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Effects

USA 1980
produced by
Pasquale Buba, John Harrison for Image Works
directed by Dusty Nelson
starring Joseph Pilato, Susan Chapek, John Harrison, Bernard McKenna, Debra Gordon, Tom Savini, Charles Hoyes, Blay Bahnsen, Joe Wittkofski, John Sutton, Dave Balko, Jackie Lahane, Cindy Sebastian
screenplay by Dusty Nelson, based on the novel Snuff by William H. Mooney, music by John Harrison, Ron Foster, Lee Balber, the Night Owl Band, special effects by Tom Savini

review by
Mike Haberfelner

Available on DVD!

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Director Lacey Bickel (John Harrison) is making a cheap horror film, a venture that doesn't sail under a good star from day one, as his lead actor Barney's (Bernard McKenna) an asshole, his lead actress Rita (Debra Gordon) soon starts to be unnerved by the on-screen horrors, Lacey's assistants Nicky (Tom Savini) and Lobo (Charles Hoyes) are sleazeballs, and cam-guy Dominic (Joseph Pilato) and gaffer Celeste (Susan Chapek) are just too good for this world - but fall in love soon. And their lovemaking is secretly recorded for posterity. Thing is, Lacey eventually decides to take the horror of his movie one step further, to have his leading lady killed for real. But knowing he would face strong opposition from Dominic, he has Nicky and Lobo take him out into the woods - where they make him the victim of a manhunt, all in front of hidden cameras. But Dominic somehow slips through their net and makes it back to the main location, where the bloodshed's about to unfold ...

 

History has it that Effects, which was filmed in 1978, was never released back in the day upon completion as the original distributor decided to shelve it, so it had to wait until an official release until the 2000s. And while the film's by no means a masterpiece one really wonders why - basically, the film plays like a good example of the (then-waning) grindhouse era, mixing violence and sexy bits to hang them up on a rather thin storyline - which admittedly might speak to nostalgia-afficianados like me way more than to then contemporary audiences. And while the film isn't perfectly structured by any means, it does feature a highly original and rather exciting finale, plus in a macabre way it does anticipate today's fascination with reality TV.

That all said, still don't expect a masterpiece - but fun nostalgic genre entertainment at the very least.

 

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review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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Thanks for watching !!!

 

 

In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

Amazon

Amazon UK

Vimeo

 

 

 

Robots and rats,
demons and potholes,
cuddly toys and
shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

is all of that.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
-
a collection of short stories and mini-plays
ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic
to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle, all thought up by
the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
Michael Haberfelner.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

the new anthology by
Michael Haberfelner

 

Out now from
Amazon!!!