Special Effects (1984)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Larry Cohen

Writer:

Larry Cohen (writer)

Release Date:

16 November 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Mary Jean is just dying to get into the movies... She's about to get her wish.

Plot:

A director makes a movie based on a murder he committed.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Director | Actress | Snuff Film | Detective

Cast

Zoë Lund	...	Andrea Wilcox / Elaine (as Zoe Tamerlis)
Eric Bogosian	...	Christopher 'Chris' Neville
Brad Rijn	...	Keefe Waterman
Kevin O'Connor	...	Det. Lt. Phillip Delroy (N.Y.P.D.)
Bill Oland	...	Det. Vickers
Richard Greene	...	Leon Grushkin
Steven Pudenz	...	Thomas Wiesenthal
Heidi Bassett	...	Neville's Asst. Director
John Woehrle	...	Studio Executive
Kitty Summerall	...	Andrea's Roommate
Kris Evans	...	Cosmetician
Mike Alpert	...	Taxi Driver

Also Known As:

Cutting Room (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:93 min | West Germany:101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:18 (cut) | USA:R | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Hemdale Film

Quotes:

Reporter: What is your greatest influence?
Neville: Abraham Zapruder.
Reporter: Who?
Neville: Honest Abe never lies.
Reporter: How do you spell that?
Neville: J-F-K.

Movie Connections:

References Tootsie (1982)

less than special

Since "Body Double" and this came out the same year, I'm glad I spent money on seeing "Body Double" at the theater and not this. To me, this film covers sort of the same territory, although not nearly as well.

Eric Bogosian plays a director that has been fired from his latest movie & is in financial trouble (although from his digs, you'd be hard- pressed to tell). Zoe Tamerlis plays a young actress who has just escaped from her husband, who has tracked her down in New York & come to take her back home to Oklahoma to be with him and their son. She ends up at Neville's (Bogosian) door, only to be seduced, bedded, and killed on camera. Neville leaves the body in the husband's car at Coney Island & of course throw the suspicion on him.

Now, Neville has undertaken a project to make a movie on the death of this would-be starlet, using the help of the recently bailed out husband (Brad Rijn) and the technical advice of police lieutenant Delroy. Keefe (Rijn) has even found a woman who is a dead ringer for his dead wife, and her name is Elaine, who is apparently a wealthy young woman who volunteers her time at Salvation Army & other places, and who has a accent that not only comes & goes, it grates on your nerves. Of course, as the filming goes on, the truth eventually floats to the surface, and Neville is not about to accept responsibility for his actions.

Overall, this is technically well-done, but it lacks suspense and everything seems too pat. The more of Larry Cohen's films that I see that are "post 70's", the more I feel like he did his best work in his earliest films. I guess you could call this a "poor relation" of "Body Double", which is actually a sort of rip-off (or homage) of Hitchcock, but "Body Double" is definitely more interesting and worthy your time than this. 5 out of 10.