"Spare Parts" and "Fleisch" are the same films. Mike and Monica spend their honeymoon at a dive motel in New Mexico. Mike is absconded in an ambulance while Monica gets away. With the help of a truck driver...The title "Spare Parts" takes the mystery out of the film. The spare parts type film was popular in the 70's and this one was perhaps the least in the group. Available on 50 DVD packs.Guide: nudity (Jutta Speidel)

"Fleisch" or "Spare Parts" is a German horror/thriller movie from 1979 written and directed by Rainer Erler. He is in his 80s now and has not made new films in a long time. The 1970s were probably his most successful decade and you may find more semi-famous film by him from that time. Just like this one here. It features Jutta Speidel as the main character and she is still fairly known here in Germany. She is in her early 60s now and looking at stuff like "Um Himmels Willen" I don't think she is a particularly talented actress or even a German Mia Farrow. And her performance in these 110 minutes, during which she is in almost any scene, does not change my opinion either. I won't go into detail about the other actors as I don't know any of them, but let me say that there is a clean structure in this film. Early on, the husband plays a major role (just like a motel lady), then a helpful truck driver and finally a dubious doctor. I think I definitely preferred the first half, maybe even first two thirds of the film. The final sequence was slightly underwhelming, but I don't think that was Charlotte Kerr's fault. They really did a lot wrong with Dr. Jackson. They build her up as some kind of main antagonist, then she is suddenly a useful helper and then they rush in her death eventually. It's just too much in too little time and it does not feel authentic anymore, just shocking for the sake of it and this is actually disappointing because early on the film manages to shock a lot through subtlety as well. The entire premise was very well executed early on and you could even guess there were supernatural forces behind the ambulance car driving the helpless victims away. I also think Erler did a great job with the camera work here and the locations too that fit well in terms of tone and atmosphere. So with a better ending it may have been a great film even, but it's still a good one. The last 30-35 minutes aren't as bad that they could actually destroy the film and I can also see why they were the way they were. Organ transplants were a much bigger and much more controversial back in the 1970s than they are today, so maybe you can't really blame the film that it has not aged as well as it could have. But wait, maybe it has. The suspense from early on is something that many filmmakers these days can only dream of when it comes to their talent and movies. I have seen other stuff by Erler that was also about a darker take on reality and did not like some of it. But I certainly enjoyed this movie here. Better lead actress (then again it's more of a writer director movie and Speidel doesn't do anything really wrong) and better last half hour and this could have been a stunning achievement. I recommend checking it out.

Drive-in 50-pack is where I got this film, under the name "Spare Parts". I didn't think I would like it but the movie actually pulled me in - got me interested fairly fast and held it to the end of the film - I was surprised.It's a weird film! A couple gets married, goes on honeymoon, stays at the honeymoon motel, here comes the ambulance then complete strangeness of the film begins. The more of the film you watch, the stranger it gets.The movie will have you asking questions: Why didn't she go to the police right from the start? Why did truck driver Bill help her (he never answered her nor the viewer's question)? Why did the truck drivers help her? When the police did get involved, why didn't she tell them there ARE other witnesses - the truck drivers? What happened to the ambulance drivers at the end of the film - were they caught? Dr.Jackson is creepy - even when she decides to turn herself into the police and helps the girl she's just plain creepy! This is not a great film but it is an interesting one. It takes some twists and turns that are unexpected - it's not a slasher film like I thought it was going to be. It's not perfect - it's got it's flaws - but it is worth watching for a 1970s made for TV horror-thriller.6/10

The opening scenes of this film are pure cheesecake with soul music, people frolicking through the street and dogs trying to grab wedding bouquets. There's some cheesy dubbing as well. It eventually settles down into a more serious affair after a sinister ambulance abducts one half of a honeymooning couple. The girl, Monica, gets away and eventually garners the help of trucker Bill and his trucking buddies in finding out where the ambulance took her husband.This is a pretty good film which kept me on edge throughout, as the characters were really likable. Good cinematography and a moody score help it along, and the story here is intriguing... certainly a hell of a lot moreso than the somewhat similar 1980 piece of garbage, Cardiac Arrest. If you find a copy, give it a look.