originality, or genuine talent for horror. I only believe there was a person on set, one Nick Palumbo, who called himself a director, but didn't actually bother directing anything other than stock body parts and corn syrup. It's all intentional shock and no genuine scare. On top of that, it's not even thoughtful gore. The blood coloring is off and different in every scene; the splatters are utterly without the logic of physics and more than gratuitous. The majority of props are very weak in terms of appearing real or showing originality; the one exception is a Jack-in-the-Box of a skull which contains a miniature of the killer in it. And this script, more holes than swiss cheese! This killer would have been caught several times over by the end of the film; he is a sloppy killer AND he shots someone in an occupied and no doubt video-monitored adult bookstore (which by the way happens because of an utterly badly placed sudden armed robbery). The film layers on bad horror cliches like an overstuffed sub sandwhich; within two seconds of each other, the killer brandishes a chainsaw and the protagonist gets a butcher knife for defense. I'm not even going to go into how lame it is to throw around Nazi familial connections and serial killer flashbacks to a childhood of mother hatred. This is worth seeing to remind one to treasure the great films that are out there by showing the utter crap in comparison. Shock lovers and gore hounds, prepare for disappointment, as this garbage is not in the same league as most of the video nasty "banned" faux-snuff favorites. I cannot say too many times how much of a waste of time and red dye this film is. AVOID AVOID AVOID Only see it if you MUST fulfill a list of shock films, but then only to note how poor is in comparison to the rest of the field.
A.D. V

Next to Nekromantik, this is the worst so-called "movie" of all time.
Alex M

Although the acting is atrocious, and the story doesn't flow that well, Murder-Set-Pieces is still really entertaining. I can't say it's a great movie, but I liked it a lot. The violence was awesome, and the message behind it will definitely make you think... if you can… More
Although the acting is atrocious, and the story doesn't flow that well, Murder-Set-Pieces is still really entertaining. I can't say it's a great movie, but I liked it a lot. The violence was awesome, and the message behind it will definitely make you think... if you can understand German. Yeah, here's the reason everybody on this page is saying the movie didn't make sense. This film is in English, but at times the photographer will speak German. And it's ONLY when he's speaking German that his actions and story are explained. I enjoyed it, because I can understand German. Murder-Set-Pieces is a commentary on the Nazis' trivialization of sex and childbirth, resulting in a neglected child who grew up hating his mother and all women like her. Unless you don't understand German, then it's just gory fun... with bad acting.
Patrick D

Quite dull, actually.
paganchild1979 p

Unusual! Gives a straight insight on serial killers.
Christopher B

Much hated film is actually much more watchable if viewed as a comedy. The lead psycho is hilarious if viewed as a psychotic Schwarenagger.