Spare Parts (1979) — Triskaidekafiles

SPARE PARTS

WRITER: Rainer Erler

DIRECTOR: Rainer Erler

STARRING: Jutta Speidel as Monica

Wolf Roth as Bill

Herbert Hermann as Mike

Charlotte Kerr as Dr. Jackson

Christoph Lindert as The Intern

Bob Cunningham as Sergeant

Tedi Altice as Motel Owner

Ben Zeller as Medic

QUICK CUT: A honeymoon gets cut short when the newlyweds need to make a trip to the hospital.

THE MORGUE

Monica - A newlywed bride, from Germany, who gets left behind when her husband is kidnapped. She’s loving, determined, and with a good heart, willing to go to great lengths to rescue her husband.

Mike- Monica’s husband, a musician, and thanks to being off screen for much of the film, he ends up with your typical ‘love interest’ level of lack of character.

Bill - A truck driver that befriends and helps Monica. Which speaks a lot to his character by itself.

Doctor Jackson - An archaeologist who has been pulled in by the military to help them decode the strange symbols on the stargate they have dug up.

TRISK ANALYSIS: Welcome back, Triskelions! I am taking it easy this week, after the holidays and the general... *waves arms around* ...this. And so I chose fairly randomly another of our 50 Pack favourites, and went with a little known film called Spare Parts or Fleisch that seemed easy to get through. It's nearly two hours though, but since it's a slower flick, I'm gonna skim a bit. So let's get through this.

The movie starts off...very strangely, and suddenly, and I feel like I missed something. Sometimes Mill Creek's 50 packs, with these public domain or wicked cheap movies, come from odd sources, they don't clean them up, and sometimes feel like something is lost. It is a VERY sudden start.

But anyways, Mike is a musician, doing a recording session, and his bride to be, in a very real, very literal, soon to be sense, because they are getting married right after this session. In fact, the band is using it as an excuse to make Monica play nice, so they can get it done, and they can get her to the church on time.

We get through the wedding during the credits, and the newlyweds drive off on a cross country trip for their honeymoon. They've reached New Mexico at this point, and decided to find a nice motel to spend the night.

They find a nice place called, conveniently enough, the Honeymoon Inn, and Monica is less than impressed, since they're poor and can only afford what they can .

So they check in, and as they unpack, the owner and proprietor brews them up some fresh coffee. I'm sure this is fine!

Oh darling, why can't we stay at that lovely Mountaintop Motel we saw awhile back?

The owner returns with the coffee, much to Monica's chagrin, since she was ready to do some consumating with Mike. She noses all up in the newlyweds' business, and we learn Monica is from Germany. "Is that in Europe?" I...sigh.

She leaves the couple, but before she goes, she warns them, not to let that coffee get cold! Pff, don't want the poison congealing, no...

Which is my way of 'long story short'ing this movie, because it sure seems like that coffee should be drugged, as an ambulance swings by to pick them up.

Instead, the ambulance shows up and chases them through the desert, because they thought they would frolic amongst the tumbleweeds.

In Soviet Russia, ambulance pick you up BEFORE you sick!

They drug Mike, and cart him off, but drive off without Monica. She chases the ambulance, and they threaten to shoot her if she doesn't stop. This is all really weird, and while it makes sense in the broad strokes, some of the specific actions feel like something is missing.

Monica hides in the underbrush, and eventually the EMTs give up and drive off with her husband. She rushes back to the motel, but the owner doesn't seem to know her, and their room is all cleared out like she was never there.

The owner calls the police, and…no, no she doesn't. The ambulance shows back up to acquire their missing victim, and again, Monica runs off.

Once she reaches the highway, Monica flags down a truck, who stops to pick her up. To be fair, it was either that or run her over, so...

The truck driver, Bill, can tell something is up with the girl, and goes into WAY too much detail about his run to New York, in an attempt to get her to loosen up.

She tells him some of her story, and not surprisingly, he doesn't quite know what to make of any of it. When he hears they kidnapped her hubby, he assumes they're rich, to which Monica replies, "No, we're graduate students". Huh, so not rich at all then, what with the student loans.

Bill stops to refill his coffee, and get some clothes for Monica, and while he's in the truck stop, Monica sees the ambulance pull in.

One of the EMT gets some coffee himself, and mentions how he's chasing an escaped prisoner, fitting Monica's description.

Bill asks Monica about it, thinking they were telling some version of the truth, but she explains more, and they're about to go look for Mike when the amberlamps drives off.

Since Bill has a run to make, there is little he can do to help, so instead he calls in a trucker buddy to take over. He also borrows his pickup, so Bill and Monica can begin hutning ambulances.

They hole up at Bill's place for a bit, and they decide to get her a disguise, head back to the motel, and lure the ambulance back into a trap.

So once again, she brings by the coffee, and what, is this movie, brought to you by the coffee lobby??

Monica feels like she's being watched, and says she knows they're listening and...again, did I miss something??

They realise they haven't had the coffee yet, Bill dumps it down the toilet, and gets them some cups of his own coffee he brought with him, to fake it.

I am convinced those cups are 100% empty.

So they lay their and wait for their kidnappers, who eventually show up...WITH THE SIRENS BLARING. Not...not exactly subtle there, friends.

But anyways, they load the bodies into the back, and drive off.

As the amblance heads down the roads, it starts being noticed and tracked by truckers, calling from one to the next, to know where it goes. Well, they'll get right on it, right after they finish keeping track of a man turning into a snake...

Eventually, the trucks block off the ambulance and trap it, and in the confrontation, one of them gets shot. He isn't dead yet, but I'mma call it, our first death, half way through the movie.

