Effects (1979) — Triskaidekafiles

EFFECTS

WRITER: Dusty Nelson

DIRECTOR: Dusty Nelson

STARRING: Joseph F. Pilato as Dom

Susan Chapek as Celeste

John Harrison as Lacey

Barney McKenna as Barney

Debra Gordon as Rita

Tom Savini as Nicky

Chuck Hoyes as Lobo

QUICK CUT: During a film shoot in the woods, the cast and crew bond over their love of films.

THE MORGUE

Lacey - A very driven director, working on his next project. He seems broadly charming and welcoming to his cast and crew, and open to suggestions, but don’t rub him the wrong way. He also has a darker side that is drawn towards the forbidden

Dom - The film’s camera and effects guy. Friendly, affable, a cool head, and possibly even a bit naive.

Celeste - The lighting crew and gaffer on the film, Dom’s love interest, and she’s also an aspiring actress. She won’t take anyone’s shit, she knows her worth.

Nicky - The person Celeste is least likely to take anyone’s shit from. Has boundary issues, always trying to get with Celeste, and needs to learn the definition of the word “No”.

TRISK ANALYSIS: Welcome back, Triskelions! This week, I dug out a movie from the late 70s to take a look at, featuring a young Tom Savini, and a very odd meta plot about a slasher taking out the cast of a movie. It's a strange movie to be sure, so let's delve into the mystery of Effects. I’ve had it in my collection for awhile, having picked up the Blu a number of years ago, and it just seemed like a good time for it.

And like any good sleazy movie it immediately starts with - well, after some views of some hot and saucy film editing equipment - with a woman taking a shower.

She thinks she sees something in the mirror...but it's not there when she turns and looks. And then the director yells cut BECAUSE IT WAS ALL A MOVIE.

Would you mind putting the fourth wall back up?

We are watching as the up and coming director Lacey Bickel is filming his latest movie, Duped: A Snuff Film at a remote house in the woods. They're using the location for everything, housing the small cast and crew, as well as filming. Economical!

After filming for the day wraps, we spend some time at a bar doing the character thing, mostly with Dom, our camera and effects guy, and Celeste, a gaffer on set. Or I guess that should be THE gaffer. Dom is fascinated by the rarity of a female gaffer, and he shamelessly flirts with her.

They get interrupted by another member of the crew, Nicky, and he gets a bit too forward and hands on with Celeste. They BOTH end up kicking Nicky's ass.

We have a Savini. I repeat; we have a Savini.

Work continues the following day, with Lacey and others discussing how best to show slicing a character's ankle with a razor. Lacey doesn't particularly care if the effect is believable, saying the audience will believe whatever they show them.

Celeste gives him an example of how it could work, with some dramatic build up, without overdoing things, and everyone is happy. Well, Lacey isn't, but he'll get over it.

We go through a bunch of scenes that seem really weird...until they are inevitably revealed to just be scenes from Duped.

Are we done here? I have to get back to Wayne Manor and check on Master Bruce.

Mixed in with these are several random scenes of just hanging around, and Lacey mentions an upcoming scene called "the chase" in a few weeks, and not to be mouthing off too loudly about it.

The production wraps for the night, and while Dom and Celeste get a few final shots and strike the set for the night, Lacey and others head out.

We get some talk about how Lacey got rich thanks to his parents dying, and if he's so rich, why are we filming on 16mm with a one man crew??

One night after filming, Lacey, Dom, and some others are hanging out, they teach Dom how to properly do coke, and uh, the actor playing Lobo seems to be a bit TOO familiar with all this, let's just say.

Anyways, Lacey drags out one of his secret films, and the boys watch as a woman gets murdered. Since they're all high as balls, none of them are sure if it was real, or fake. Lacey assures them it's a real snuff film, part of his secret collection. Ahh, the secret film that no one has seen trope, a fave of mine.

This is all surrounded by a debate of what we show on film. Dom naturally finds the idea of killing someone on film to be abhorrent, but Lacey rightly points out, that's exactly how Dom makes his living. Yes, it's different, but... Honestly, this is a scene I wish they did more with.. There's a lot of breathing room in this movie, and some more discussions like this would elevate it.

Once everyone has had their fill of film theory, Lacey is watching the movie again on his own, when the lead actress, Rita, joins him. She makes some comments about he should be filming this, as she gets drunk and spills her guts, so he sneaks off to, I presume, do just that. Kinda says all you need to know about him.

Later, Dom is trying to find the razor for the slashing gag, and finds a bunch of polaroids, and I think they're of the girl who was in the snuff film. So that puts that question to rest. Maybe. Who knows with this flick?

After a bit more stuff, Lacey wakes Dom up early one morning, saying they needed to change something, hurry up and get ready, we have to go film.

