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Released by: SRS Cinema
Released on: September 23, 2008.
Director: John Russo
Cast: Tom Savini, John Russo
Year: 2008
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The Movie:
This short, which looks to have been shot sometime in the late eighties, features John Russo of all people sitting down and having a career oriented chat with Tom Savini. Over the thirty-five minutes or so that this feature runs, we hear Savini talk about his work and where he got some of the ideas from. He covers working with Romero on a few different films as well as his work on Friday The 13th and as he tells us these reasonably amusing and interesting stories we get a look at some of the props and effects techniques that he created for the films.
As to how he does it, however, there isn't a lot of information here. The packaging makes this look like he's going to show us how he creates a lot of these effects set pieces but we really don't get much of that at all. Instead, this is more or less Savini and Russo strolling down memory lane with the aid of some leftover props. Savini's (at the time very young) daughter pops in for a few minutes to don some clown make up and we get a chance to check out some effects clips from The Burning which are interesting enough but you can't help but be left wanting more from this.
That said, Savini's good in front of the camera, he always has been. He comes across as likeable enough and he's got that natural charisma that carries him a bit. He's pretty enthusiastic when it comes to talking about his work and he's obviously having a good time with this low budget, low rent instructional/documentary movie. It certainly could have been a lot more detailed and a lot more in depth but at least it's interesting and it is kind of cool to get a vintage look at his workshop and some of his more famous and recognizable creations.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Horror Effects Hosted By Tom Savini was shot on video some years ago and it has that softness associated with older video sources. It's all perfectly watchable but in this day of high definition transfers and the like it's less than impressive even if this transfer is likely a pretty accurate representation of how it's always looked. Colors are a little faded and the image lacks some fine detail but again, for an older tape sourced picture, this looks fine.
The English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track has a bit of background hiss that you'll probably notice without having to strain too much, but is otherwise fine. The dialogue is easy enough to understand and the levels are well balanced. The score and the clips used all sound fine and for an older, low budget mix, there aren't any serious issues to complain about.
Aside from a static menu and chapter selection option, there are a couple of trailers for other Sub Rosa DVD releases - and that's it, unfortunately.
The Final Word:
Special effects junkies and Savini fans will certainly get a kick out of this video. While the presentation feels dated and a little aged, there's still a lot of good information in here (even if most of it is anecdotal) and the whole thing has a great vibe to it that recalls the glory days of gory horror effects work before CGI sucked the soul out of it all.