Chekhov's Armory: Any and all special effects equipment that is shown at one point in either movie will come in to play by the end for more than Rollie's work. Special effects expert Rollie Tyler (Bryan Brown) is widely acknowledged as the best in the business.

Rollie rigs a gun with blanks and gives DeFranco a rig with radio transmitters and fake blood packs to simulate bullet hits. It Works Better with Bullets: When the first movie's Big Bad brandishes a pistol at Rollie, Rollie shows him the bullets he took from the gun and the superglue he put on the gun's handle, gluing the useless gun to the villain's hands. A preview screening in the San Fernando Valley produced some of the best statistics Orion Pictures had seen in some time. Lighter and Softer: The PG-13 sequel is this to the R-rated original film, due to less profanity, gore and violence. Set a Mook to Kill a Mook: In the climax of the first movie, Rollie deals with Mason's mooks by using special effects tricks to make them kill each other while trying to kill him (for instance, by making a reflection of himself appear to a mook who shoots at it and kills another mook who was standing behind it).

F/X: Murder by Illusion is a 1986 movie starring Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy about a special effects designer who gets dragged into a criminal conspiracy. Mason picks up the gun and demands the key back, but Rollie reveals the gun is empty and has Krazy Glue on its grip, before shoving Mason out of the mansion toward the police, who misinterpret his actions as a threat and fatally shoot him. These include a robot head from Class of 1999 and a toy robot from a pre- Energizer Bunny Energizer commercial. It contains fights and shootouts and big chase scenes, but they're all firmly centered on who the characters are and what they mean to one another. Using an elaborate phone setup, Rollie lures Lipton out in the open and kidnaps him in his official car, taking him on a rough ride in the trunk to get Mason's address out of him.

Where F/X floats above the crowd are in its performances; in the perfection of Miroslav Ondricek's photography, Mel Bourne's production design, John Stears' effects and Terry Rawlings' crisp, succinct editing; in the virtually unpredictable twists and turns of its plot, and in the sheer joy of watching a hero use his skill and his wits to solve a problem.Jump Scare: Rollie has a latex movie monster set up to leap at his door while a recording of the monster's roar is played, whenever somebody comes in. Mason tries to bribe Rollie by giving him the key, proposing that they split the money, but Rollie refuses and puts his gun down. Automobile Opening: used in the sequel as part of the Fake Action Prologue, with the camera following the car driven by the alien cyborg through the city before crashing it near a wino. Special effects man Rollie Tyler (Bryan Brown), is recruited to help stage the fake death of a mafia don who wants to rat on his organised crime pals, and then finds himself pursued by hoods and cops, and having to rely on his movie magic skills to defend himself.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. It turns out to be a double bluff where Rollie is framed for the death of DeFranco, but he was indeed only Faking The Dead. The site's consensus states; "Smart, twisty, and perfectly cast, the effects-assisted neo-noir F/X reminds viewers that a well-told story is the most special effect of all. A movie special effects man is hired to fake a real-life mob killing for a witness protection plan, but finds his own life in danger.Rollie retreats to his girlfriend Ellen's apartment, but she is killed the next morning by a sniper, whom Rollie kills in a fight. Megginson, and starring Bryan Brown, Brian Dennehy, Diane Venora, Cliff De Young, and Angela Bassett in her film debut. Producer Jack Wiener read their script, which was submitted as a low-budget television movie, and felt that it should be made into a theatrical release. Mason and DeFranco try to leave the house when a helicopter arrives, but DeFranco is shocked by a rigged metal screen door, disrupting his pacemaker. and Doug Drexler); Eric Allard and his team at All Effects for the sequel, with Allard also serving as one of the Second Unit directors doing the actual effects.