Hot Picks
|
|
|
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! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
review © by Mike Haberfelner
|
Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
|
|
|
Thanks for watching !!!
|
|
|
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!!! |
|