The Last Drive-In Part 13: Pieces (1982) and Conclusion

 So we wind down the last part of the marathon with a gem from Joe Bob's past.  Pieces was the movie that almost cost him his job at the Dallas Herald, all due to the fact that he gave this film a four-star rating.  Aside from the violence in this film, it's really a giant "piece" of crap.  It centers around a deranged maniac that is killing college coeds in Boston and cutting off parts of the bodies to recreate a nude jigsaw puzzle that his mother took away from his deviant ass as a child.  Unfortunately for her, we discover that she was brutally murdered for that action in a flashback at the beginning of the movie.  The main star of this flick is Christopher George.  Now, if you're a John Wayne fan, you've probably seen him in films such as The Train Robbers or Chisum.  But George appeared in numerous low budget horror films in his career, which include memorable performances in this film and in Lucio Fulci's City of the Living Dead, the first film in the Gates of Hell trilogy.  Joe Bob mentions how George and several of the other actors are acclaimed by critics, but give really laughable performances. It's 100% true.  This also has one of the most hilarious shock endings in a film ever.  It makes no sense whatsoever.

I have two things to mention specifically about the host segments that stand out from the rest of the marathon.  One, JBB delivers what I would called a long, heart-felt eulogy to the great horror host Zacherley.  JBB credits Zacherley with creating the horror hosting medium.  JBB takes issue with Vampira being credited with this, due to several well-founded issues (if not personal to an extent).  Second.  we get a touching final where JBB pledges tribute to the old jail-break segment from MonsterVision and to the vast fans that tirelessly tuned in for years.  As a final solute to his "former glory" of movie hosting, he tries to leave his hat behind.  But he doesn't want to crease it into a Tom Mix hat, so he sits down while the lights slowly turnoff and a slowed-down, melancholy acoustic rendition of "Joe Bob is Back in Town" is played over the credits.  All signalling the end of the line for Joe Bob Briggs.

Ten stars.

CONCLUSION

Of course, we would discover that the July marathon would not be the end of Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder.  Mere days after the marathon (and after I started writing these reviews), JBB announced on Twitter that he was taping segments for two more marathons and a new show starting in early 2019.   Now I have to admit, I started hard and heavy to write these reviews because I thought the July marathon might actually be the end.  JBB started to seem like he was really serious about being retired from it for good.  But I think he never truly realized how many fans he still had.  He even mentioned his surprise at the number of people sending emails in about the Shudder event (he had been off the air for so that he couldn't believe how many people still remembered the show). 

So when the new shows were announced, it somewhat took the piss out of my desire to finish these reviews.  This is in addition to family commitments.  So for the delay, I apologize to the few people on the Facebook groups forums who read my posts.  Your supports is greatly appreciated and I will be updating the episode sections with more MV and TMC episodes that have recently surfaced.

On a final note, the Thanksgiving and Christmas marathons were a blast.  We finally got to see JBB review his favorite film of all time, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, not to mention the badass guests.  Michael Berryman showed up during The Hills Have Eyes and psychedelic warlord Reggie Bannister joined JBB for A Very Joe Bob Christmas, which showcased the Phantasm movies and ended with the best version of the 12 Days of Christmas ever. 

So what lay in store for JBB and Darcy the Mail Girl? Well, not even the sky is the limit.  With a devoted fan base and a streaming platform at their disposal, who knows what can occur.  One thing is for certain:  with the newly resurrected Fangoria proclaiming his resurrection, Joe Bob Briggs will soon be attaining horror host tenure.