Dom gets sent off with Nicky and Lobo out into the woods to get some early morning shots to edit in, that will give the sense of 'the demon' in his film, is pervasive and all around.

Once they're so deep into the woods they have to go on foot, Dom and Lobo take the lead, while Nicky takes aim...and shoots Dom from behind.

The crew member falls down over the ridge, and fortunately the shot didn't do too much damage, as he runs deeper into the woods, while the other two give chase.

There’s only room for ONE special effects master in this town!

Yep, this is "The Chase" that was muttered about at the start of the film, hopefully long enough ago, and hastily breezed past, so by now you've forgotten about it. It becomes clear once you see several camera POV shots that Lacey is watching back at the studio to direct this very real chase.

A lot of this movie has been a lenghy set up to get Dom out in the woods, to be hunted and chased down, and kill him, to use in the movie. There's a brilliance to this idea, because duh, 'reality' in cinema, and there have been multiple cases where a director has been hauled into court to testify that people in their movies are indeed alive and well, and not killed on set, the deaths looked that real.

My problems with this setup though is, the hints are a bit on the nose. You know SOMEthing is up. And the movie is a bit too empty for the first hour to get you to this point, and too empty to distract you from the hints it drops. The chase IS very good though, and has some great energy. I wish there was more of a sense of danger in the rest of the movie, instead of what is an extended behind the scenes film.

It's certainly not a BAD idea, there's a very good concept here, it just doesn't quite execute it to my liking.

Dom eventually finds another cabin, just as its owner stumbles in. He hides in a closet, and waits. Eventually, Dom jumps the guy and beats his face in, so he can take his gun before leaving.

Sadly, Dom passes out in the fields just as the roof of the cabin can be seen over the rise. Inside, they are finally shooting the big scene where Rita gets her leg slashed. Something is off though, and she breaks character, referring to her attacker by the actor's name. And it seems like this time, the scene is all too real.

Dom actually comes to, and stumbles the rest of the way to the cabin. He finds Lacey and Celeste arguing over the direction of the movie, with him reassuring her it's only a movie, everyone is fine, they've all just gone to the big farm upstate.

She doesn't believe him though, and shoots the director. And not with a camera this time.

Celeste sees Dom as they hear Lobo and Nicky return. And Dom doesn't hesitate to pay back the guy who shot him in the back.

The couple drives off, and Celeste shouts how this wasn't in the script, and we know she's in on it...but the car explodes before we can get any further explanation, pulling back to reveal Lacey is alive, and he has his hit movie.

TRISK ASSESSMENT

Video: It’s grainy, but in that very good, 70s way. It just adds to the sense of sleaze.

Audio: It sounds all right. It’s just a buncha folks talking. There are a few moments when the background noise overpowers the actors, though.

Sound Bite: “They'll believe anything we show them."

Body Count: Due to the nature of a film within a film, and not knowing who is dead, who is DEAD dead, and everything else, I am just counting anyone we think is dead at the moment of death.

1 - Eight minutes in, and someone is shot in the head during the movie

2 - Woman is slashed across the chest in the snuff film

3 - Barney gets shot

4 - Rita gets sliced

5 - Lacey gets shot

6 - Nicky gets shot

7 - Celeste and Dom get blown up

Best Corpse: For a movie that had Savini on hand, the effects are kinda lacklustre, and most deaths are obscured. I have to give the award to Nicky’s death, just because of how deserved it was.

Blood Type - C: There’s just enough good splashes of very classic bright red stage blood to bring this score up.

Sex Appeal: A few hints of titillation, especially in the opening scene to catch your interest.

Drink Up! Every time someone calls Celeste a bitch.

Movie Review: I quite like this one. I like the core idea, and the slow burn almost works for me. There’s enough there to keep the idea going, and you know everyone knows what they’re doing. It’s a very well made, simple movie for its budget. And for 1979, to do THIS kind of meta narrative is a huge swing, that mostly works. Like I said in the main Trisking, I just wish they didn’t telegraph quite as much, and had a bit more meat to the first hour, with a bit more sense of danger, and/or a bit more discussion about film. I feel like “The Last Horror Movie” took a lot of the ideas here, and perfected them. It’s a very good idea, that just needs a bit more work, but for an ultra low budget movie, it is still quite good. Three out of five lines of coke.

Entertainment Value: This is where the film works less, for me. It’s a slow burn, and a lot of sitting around, a lot of filming scenes that aren’t real. It’s well done, just as I’ve said, takes a while to build to a climax. It’s fun seeing this VERY VERY early appearance by Savini, as skeevy as he is, and the main cast is thankfully charming enough that you like to watch them, but when I described this as a “behind the scenes documentary” I kinda meant it. Some of the crew are fun characters at least, but it’s a lotta watching people sit around and do stuff until the actual plot gets rolling. Two out of five walkie talkies.