Long before the days of DVD, fans of special effects did not have many places to learn how the magic was created. We read magazines like Fangoria and there was the occasional book to check out but there were not a lot of visual options to see behind the scenes footage. There were a few documentaries such as "Scream Greats" with Tom Savini, Document of the Dead, and those Videozone featurettes at the end of Full Moon tapes but it was nothing like it is today where almost every release has some sort of look at how the movie was created. This is why I remember Splatter so fondly. It showed me a side of the creation of effects that brought it to a level that fans could relate to and it made it look easy and fun (although not always good).

The movie is introduced by a narrator who informs us that we are going to learn about how special effects are made from the masters behind the scenes. By alternating between finished scenes from a fictional film and then the behind the scenes footage, we get to see both the creation and the finished product. This is a nifty way of structuring the film and it puts all of the effects into immediate context. Some of the gags on display are an arrow in the mouth, a throat slitting, a hand severed by an elevator, entrail eating, squibs, a head explosion, and a dismemberment that has similarities to that nasty "Guinea Pig" segment that got Charlie Sheen in trouble. There is also an extended finale with a lots of stunts and explosions but no behind the scenes footage. Maybe they ran out of money.

What's interesting about this film is that the mutants versus amazons film that is being documented was never released. In fact, I don't even know if it was supposed to be a film to start with as there is no mention of it anywhere. I am not sure if the filmmakers simply intended to showcase the effects artists and thought this was a clever wraparound or if they meant to make a final product and could not afford to finish their post-apocalyptic epic. Considering that they already had the stunt and gore scenes shot, I can't see why they wouldn't throw in some dialogue to tie it all together. Another mystery is the abundant graphic nudity on display. One scene in particular features an amazon who disables a mutant and then proceeds to have sex with him until his head explodes. This shows a lot more than your average slasher movie at the time and was quite the score when I was 14. I had also forgotten that after she does this, she tells another amazon that she "f#^@ed his brains out". Classic. Looking back now, I wonder how they convinced these actresses to show so much as this was certainly more Penthouse than Playboy. One rumour is that the producers needed more skin so they hired strippers to play some of the amazons. I suppose if you are looking for some performers with fewer inhibitions, that would a good place to start.

The gore itself is passable for the most part but any time the effects guys are trying to create a cast of a body part, they do a terrible job. This goes for the exploding head gag as well as the creation of a full body cast for the dismemberment scene. It looks like the head of the actress on top of one of those fake sumo suits you see at a kid's carnival. I find it strange that they would display such terrible looking effects in a movie that is supposed to be showcasing the artists. Another misstep is a comic relief character named Fang who is completely unfunny. He is supposed to be a like Renfield but is embarrassing and it surprised me that someone actually thought this was a good idea. Those complaints aside, this is still a fun throwback to a time when practical effects were all the rage and I enjoyed watching it again after all this time. (Josh Pasnak, 11/25/10)

Directed By: Peter Rowe.
Written By: Janet Schacter.

Starring: Paul Saunders, Amber Wendleborg, Amazons, Mutants.