Entertainment
Extremely R-Rated 80s Thriller Is A Hidden-Camera Murder Mystery
By Robert Scucci
| Published
Here’s a little bit of life advice that I’ll give you for free. If the last person to see your wife alive is a disgraced filmmaker who’s presently working on a snuff film, he’s probably the person responsible for her death. Furthermore, if you become the primary suspect in her murder, the filmmaker posts your bail after talking to the police and asks you to help him finish the film he started when your wife was still alive, you should probably try working directly with the authorities instead of the person who seems to know a little too much about the case after bringing one of the officers on to consult on the storyboard. This is the plot to 1984’s Special Effects, a movie within a movie that is one of the most out-there psychological thrillers I’ve seen in a minute.
It’s one of those movies where you know who the killer is because you see it happen early on, and you think he’s going to get away with it. He just might, too. The tension comes from watching everybody else, not knowing what you know, try to piece everything together even though they only have their suspicions and the kind of circumstantial evidence that wouldn’t hold up in court anyway.
Everybody, aside from the antagonist, is so comically clueless in Special Effects that it’s charming. It’s equally frustrating, though, because he’s the last guy you want to root for.
The Movie Within The Movie
Special Effects has a simple setup that extrapolates into absurdity, but almost always wears a straight face. We’re introduced to Andrea Wilcox (Zoe Lund), a struggling actress trying to make it big in New York City. She earns her living shooting nudie photos, which upsets her estranged husband, Keefe (Brad Rijn), prompting him to travel to New York and try to convince her to come back home to Dallas, where he and their toddler live. They have a fight, and Andrea storms out, finding herself near the residence of disgraced filmmaker Christopher Neville (Eric Bogosian).
Christopher is looking for his big comeback after becoming so reliant on special effects that he was blacklisted from Hollywood following a number of big-budget failures. While attempting to make love to Andrea, Christopher becomes enraged and strangles her to death. The entire exchange is recorded on a hidden camera in his bedroom, and he thinks it might be his big score.
When Keefe becomes the primary suspect in Andrea’s murder, he’s arrested by Det. Lt. Phillip Delroy (Kevin O’Connor). Christopher pays for a lawyer, and Keefe makes bail, meaning he’s now indebted to the filmmaker, who has plans for the murder footage. He explains his intention to make a movie about his and Andrea’s life, offering Keefe the position of technical advisor. Detective Phillip is put at ease when he’s offered a consulting job on the project, meaning he’ll hand over any files related to Andrea’s murder because he thinks he’ll get a writing credit out of it.
Knowing that he’s only out of jail thanks to Christopher’s generosity, Keefe buys into the project and even finds a woman named Elaine (also portrayed by Zoe Lund), who just so happens to be a dead ringer for Andrea. Christopher, in so many words, intends to make a snuff film using the actual footage of Andrea’s murder hidden inside the finished movie, with Elaine serving as her stand-in up to that point. Keefe, who knows Christopher is up to something but can’t quite put his finger on what, plays along, hoping the filmmaker will slip and show his true colors. Time is running out, though, because Christopher only becomes more unhinged as the film progresses.
Quite The Ride Despite Its Destination
As much as I wanted to give Special Effects a perfect score, it’s not without problems. Not a single person in this movie is believably human, which takes away from the story it’s trying to tell. Christopher Neville is so comically evil that the only thing he’s missing is a mustache to twirl and a top hat to go along with it. The detectives are completely incompetent, which never really makes you feel worried about Keefe, who was essentially framed for murder. This dynamic undermines the kind of tension a thriller like this needs, but the story itself is fun despite how underwhelming I found the execution.
Watching a disgraced filmmaker try to incorporate the murder he committed into his next outing because he’s going back to his roots and using practical effects (read: an actual dead body) is a great way to explore the insane lengths creatives will go in the name of “authenticity.” The irony that he’s the most disingenuous person in the room isn’t lost on me, either. But without any real outside pressure from the characters who are supposed to provide it, the whole thing kind of falls apart in the third act.
Special Effects, as a concept, is a really fun film. While I’m not 100 percent thrilled with its characterization and execution, it remains a solid watch, especially before Christopher goes fully off the rails. If you’re looking for a thriller that isn’t afraid to go all in on its own insanity, you can stream Special Effects for free on Tubi as of this writing.