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.

Some crew members of a company shooting a horror film begin to suspect that the "killings" in the movie are real, and that they are actually making a "snuff" film.There are two things about this film that keep it interesting all these decades later. One is the abundance of George Romero-connected people involved: Tom Savini, John Harrison, Joseph Pilato, Pasquale Buba, Nancy Allen (but not THAT Nancy Allen) and others. Filming took place in 1978, around the time that "Dawn of the Dead" was made; it seems that many involved in "Dawn" were making their own film on the side.The other interesting historical note is how this film for many years just never existed. Although it was shot in 1978 and seems to be copyrighted in 1980, virtually no one saw it in the 1980s or 1990s. Due to a distributor bankruptcy problem, the film never received a theatrical or home video release. It never aired on television, or got passed around as bootlegs either. The October 2005 Synapse Films DVD was the film's first official release anywhere in the world. The American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) is now (2017) releasing a Blu-Ray of the film mastered from a rare 35mm print that was made before the distributor backed out, so it can be discovered by a new generation.Perhaps due to this film's misfortunes, Dusty Nelson did not return to directing until the "Tales From the Darkside" episode "The Unhappy Medium" (1986). Others involved (Savini and Harrison in particular) achieved great success in its wake. How such a movie went hidden for so long is something of a mystery. If its existence was known, it would be widely sought after. The film was such a secret, we never see it mentioned in interviews or even within in-depth books such as Joe Kane's "Night of the Living Dead".The most logical reason it would fade into obscurity would be if it was an awful film. But, on the contrary, it actually happens to be quite good. While not the era-defining classic that "Dawn of the Dead" is, it is far better than many other independent horror features of its time. Heck, it even blows away Romero's early works (especially "There's Always Vanilla"). The film-within-a-film is creepy and effective. Dusty Nelson could have been somebody! A historical footnote: The first known use of the term "snuff movie" is in the 1971 Ed Sanders book, "The Family: The Story of Charles Manson's Dune Buggy Attack Battalion". He alleges that the Manson Family was involved in making such a film in California to record their murders. His allegations were, for the record, false. The idea caught on, however, and we received the film "Snuff" in 1975, as well as this film. The most interesting thing about snuff films is not how they have captured the imagination of people who spread urban legends… it is that they don't exist. While it would be nearly impossible for such a thing to exist as an industry, it seems plausible that at least some killer would record their exploits and at least some of those tapes would get traded on a bootleg market. But apparently not.The AGFA Blu-ray comes out August 22, 2017, featuring a new 4K scan from the only surviving 35mm theatrical print. We get an archival commentary track with John Harrison, Dusty Nelson, and Pasquale Buba covering their memories of a bygone era. These should be enough, but wait… there is also a "Beastie" short film by Dusty Nelson and a "Ubu" short film by John Harrison. Heck, we even have the "After Effects" documentary with optional commentary track!

This movie seriously had me worried that I might be autistic! Forty-five minutes into the film and there still wasn't the slightest sign of plot development and/or essence. I don't know about you, but especially when dealing with early 80's low-budget horror flicks, I like to know if it's at least going somewhere. I was slowly starting to behave like Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man"; continuously repeating 'I need a plot … I need a plot …. I badly need a plot". "Effects" is a long, slow-moving, incoherent and visually exhausting movie and I honestly regret to say that because I'm a devoted fan of the genre and usually I really, really, really support obscure horror titles like this. Sadly, however, "Effects" is amateurish nonsense with sequences that are endlessly stretched and a story that literally never shifts into gear in spite of its great rudimentary potential. The crew of a cheap horror film, well … actually just the effects guy and the lighting girl, notice that the director is behaving very suspicious on set. They're right, too, because that sleazy bastard is actually planning to turn his little film project into a genuine snuff movie with the cast and crew members as the unaware and probably very reluctant lead players/victims. Sublime idea for a bona fide 80's shock feature, if you ask me, but the execution of the film is horrible. All of a sudden, I'm not even surprised anymore to find out this film was apparently "lost" for 20+ years. Even with Tom Savini and Joe Pilato (the latter giving a terrific performance and totally unlike the role in "Day of the Dead" that made him famous) in the cast, this is an infuriatingly lame movie. There's actually very little gore in the film and if you were, by any chance, hoping to learn some "kitchen secrets" about the special effects industry, you'll be sorely disappointed as well. "Effects" only specializes in overlong and pointless padding footage – especially the chase through the woods seems endless – and oppressed slasher ideas. Another extremely disappointing snuff-themed thriller, joining the same list as Roberta Findley's "Snuff", "Live Feed", "Snuff-Movie", "Vacancy" and Larry Cohen's "Special Effects". For good snuffies, stick to the Spanish "Thesis", the massively underrated "Mute Witness" and the legendary classic "Peeping Tom".

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.