Rating summary
| Movie |  | 3.5 |
| Video |  | 4.0 |
| Audio |  | 4.5 |
| Extras |  | 2.5 |
| Overall | | 3.5 |
Special Effects Blu-ray Movie Review
Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 26, 2016
Larry Cohen's "Special Effects" (1984) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Olive Films. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film and audio commentary with director Larry Cohen moderated by writer/filmmaker Steve Mitchell. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
The director
This is a film that very easily could have been directed by Brian De Palma. It has that typical '80s sleaze element that defined De Palma’s oeuvre and a synthesizer-driven soundtrack that rivals some of Pino Donaggio’s most atmospheric work. Even the late Zoë Lund at times looks like a replica of a young Melanie Griffith.
Clueless country boy Keefe Waterman (Brad Rijn,
Perfect Strangers) arrives in New York City determined to find out what has happened to his wife Mary Jean (Lund,
Ms. 45,
Bad Lieutenant). He finds her in a shady part of town posing nude for a group of photographers. When Keefe threatens to end her ‘career’ and drag her back to Oklahoma, Mary Jean runs away and hooks up with Chris Neville (Eric Bogosian,
Talk Radio), an ambitious but failing film director who is convinced that his next project will be a huge hit. Moments after she enters his fancy apartment, he turns on a hidden camera and then brutally kills her on his bed. Keefe immediately becomes a suspect and promptly gets arrested, but the psycho hires a top lawyer to get him out of jail while the police are desperately looking for the real killer. Then he convinces Keefe to appear in his new film which will retell the tragic story of his wife -- with the raw footage of her murder occupying a prime spot in it.
With
Special Effects Larry Cohen goes straight into the gutter and pulls out a neo-noir piece that is so rough and kitschy that it actually looks surprisingly classy today. A lot of De Palma’s films have a similar vibe, but they are carefully scripted puzzles imagined by a skillful stylist with a notoriously big bag of tricks and thrills. In this film it feels like a lot -- but not everything -- comes together spontaneously and as a result a lot of the footage actually oozes rough retro glamour that can be very appealing.
In a familiar noir fashion the film also refuses to be kind to any of the major characters. They have flaws and weaknesses that have essentially placed them in the gutter and because they appear unwilling to target them so that they can give themselves a chance to crawl out of it the film remains indifferent to their misery.
Michael Minard’s ambient soundtrack has a similar rough quality. It blends simple synth-driven instrumentals that routinely run a lot longer than they should and yet end up effectively enhancing the retro glamour mentioned earlier. As odd as it may sound, it almost feels like it might have been arranged to closely imitate the functionality of Jan Hammer’s classic soundtrack from the iconic
Miami Vice series.
*If you have not seen
Special Effects yet and plan to do it soon, avoid viewing old trailers for the film as least two that are in circulation contain major spoilers.
Special Effects Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1,85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Larry Cohen's Special Effects arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.
There is room for some minor encoding optimizations, but the film looks very good in high-definition. There are a few segments where the highlights appear slightly elevated and black crush sneaks in, but there are no major anomalies that have been introduced by recent digital corrections. Grain is visible throughout the entire film and for the most part appears rather well resolved. Colors are stable and there is even a good range of nuances, though there is still some room for expansion. Image stability is excellent. A few tiny specks pop up, but there are no large debris, cuts, stains, or torn/warped frames to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
Special Effects Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
While the audio does not appear to have been recently remastered, depth and quality are consistently very pleasing. In fact, other than some minor balance adjustments I don't think that there is much room for improvement. The dialog is always clean, stable, and very easy to follow.
Special Effects Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras
- Trailers - original trailer for Special Effects. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p.)
- Commentary - Larry Cohen discusses in great detail not only the production history of the film but also the interesting socio-cultural environment in which it emerged, as well as the careers and work of various cast members and tech crew members that assisted him. The commentary is moderated by writer/filmmaker Steve Mitchell (Chopping Mall). Great new commentary, easily a good enough reason to recommend the Blu-ray release.
Special Effects Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation
Larry Cohen's Special Effects is a classic '80s genre picture that should appeal to fans of Brian De Palma and Abel Ferrara's work. It does have some obvious flaws, but it also has a rough retro glamour that I find very attractive. Olive Films' technical presentation of the film is very good and I am happy to report that the Blu-ray also has an excellent new audio commentary with Larry Cohen. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
