Effects is based on quite a clever idea - maybe even too clever for a slasher flick. The title, of course, refers to special effects - and that's essentially what the film is about. Effects is a slasher flick based on a bunch of people making a slasher film. The director seems obsessed with blood and gore and a cast member starts hallucinating - although that particular cast member had just been smoking weed. The director later shows his crew a film that may or not be a snuff film, and then the cast start getting picked off, though there's doubt over whether it's real or 'effects'. It really does seem that this idea was too clever for this film because it doesn't pull it off. A potentially interesting idea is turned into a snooze fest thanks to far too much talking by dull characters and a plot line that really doesn't ever get to the point. This film was apparently lost before someone resurrected it for DVD. The last 'lost' slasher film that I saw was A Night to Dismember, and like that film; this one shows that lost slashers really needn't be brought back. The most notable thing about 'effects' the fact that Tom Savini appears and does the effects, although he has had better days in both departments. We don't really get what we came for until the final third of the film and by then I was pretty bored of it. Overall, Effects is a pretty dismal slasher and I definitely don't recommend it.

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.

With the exception of "Peeping Tom", this was one the first films to address the subject of snuff movies. Produced in Pittsburgh, it has a few surprises up its sleeve and is reasonably well photographed, but it also has too many slow spots and the actors are unappealing. It takes a film-within-a-film approach and focuses on a bunch of low budget filmmakers who are struggling to make their horror film "realistic". There is a sting in the screenplay's tail and the last twenty minutes really hit a horrific stride. Not great by any means, but certainly a worthy attempt to make something different with limited resources. A black and white snuff film watched by several characters in the movie is potent.

~Spoiler~ Effects is a lost movie from the late 70's that just got an official release, almost 25 years later. Was it worth the wait? You be the judge. The film is about a cinematographer, Dom, who ventures to a secluded spot to film what he thinks is a low-budget horror flick. But it may be a snuff film. It's almost impossible to figure out what's going on for a long time. For the first hour, I was not into it. It was a boring drama where nothing was happening. But something was going on beneath the surface that you may not realize until the end of the film. I sure didn't. I was positive that I was going to hate Effects. The last 30 minutes are pretty incredible and once you piece together this outlandish puzzle, it's a pretty good effort. The whole piece has an experimental feel to it. Dusty Nelson does a lot of things other filmmakers wouldn't dare try. And I feel like he leaves a few things out which may confuse people and limit his audience. But at least he's giving us credit for being smart, a lesson could be learned here. The acting is way above par. Joe Pilato is fantastic in the lead, he's very meek and innocent. A complete turnaround from his character in Romero's Day of the Dead. Tom Savini is another recognizable face who plays a very unlikable character, quite well I might add. And finally, John Harrison (composer for Day of the Dead) plays the director, or the manipulator as the film's alternate title suggests. He's one of the coldest characters I've seen in a long while. Like I said before, the last 30 minutes features the meat of the movie. The frenzied camera-work is perfect for ours and Dominic's bewildered state. After shooting a fake movie, he finds himself being hunted in the middle of nowhere. And they're filming it all. He's gone from cameraman to star. The ending is very disquieting and leaves you plenty to think about. Very few movies make you reflect on everything you've just seen and second guess character's motivations. Some people were in on it, some people thought they were in on it, but only Dom is completely innocent. So I have to give Effects a thumbs up for audience participation. This is not popcorn fluff where you can turn your brain off. So if you're looking for a slasher movie, stay away.