The Trigger Effect (1996)

Director:

David Koepp

Writers (WGA):

James Burke (television series Connections)
David Koepp (written by)

Release Date:

30 August 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

When Nothing Works, Anything Goes.

Plot:

How tenuous is man's hold on civilization when survival becomes an issue? When the lights go out and stay out for several days...

Plot Keywords:

House | Neighbor | Burglar | Female Nudity | Gun

Cast

Kyle MacLachlan	...	Matthew
Elisabeth Shue	...	Annie Kay
Dermot Mulroney	...	Joe
Richard T. Jones	...	Raymond
Bill Smitrovich	...	Steph
Michael Rooker	...	Gary
Tori Kristiansen	...	Sarah
Tyra Kristiansen	...	Sarah
Rick Worthy	...	Johnny
Edhem Barker	...	Trendy German Guy
Tyrone Tann	...	Tripping Guy
David O'Donnell	...	Hand Holding Guy
Monica Torres	...	Hand Holding Girl
Greg Grunberg	...	Double Date Guy
Kerri Vickers	...	Double Date Girl

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some violence.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 (video premiere) | France:U | Norway:15 (video premiere) | Portugal:M/12 (video premiere) | Spain:13 | USA:R | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Los Alamitos, California, USA

Company:

Amblin Entertainment

Trivia:

The story is inspired by the classic "The Twilight Zone" (1959) episode "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street," which depicts the denizens of the street slowly becoming crazy after a power failure. In fact, in the film's production notes, Matthew and Annie live on the corner of Maple and Willoughby (another classic TZ episode, "A Stop At Willoughby"), obvious allusions to "The Twilight Zone".

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Matthew walks from the hospital to the pharmacist to steal the prescription for the baby, the trolley camera and the guy pulling it are reflected in the shop window.

Quotes:

Joe: The Martians have landed. They want our women.

Movie Connections:

References Clockers (1995)

Soundtrack:

Futureshock

Stop ruining good ideas!!

Our society is so dependent on electricity so that when there is a blackout we despair. We find it hard to understand how people survived without the light switch, the TV, the refrigerator. The Trigger Effect is about such an occurence, but whereas our electricity usually comes back in a matter of hours, this movie's characters have to survive in the black for days. It is an interesting premise but it's horribly handled.

The characters we are shown are boring and two dimensional. An uneventful love triangle begins between the three leads which leads to nowhere. There are some interesting parts to the movie but it's let down by it's small budget. This movie demanded some cutting edge movie making, it fails to deliver. This could and should have been a much more (dare I say) violent picture. It's theme was that of man's devolution back into nature after it loses its use of technology. So we expect some nasty events to occur. It never happens.

A movie like this should have left the moviegoer with questions. How would you react in such a situation? Instead it only leaves us with a gaping mouth and a statement to the filmmakers. Stop ruining good ideas!!