Effects

Some crew members of a company shooting a horror film begin to suspect that the "killings" in the movie are real, and that they are actually making a "snuff" film.

There are two things about this film that keep it interesting all these decades later. One is the abundance of George Romero-connected people involved: Tom Savini, John Harrison, Joseph Pilato, Pasquale Buba, Nancy Allen (but not THAT Nancy Allen) and others. Filming took place in 1978, around the time that "Dawn of the Dead" was made; it seems that many involved in "Dawn" were making their own film on the side.

The other interesting historical note is how this film for many years just never existed. Although it was shot in 1978 and seems to be copyrighted in 1980, virtually no one saw it in the 1980s or 1990s. Due to a distributor bankruptcy problem, the film never received a theatrical or home video release. It never aired on television, or got passed around as bootlegs either. The October 2005 Synapse Films DVD was the film's first official release anywhere in the world. The American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) is now (2017) releasing a Blu-Ray of the film mastered from a rare 35mm print that was made before the distributor backed out, so it can be discovered by a new generation.

Perhaps due to this film's misfortunes, Dusty Nelson did not return to directing until the "Tales From the Darkside" episode "The Unhappy Medium" (1986). Others involved (Savini and Harrison in particular) achieved great success in its wake. How such a movie went hidden for so long is something of a mystery. If its existence was known, it would be widely sought after. The film was such a secret, we never see it mentioned in interviews or even within in-depth books such as Joe Kane's "Night of the Living Dead".

The most logical reason it would fade into obscurity would be if it was an awful film. But, on the contrary, it actually happens to be quite good. While not the era-defining classic that "Dawn of the Dead" is, it is far better than many other independent horror features of its time. Heck, it even blows away Romero's early works (especially "There's Always Vanilla"). The film-within-a-film is creepy and effective. Dusty Nelson could have been somebody!

A historical footnote: The first known use of the term "snuff movie" is in the 1971 Ed Sanders book, "The Family: The Story of Charles Manson's Dune Buggy Attack Battalion". He alleges that the Manson Family was involved in making such a film in California to record their murders. His allegations were, for the record, false. The idea caught on, however, and we received the film "Snuff" in 1975, as well as this film. The most interesting thing about snuff films is not how they have captured the imagination of people who spread urban legends… it is that they don't exist. While it would be nearly impossible for such a thing to exist as an industry, it seems plausible that at least some killer would record their exploits and at least some of those tapes would get traded on a bootleg market. But apparently not.

The AGFA Blu-ray comes out August 22, 2017, featuring a new 4K scan from the only surviving 35mm theatrical print. We get an archival commentary track with John Harrison, Dusty Nelson, and Pasquale Buba covering their memories of a bygone era. These should be enough, but wait… there is also a "Beastie" short film by Dusty Nelson and a "Ubu" short film by John Harrison. Heck, we even have the "After Effects" documentary with optional commentary track!

I am or was when I watched this, quite pleasantly surprised. The production values may not be the best (low budget and all), but the story of a movie being shot and the suspicion being there might be something real to the violence going on ... well while this may not seem like revolutionary or even new if you think about movies you've seen, but I would assume it was back then.

And it aged quite well, which has to do with quite the tight script. Some dialog and acting exercise may not feel "real", but it can be easily excused if you let yourself enjoy the movie for what it is and what it's supposed to represent. Horror movies could and did try to shock in more than one way ...

I knew nothing about the film "Effects" going into it. I'm glad I avoided reading any reviews or summaries because in the end I walked away from it feeling like I had not watched just another 70s exploitation or slasher flick- and those are most of my collection by the way.

