Written By: Jase Marsiglia
The special effects boom of the 80s was really something you had to be there to appreciate. It truly was a renaissance. There’s no doubt in my mind that cinephiles can look back at films like "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Blade Runner", "E.T.", or dozens of others and appreciate the real elbow grease and tangible, hands-on effects work that was being delivered without the aid of computers or digital wizardry.
However, the horror genre is where artistry truly flourished. Puppetry. Mechanics. Gore. It blew audiences away and repelled stuffy critics. Movies like "An American Werewolf in London" (the first to receive an Academy Award for makeup effects), "John Carpenter’s The Thing", "The Howling", "Friday the 13th", "The Evil Dead", "Poltergeist", and so many more were showing what true creativity in the hands of makeup effects artists could conjure. Wildest dreams and worst nightmares came from Hollywood in that era, and it made rock stars and household names out of people like Tom Savini, Rick Baker, Rob Bottin, Greg Nicotero, Howard Berger, and Robert Kurtzman. Just last month, I reviewed Paramount’s Fangoria release of "Scream Greats Volume I: Tom Savini", an entire documentary on a special effects guy, when home video releases of profiles like that were once unheard of.
It made perfect sense for a thriller involving these tricks of the trade to be released during this period. A film that combined the interest in the people behind the monsters and the gore with the thrills of a pulp novel. When the deadly things you thought you saw could quite possibly have been only the work of…
F/X (1986)
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Australian-born actor Bryan Brown plays Roland Tyler, an exceptional makeup and special effects technician who is approached by Department of Justice agents ("Lou Grant"’s Mason Adams and "Secret Admirer"’s Cliff DeYoung) to stage the murder of a notorious mobster named Nick DeFranco ("Law & Order" mainstay Jerry Orbach) to get him off the mob’s radar for turning informant. If everyone thinks he’s dead already, the green light on his head is removed, and he can be whisked into witness protection without anyone getting hurt.
The stunt goes off without a hitch—DeFranco is lit up in a hail of bloody gunfire in a crowded restaurant, and Tyler, cast as his shooter for safety’s sake, runs out before being identified. But the agents, well, they don’t like “loose ends,” and as a witness (much less a co-conspirator), Tyler needs to be killed. Narrowly escaping his own execution, Tyler must rely on his skills as a master of effects and visual sleight of hand to survive and expose these crooked agents—much less anyone else, mob or otherwise—who want him dead.
WATCH THE TRAILER FOR "F/X" BELOW!
Writers Robert Megginson and Gregory Fleeman have penned a wonderfully intense, white-knuckle noir thriller that would appeal to crime fans and horror enthusiasts alike. Here’s a guy who dabbles in the same monster creations and gore effects as horror fans’ heroes in the business, embroiled in a conspiracy and having to use movie magic to deceive, escape, and even horrify the powers after him, with the help of a badass NYPD detective named McCarthy (the great Brian Dennehy), conveniently suspended for poking his nose too deep into the case, and a friend “in the biz” (Martha Gehman from "The Legend of Billie Jean"). Even with twists and fake-outs left and right, F/X never cheats the audience and delivers a solid thrill ride from beginning to end. Look for "Manhunter"’s Tom Noonan as a government spook—and yep, that’s "Sesame Street" regular Roscoe Orman as the police captain!
HOME VIDEO
"F/X" has been around for a while, getting DVD releases through MGM and eventually a Blu-ray from Kino Lorber in 2015. But just last year, Arrow Video’s UK branch released "F/X" and its sequel "F/X 2" in a boxed set titled "The Grande Illusion" and lavished it with two brand-new commentaries, a new interview with Carl Fullerton, the special effects makeup supervisor, a new visual essay by Heather Wixson, production notes, sales sheets, image galleries, a 60-page collector’s book, and a fold-out poster, while also porting over Kino Lorber’s 2015 “making of” featurette, an interview with director Robert Mandel, and the trailers to round it all out.
BITS ‘N’ PIECES
Followed by: It would take me a hell of a lot longer than five years to trust getting hired for another sting operation from the cops, but that’s just what Tyler does in the 1991 sequel, "F/X 2".
Traum-A-Meter:
2 out of 4.
The violence in the film is no worse than any run-of-the-mill action film like Die Hard or Lethal Weapon. A little gory, but not in a horror film kind of way.
Today’s Jam: The Genesis jam “Invisible Touch” was the #1 rock song on the charts the week that "F/X" was plying its own “sleight of hand” in theaters.
THIS EPISODE’S MORAL:
Not everything is as it seems.
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