The golden age of gore films was filled with blood squibs, machetes and intestine pulling. I can't think of a film that better pays homage to those fine days of yesteryear than the film within a film, Splatter Architects of Fear. 1986 brought us many things, but at the height of the slasher genre, no film is more memorable as a forgettable piece of trash than this film here. If you have the means, I highly suggest you seek it out.

The story at hand is actually a story within a story. A film crew is shooting an unnamed production (one that most likely was a front to make Splatter), set in the year 2002 no less, after World War III. The population is apparently left to mutant men, and amazon women... makes sense to me. The audience is given a chance to watch a scene from the film, and then afterwards, the breakdown of how it was done. Most every aspect from the production is covered in the breakdown, but the main focus here is the special effects. The red stuff is plentiful as this film is filled with gore galore. Many of the effects are cheesy and unimpressive, however, there are a few standouts that are worth the price of admission. Besides, the crap factor of this film has its merits as well, you can't go wrong with 75 minutes worth of heaps of gore and nudity. The good news is that the cool 75-minute running time never overstays its welcome (neither does the nudity or gore). Things get started with a not so impressive knife to an eye in the first frame which is followed by the following; machetes to stomachs and heads, arrow in a face, throat slitting, a scalping, dismemberment, an exploding head, much flesh eating and disembowlment, and finally, dismemberment (with an electric carving knife no less), oh and did I mention the nudity?

The insanity is held together by the props master, named Fang. He's supposed to be like a hunchback type character, he has a nutty scar on his face, and yup, you guessed it a fang, how clever. He shows up from time to time to lighten the mood I suppose, but I think he would have been better left on the cutting room floor. He stands off to the side trying to get attention by biting the heads off rats, and then getting in the way during production, now that's comedy.

Although not too technical, the film works on many levels. Partly as an educational tool, and partly as pure splatter cheese from the 80's. Prior to this viewing, I'm sure that the last time I saw this film was when it was first released on home video. Most of it holds up through time, although those unfamiliar with the decade of horror from the 80's probably just won't get it. Those of us who grew up with Tom Savini's effects in every major slasher film from the 80's should have a high appreciation for this piece of cheese (the one make up guy even wears a bloody hockey mask on his head while working).

Long out of print, I can't imagine this film is easy to come by. You probably won't find this film on a shelf at your local Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. Synchron Home Video is responsible for this video release, so if you feel fit to hunt down this title, hopefully this info will aid you on your quest. If you're like me you'll just appreciate the fact that there are no digital effects, and the good ole' fashioned machete to the head and throat slashing will make you feel like you're 12 years old again. That's worth a couple bucks in my book.