Splatter: Architects of Fear

Director - Peter Rowe (The New Addams Family)
Starring - Paul James Saunders (Halfbaked), Amber Wendleborg, and Chris Britton (Carrie)
Release Date - 1986
Genre - Horror
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     When I write a review I focus on three aspects of the film; the acting, the story, and the kills (effects and entertaining qualities of the kill).  I grew up on Savini's Night of the Living Dead, Evil Dead II, and Army of Darkness.  Practical effects and kills were a huge part of these films.  They shaped the way I watch movies and set the bar for what I expect when I toss in a new one.  Because of the nature of horror the practical effects artists are just as well known to genre fans as the directors and actors themselves.  Sadly, effect are starting to take a nose dive in the last 15 or 20 years.  As budgets get smaller so does the kills and practical effects and kills are now done with computer generated images.  Most horror fans believe that the pinnacle of horror practical effects was during the 80s.  Back in 1986 a strange documentary was made called Splatter: Architects of Fear.  The film was later acquired and released on DVD by Slasher//Video before partnering with Olive Films for a release.  Olive Films was kind enough to send a review copy of the film my way.

     The film follows hunchback Fang as he watches a crew on the set of a film that follows the battles between mutants, Amazonian women, and the undead in the post-apocalyptic world.  The documentary shows the finished scene which usually showcases some sort of death.  We then follow Fang as he runs through the set and watches the professionals as they do their movie magic to pull off the final gag for the film.

     

     I have seen dozens practical effects documentaries over the years with my favorite belonging to Scream Greats: Tom Savini.  I usually enjoy these type of documentaries but this one is a little different.  Instead of being a straight forward documentary that just demonstrates how a practical effect is pulled off, it gives us a small glimpse at the work behind it while we watch a disfigured hunchback act stupid.  This one does not offer up any real interviews which is a big fucking shame.  We don't get any inside knowledge from the effect artist.  This was a huge missed opportunity and the whole point of the documentary.  The only person to really be interviewed or showcased is the fictional character of Fang which is pointless.  This documentary does flow smoothly.  I have seen several documentaries that were pieced together and made no sense.  However, this one is actually put together very well.  I did enjoy the bending of the actual film and the behind the scenes footage.  Finally, the film only has one real topic which makes is difficult to run for a feature running time.  We get a great deal of the finished project and very little footage of the team working the effects.  This was horrible and really made this documentary feel cheap.  My honest opinion is that they were unable to finish the film and tossed together the behind the scenes footage to release what they had.  Overall, Splatter: Architects of Fear is a missed opportunity.  Instead of being a documentary on special effects in horror, we get a pieced together film that barely touches on the subject.  I would honestly skip this one.