Arrogant and unscrupulous down-on-his-luck faded former big shot director Chris Neville (an excellent live-wire performance by Eric Bogosian) films himself murdering naive aspiring actress Andrea Wilcox (the gorgeous Zoe Tamerlis of "Ms. 45" fame). Neville decides to make a movie around the snuff footage and hires sassy lookalike Elaine (also played by Tamerlis) to portray Andrea in the picture. Neville even convinces Andrea's earnest, clean-cut hick husband Keefe Waterman (likable Brad Rjin) to be himself in the life and persuades pesky, hard-nosed Detective Philip Delroy (a fine turn by Kevin O'Connor) to serve as a technical adviser. Writer/director Larry Cohen, taking a break from his usual monster horror affairs like "Q" and "The Stuff," expertly crafts a deliciously twisted and absorbing thriller which unfolds at a gradual, yet hypnotic pace, offers a fascinatingly cynical inside look at the film-making process, maintains a properly bleak and eerie tone throughout, and builds a reasonable amount of tension as it culminates in one doozy of a startling double whammy surprise conclusion. Cohen gets a lot of intriguing millage out of distorting reality and astutely explores such weighty themes as the dangerously seductive allure of cinema, the manipulation of the truth, and American culture's obsession with making stars out of nobodies. The acting is uniformly sturdy and impressive, with Tamerlis a particular stand-out in a demanding dual role. As a tasty added bonus, Tamerlis bares her beautiful body a few times. Paul Glickman's glossy, glittering cinematography, Michael Minard's shivery, flesh-crawling synthesizer score, and the gritty New York City locations all further enhance the overall sound quality of this spooky, unsettling, and underrated little pip.
Review of Special Effects
