Watch Effects For Free

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Horror fans know already what it means when you hear the words Pittsburgh and horror in the same sentence: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Yes all of the zombie films created by director George Romero were created and filmed in that area. But he wasn't alone.Alongside Romero were a group of friends who decided that if he could make a feature film they could do so as well. They had worked with him and watched how it was done. Now to make a movie on their own. With local make-up legend Tom Savini, who had done the special effects make-up on Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD and the movie MANIAC, what better topic to use than effects? In addition to that at the time in the early 80s there was a large amount of attention being paid to "snuff" films, movies that were supposed to have filmed actual murders and seen only by viewers willing to pay the high price to watch them. Not to mention being some sick individuals.The story here is of a low budget film crew working on a horror film in a remote location in Pennsylvania. As viewers we would think that something is amiss right away as scenes are combined that would not have been shot a particular way but that would have been edited to appear as they do. But the film makers here have decided to set that aside for the moment.As the movie progresses we realize that there is a movie being shot within the movie as well. The director of the initial movie, Lacy (John Harrison), is shooting behind the scenes with hidden cameras placed all over the house and area. A trip to a secluded basement area finds him meeting with the crew he has watching over what happens on various monitors.The story takes several turns and twists as we begin to wonder just how far Lacey is willing to go for either of his movies. Is he just shooting items for a making of type special or does he have something more going on? When he sits with the cinematographer of the initial film Dom (Joe Pilato) to unspool for him an actual "snuff" film, we start to wonder if perhaps that isn't his goal in the end. With that in mind the questions of who will survive and who is in on the whole thing come to mind.The main question becomes is the movie any good or not? Well yes and no. The quality of the film is much in tune with low budget films from the time period. Colors seem washed out at times and no amount of restoration can change some of the filming that was done. The acting ranges from quite good to passable. The effects are very bad, which is odd for a movie called EFFECTS. Few effects are used in the film if at all and when they are its most often to show how the effects would work in the initial film.What makes the movie interesting from a fan point of view is that it comes from what could be termed the Romero school of film making. The methods used here were the same he used and he even gave advice to them while they were making the film. An extra included here has footage of the cast members talking about making the movie, some at what appears to be a backyard part for them to get together at which Romero appears to have attended.In the end I couldn't whole heartedly recommend this film for everyone. But fans of Romero and the type of guerilla film making he did early on will want to check this out. Horror fans will want to give it a look. And completest will want to add it to their horror collections.

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.

I bought this movie because I am a fan of Joe Pilato. When I bought it, I actually expected him to be a little like Capt. Rhodes (DAY OF THE DEAD). I was very wrong. This movie and his performance blew me away.Joe Pilato plays Dom, a very likable cameraman. He's basically an every day guy. He is even funny at times. And he falls in love with his gaffer, Celeste (Susan Chapek). He is just an average guy. He wasn't the ***hole he was in DAY OF THE DEAD. Instead, the ***hole of the movie is Nicky (Tom Savini).He is also the only one in this movie who is completely innocent.After watching a home-made murder movie from the director, Lacey (John Harrison), he suspects the murder was real. Even after Lacey tells him it isn't. He gets very suspicious. It turns out Lacey is directing two movies. The low-budget horror movie with the set of actors. And a real horror movie with real horror and murder. It is all up to Dom to make sure that it doesn't happen.

I am sure for some folks this movie is the cat's meow because of the cast and crew, but unfortunately, it's pretty boring. It's not a horror movie (although they are making one in the film) and it's certainly not a thriller because there is little to no suspense. It's the late 70s and they're doing coke in a farm house while making a movie. The concept is interesting (what's the difference between making a movie where it looks like the people are getting killed and a movie where the people are being murdered on screen?), but it gets dulled down watching them do coke and putzing around in general. It's kind of like some pre-cursor to a bizarre reality television concept. eh. kind of a waste.