I have a feeling that there will be a large number of Tom Savini gore fans who will go into it expecting a slice 'em up blood fest in the tradition of Maniac or Dawn of the Dead. Instead, what you get is a film that resembles more of a drama about a group of people making a low budget horror film. It isn't really until the 3rd or 4th quarter of the film where the true horror begins; and it throws the story into a spin. This is why i'm glad I didn't research this film and spoil it. I was really impressed with the way these actor performed. This film could have easily given any "high brow" dramas a run for there money. For you Day of the Dead fans, Joe Pilato doesn't play an "out of his mind" military man in this one. Instead he plays one of the main characters, and his performance is on the mark. He is a likable guy in "Effects". That is one of the strengths of this film; there is a decent amount of character development. What may confuse people is that a few of the characters in this movie are also actors in the horror movie they are shooting. So you get sort of a duel role from the same people. So for all you pot smokers or slow people out there, this may mess with you- LOL.

All and all this is a much better film then a lot of horror fans may give it. And if it rubbed you the wrong way the first time, give it another try. If you want to watch a zombie-slasher movie with lots of blood and guts, then pick up any of the classic zombie flicks- hey Cannibal Holocaust just got re-released on DVD!

Effects (1980)

* (out of 4)

The film takes place in Pittsburg as a crew of low-budget filmmakers are making a horror film. Before long some members start to think that it's not a fake movie but instead a snuff movie.

EFFECTS is a rather interesting film. It was shot by people in Pittsburg who were in one shape or another connected to George A. Romero. This film appears to have been in production around the same time as DAWN OF THE DEAD but it would never get an official release. It played a few showings back when it was completed and then basically disappeared. Seeing that Tom Savini and Joseph Pilato (DAY OF THE DEAD) were in the cast, it kept fans guessing at the movie and then it would eventually get an official release thanks to Synapse.

For the most part I really didn't like this movie. I will say that the story itself was quite interesting and especially how the film bounced back and forth as to if what you were watching was real or fake. The "movie within a movie" was an interesting take on the subject and there's no question that the story is years ahead of its time and especially when you consider where reality TV is today. I think the filmmakers deserves a lot of credit for the interesting story and that they didn't just try to go for gory violence.

With that said, perhaps some gory violence would have helped matters because in the end the film just didn't work for me and I honestly thought the 84-minute running time dragged quite badly. For starters, the film just had a very hard time getting me interested in anything going on. The first forty-five minutes or so are basically us just watching this film crew shoot a movie. After a while we finally get to a snuff movie being shown and this sequence was actually very well done. It was creatively shot and there's no question that it's the highlight of the picture.

The finale also works well enough and leads to an ending that you really wouldn't expect. The cast and crew are full of Pittsburg natives and it's certainly fun see Savini and Pilato here. The film has a couple gore effects but one shouldn't see Savini's name and think you're getting something like DAWN OF THE DEAD or MANIAC. I really think this is one film that could benefit from a remake and especially in this day and age.

A skeleton film crew travels to a woodsy lodge in rural Pennsylvania to film a low-budget horror film. Said crew includes easygoing cinematographer / special effects man Dom (Joseph Pilato, the original "Day of the Dead"), who is none too pleased to learn about the little side project that dictatorial director Lacey (John Harrison, composer for "Creepshow" and director of "Tales from the Darkside: The Movie") has going on.

Although scripted (by director Dusty Nelson, based on a novel by William H. Mooney), this likeable if modest indie genre flick has a loose, good-natured, improvisational feel to it *until* the final 21 minutes, when, as the saying goes, the excrement hits the fan, and Dom must run for his life. Some people may feel that the film is just a little *too* low-key, however, and find it boring. Personally, I found it reasonably interesting and entertaining, with typically solid effects work by Tom Savini, who also plays the key supporting role of the obnoxious Nicky. Nelson & company *do* have fun with the whole idea of "Where does 'reel world' end and 'real world' begin?".

The film is most noteworthy for the fact that, due to a major distribution problem, it never saw the light of day in either theaters *or* on home video. It finally got released on DVD in 2005, and now there is a Blu-ray release as well. It always is of some interest to finally see movies such as this that become "lost" for a long time. Genre buffs can also hardly fail to notice how many of the players are connected to George A. Romero and his filmography.

It's worth seeking out if you enjoy discovering more obscure films. At the very least, it's a decent little picture that didn't deserve its fate.

Six out of 10.