Bill interrogates the survivor, and takes his clothes, and he tries to play it innocent, but Bill says they have all the proof they need. Uhh...do they? Like what, exactly?

After dealing with a cop that stops by, telling him they just had a flat tire, they resume questioning the driver, and he decides to talk.

He sends them to an airbase in Roswell and oh no, he's the one who collects the humans for the crashed aliens to feed on!!

Whoa ho, that pantsing was a little close there, yikes!

More seriously though, we find out this is an organ harvesting ring, where they kidnap people to steal their organs. He reveals they get 2000 dollars and...dude, can I get in on this action??

So armed with the location and the phrases of "meat" and "Doctor Jackson" they drive off to the airbase to make a delivery, and try and find what's left of Mike. Monica must have gone to school to be a lawyer, because she is one hell of am ambulance chaser.

It seems like maybe they were conned, but someone comes up to them, starts asking all kinds of questions that Bill CAN NOT ANSWER. This is a really REALLY poorly thought out plan.

But Mike does eventually get some information and a voucher to get paid, and hunts for the cashier's office. Meanwhile, Monica runs into a doctor, who has her come in for a talk while Mike gets paid.

And, just cutting to the chase, the woman is Doctor Jackson, gasp surprise. I do appreciate the justification that every part is usable, and we've just spend our lives burying or burning otherwise useful remains.

Jackson offers Monica some coffee, again with the coffee! while they wander around, and she asks if the doctor has seen a patient named Mike. But that's when she learns her new friend is Doctor Jackson.

Before they can get very far, they get roped into accompanying some patients to New York. Bill is reluctant, but Monica jumps at the chance to spend more time with the doctor, and will do Anything for Jackson.

Just as Monica is about to board the plane, Jackson calls her by name, and there is a tense moment, as she reveals she knows who she is, and gives her a file on Mike. I am...honestly surprised she is helping.

Make sure your tray table is up, and your Bill is in an upright position.

So the plane takes off, Monchichi checks on the patients, and finds Mike. He's a bit out of it and drugged up, but okay.

And I guess everyone else on the plane gets fed up with her carrying on, because they drug her and put her back in her seat.

Once the plane lands, she shrugs it off and runs away, leaving Mike AND a drugged Bill behind, as she scampers through the airport.

Miss? Please use our clearly marked exists…

Monica runs around New York City with zero plan, and eventually passes out taking a nap in Central Park in the middle of the night.

In reality, this is where she gets mugged, murdered, and the movie ends. Instead, she gets lucky and awoken by a helpful cop.

She happened to pass out staring at the location Jackson told her about, and it seems the cop is interested in it as well, so happy squawkin' coincidence there.

Monica begins sobbing and repeating, I can't go on, I can't go on, I can't! I can't go on! Hey, can you go on?

She gives a statement, and it's pretty unbelievable, but he is still curious, wants to investigate, and they chat for a bit longer. See, most of the doctors and staff have no idea, they think everything is on the level, and don't question where the bodies come from, and unless they have a star witness, there's not much they can do.

And it just so happens, they have such a witness, and it's...Doctor Jackson! And the pieces fall into place.

Surprise, I bet you thought you’d never see me again.

The cop called Jackson in based on Monica's statement, she's backed some of it up, and they plan to go in and get the guys out, and they will serve as evidence. And the cops can't bust in, because people will get hurt, and the people behind it will just say she's delusional.

So they find Mike and Bill and get them out of there in short order. But they also run into the intern Bill had problems answering questions from, who seems to be the brains here.

We find out the intern witnessed Jackson cut corners and not save a patient, taking their kidneys, and had been blackmailing her to do her part in the operation. But she's had enough, and is *ahem* retiring after this, and that's why she was helping, and now isn't.

The organ smuggling ring tries to block them, Jackson runs down the intern between her car and an ambulance, and drive off.

Working for a hospital is back breaking work.

Jackson and Monica get the patients out of the hearse they're driving, and Jackson drives off to draw away the organ thieves.

They eventually run Jackson off a bridge, and she crashes to her death.

We wrap up the movie in a cemetery with the cop, Monica, and her boys. And shockingly, the detective says he kinda understands what they were doing, and how much of a waste it was to just bury the doctor.

TRISK ASSESSMENT

Video: Oof, this is not good. The 50 packs are always a gamble, and this one did not pay off. The black’s are almost grey, and the visuals are just murky and dull.

Audio: Everything sounds fine, but it also sounds like it’s recorded on a single poor mic.

Sound Bite: “If you feel like playing house later..." Woooow.

Body Count: Since this is a different sort of movie, there’s not much death here.

1 - 53 minutes in, and one of the ambluance drivers gets shot.

2 - The intern gets Yelchin'd

3 - Doctor Jackson gets crushed when the hearse flips over.

Best Corpse: The death of the intern.

Blood Type - F: I can’t remember much blood at all.

Sex Appeal: Bu they did sneak in some breasts when Monica and Mike have some sex!

Drink Up! every time someone mentions coffee.

Movie Review: This is a bit different for Trisk, to be sure. It’s not REALLY a horror movie, but does fit that drive in vibe, and is a decent enough thriller. I didn’t know what to expect when I started watching, and while it’s not a gore fest, or a slasher, or anything like that, it was definitely worth pointing out. It’s a good story, and the acting is decent enough. It’s well made, well shot, and I enjoyed my time with it, even if it is a bit on the slower, drawn out side. Three out of five ambulances.

Entertainment Value: Not really much to be had here. it’s not so bad it’s entertaining, the acting is okay, and the most entertaining of it is the late 70s to it. One out of of five cups of coffee.