"Parts Of The Family" is from the same director as "Maniac Nurses", but it's never quite as trippy as that flick. It is about twice as incompetent though. While "Maniac Nurses" at least had some kind of atmosphere to it, this just looks cheap and nothing else. There's not much in the way of plot either. It starts off okay with some (albeit very low-budget) action scenes, but then we're stuck in a boring old house for most of the running time. The gore scenes are laughably unconvincing. We never ever see a weapon actually touch a victim, it's all cut-aways and ketchup wounds. There's just no excitement whatsoever to any of the kill scenes.
So why a 5? Well, the movie does have some charm to it. I'm just a sucker for Belgian horror cinema, mainly because there's so little of it around. It helps that this movie is shot mostly with Belgian actors who are forced to speak English for the international market. This leads to some really awkward and thus magnificent line readings, particularly from the hapless police inspectors. Furthermore, lead actor Bob Dougherty does bring some charisma to his role as a gangster. His dialogue is nauseatingly repetitive (basically nothing but threats), but somehow he still sells it and stays entertaining throughout. Strange how he only appeared in two films and called it quits. Cecilia Bergqvist isn't going to win any Oscars for her performance, but she's topless in the very first scene! Talk about not wasting any time.
P.S: I've seen the original version, not the re-release by Troma. I hear that version is actually better, but I haven't obtained a copy yet.
