Director: Larry Cohen
Screenplay: Larry Cohen
Starring: Zoë Lund, Eric Bogosian, Brad Rijn, Kevin O’Connor, Bill Oland, H. Richard Greene, Steven Pudenz
Country: USA
Running Time: 106 min
Year: 1984
BBFC Certificate: 15
In my review of The Ambulance late last year, I talked about my admiration for Larry Cohen. Whilst definitely a commercial filmmaker, Cohen can unmistakably be called a true ‘auteur’, as he’s one of the few filmmakers who writes, directs, and often produces his own work. He doesn’t use this control to make arthouse or vanity projects, though. He has a particular interest in thrillers (some may say horrors, but Cohen prefers the former) that take seemingly ‘good’ or at least innocuous people/creatures/objects, and turn them evil in some way. He had a killer baby in the It’s Alive films, a killer car in The Ambulance and even killer junk food in The Stuff.
In 1984, Cohen channelled Peeping Tom (with a splash of Vertigo) and made a film about a killer filmmaker, with Special Effects.
Transmission are releasing Special Effects on Blu-ray in the UK. I got hold of a screener to share my thoughts.
To sum up the plot, let me quote from the press blurb, “Aspiring actress Andrea (Zoë Tamerlis Lund, Ms .45) has run away from her domestic life in Dallas to New York City, with dreams of becoming a future movie star. Director Christopher Neville (Eric Bogosian, Uncut Gems) promises Andrea a role in his next film – but when she visits him at his apartment one night, a sexual encounter turns violent, and Andrea is murdered while Neville’s camera captures the whole sordid affair. When Andrea’s estranged husband Keefe (Brad Rijn) arrives to look for her, he is immediately suspected of her murder, until he finds an unlikely ally in Neville. In exchange for helping secure his freedom, Neville persuades Keefe to help him with his new film, and to find him a new leading lady, one who bears a remarkable resemblance to Andrea…”
It took me a while to get into Special Effects, and it’s primarily due to one reason. Whilst I thought Zoë Tamerlis Lund was fantastic in Ms .45, I found her pretty poor as Andrea here. This is largely down to her accent, rather than her physical performance. She’s dubbed, seemingly by a different actress, with a grating Southern American accent. I found it off-putting, making for quite a clunky opening 20 minutes.
However, after Andrea was killed off, I warmed to the film. When Lund comes back as the Elaine character, her performance is much stronger. There are still a couple of unusual line readings, but she has a unique charm.
I got more into the story as the film moved on, too. Neville’s quest to make a film to match the ‘snuff’ material he’s captured is intriguing, commenting on the unusual nature of the acting and filmmaking processes.
The success of the second half is aided by a charismatic yet cruel performance by Bogosian as Neville. I also enjoyed the police officer, Det. Lt. Philip Delroy (Kevin O’Connor), who gets over-involved in the filmmaking process. He gets a lot of the wittier lines in the script, so he’s fun to watch.
It’s not one of the most thrilling of thrillers. There aren’t a lot of murders, and these aren’t as tense or disturbing as some more famous examples. However, being a Larry Cohen film, little time is wasted, and the story moves along nicely.
I wasn’t a fan of the music in the film, though. Michael Minard’s score has some interesting cues, but it felt overused and overbearing. I don’t know if it’s an issue with the Blu-ray authoring, but it seemed a touch too loud, detracting from the film itself.
So, whilst it gets off to a shaky start and can be a little uneven, Special Effects is an intriguing, entertaining thriller. Not one of Cohen’s best, but worth a watch.
Film: 
Special Effects is out on 23rd March on a limited edition region B Blu-Ray, released by Transmission (an offshoot of Radiance Films). The transfer is impressive, with gorgeous, rich colours and a clean, sharp image. I’ve used screengrabs throughout this review to give you an idea of how it looks, though these have been compressed. Looking at the audio, I found the music too heavy in the mix, as mentioned in my review. This may be as it was originally presented, but I found it a little distracting.
LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES
– UK Blu-ray premiere
– High definition digital transfer
– Uncompressed mono audio
– Newly recorded interview with star Eric Bogosian (2025, 22 mins)
– New audio commentary with director of King Cohen, Steve Mitchell
– Cohen on Cohen – feature length interview with Larry Cohen (2017, 71 mins)
– Archival director’s commentary with Larry Cohen, moderated by Steve Mitchell
– New interview with critic Christina Newland on Zoë Tamerlis Lund (2025, 13 mins)
– Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
– Includes O-card featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Eric Adrian Lee
– Limited edition booklet featuring new writing from Juan Barquin
– Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented with o-card and full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
There are two commentaries. One features Cohen and Steve Mitchell. Cohen is on good form here, telling some fun anecdotes about the production. I enjoyed listening to this.
The other track sees Mitchell go solo. He talks about Cohen himself, as well as discussing his thoughts on the film. There’s some crossover between this and the other commentary, but there’s enough new material to make it worthwhile.
There’s also a 70-minute interview with Cohen on the disc. This is wonderful, spanning his whole life and career. He talks with humour and rough charm.
Eric Bogosian is also interviewed. I loved this, too. He’s wonderfully honest about his experience (Special Effects was his first lead film role), telling a number of eye-opening and hilarious anecdotes about the production.
Christina Newland also provides an essay about Zoë Tamerlis Lun and the film itself. It’s well worth a look.
I didn’t receive a copy of the booklet or other physical extras to comment on those, unfortunately.
Overall, Transmission have done a wonderful job with Special Effects. I may not have been a massive fan of the film, but the disc makes up for it. The interviews and commentaries are enjoyable enough to warrant a look, themselves.
Disc/package: 