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F/X: Murder by Illusion

 F/X: Murder by Illusion
type
TVTItem
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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F/X: Murder by Illusion
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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FXMurderByIllusion
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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F/X: Murder by Illusion is a 1986 movie starring Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy, about a movie special effects man, Rollie Tyler (Brown), who gets dragged into the criminal underworld when he is hired by the F.B.I.'s witness protection program to fake the death of notorious mob boss Nicholas DeFranco (Jerry Orbach).The F/X shoot goes awry, and now it looks like Rollie - through criminal negligence or deliberately - is responsible for the actual death of the man whose demise he was supposed to fake.While Rollie frantically tries to figure out what went wrong, NYPD Detective Leo McCarthy (Dennehy) is investigating the same murder, and increasingly frustrated that the FBI is being less helpful than usual.Not to be confused with FX, the Disney-owned cable channel, or f(x), the South Korean Girl Group.
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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2023-09-26T07:13:58Z
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2023-09-26T07:13:58Z
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Dropped link to TheTerminator: Not a Feature - ITEM
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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DBTropes
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_22cf536c
type
Chekhov's Gun
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_22cf536c
comment
Chekhov's Gun: DeFranco's pacemaker in the first one. He worries that the transceiver used to trigger the blood-packs will interfere with it. At the end, he touches an electrified gate. Whoops!
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_22cf536c
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F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_22cf536c
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_47325888
type
Latex Perfection
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_47325888
comment
Latex Perfection: Justified in that Rollie not only employs significant computer resources to generate a full 3-D image of the head, but he also generates the "mask" in strips so that it moves naturally with the face.
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_47325888
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The Calls Are Coming from Inside the House
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_5b01a021
comment
The Calls Are Coming from Inside the House: A phone call is traced to the lobby of the same government building where the call is being taken. Turns out that two pay phones have been taped together earpiece-to-mouthpiece so tracing the call wouldn't work.
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_5b01a021
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Suicide by Cop
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_73328e84
comment
Suicide by Cop: How Rollie deals with Colonel Mason in the first movie. He tricks him into grabbing an unloaded Uzi covered in Krazy Glue (see the quotes at the top of the page) and forces Mason into a confrontation with the police, where he is quickly shot dead after 'refusing' to drop his gun.
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Celebrity Paradox
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_7b8b3def
comment
Celebrity Paradox: The Rambo films exists in the film's universe, evidenced by the poster for the second film in Rollie's apartment. Leo's actor Brian Dennehy had played the Big Bad of the first film.
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_7b8b3def
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Lampshaded Double Entendre
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_85bcc5a8
comment
Lampshaded Double Entendre: McCarthy finishes a "how to use a gun" lecture to a female cop with, "And this is how you 'cock the sucker'...in a manner of speaking, that is."
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_85bcc5a8
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Jump Scare
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_c04b1231
comment
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. An effective anti-intrusion method. In the second movie, he employs a remote-controlled clown lying in wait for anyone anticipating the monster!
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_c04b1231
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Numbered Sequels
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_cdb965a9
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Numbered Sequels: The second movie simply changes F/X to F/X 2 to create the sequel name.
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Fake Action Prologue
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_ce40dbf7
comment
Fake Action Prologue: Both movies open up with a shooting of a film. In the first movie, it's a crime thriller involving a mysterious trenchcoated man shooting up a fancy restaurant. The scene is performed successfully thanks to Rollie's work. For the second, a sci-fi alien movie inspired by The Terminator featuring an alien cyborg Disguised in Drag is being filmed. The shoot ends in failure when the effects technician's explosion doesn't go off when it's supposed to. Things get further compounded when the "Quarter million dollar" animatronic prop used for the alien cyborg runs amok and threatens the safety of the gathered audience. Rollie jumps in to deactivate it, to the director's annoyance.
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Lighter and Softer
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_ce6555f0
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Lighter and Softer: The PG-13 sequel is this to the R-rated original film, due to less profanity, gore and violence.
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_ce6555f0
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 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_df410b77
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Decoy Protagonist
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_df410b77
comment
Decoy Protagonist: In the first film Ellen seems like a typical love interest and a sidekick, but is shot by a sniper 30 minutes in.
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_df410b77
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 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_e1645c04
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Set a Mook to Kill a Mook
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_e1645c04
comment
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 / int_e1645c04
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 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_f9876f7e
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Faking the Dead
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_f9876f7e
comment
Faking the Dead: The professed intent of Rollie's first job is to do this for DeFranco being put into witness protection. 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.
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_f9876f7e
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Master of Disguise
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_fd7267dd
comment
Master of Disguise: Rollie makes full use of his makeup skills to appear as different people, or to disguise other people as part of his plans.
 F/X: Murder by Illusion / int_fd7267dd
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F/X: Murder by Illusion

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Bodybag Trick / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Churchgoing Villain / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Cryptic Background Reference / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Disconnected by Death / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Enhance Button / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Fake Action Prologue / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Faking the Dead / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Films of 1990–1994 / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Hall of Mirrors / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Handy Cuffs / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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I Made Copies / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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It Works Better with Bullets / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Master of Illusion / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Practical Effects / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Set a Mook to Kill a Mook / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Staged Shooting / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Swiss Bank Account / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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The Calls Are Coming from Inside the House / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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The Foreign Subtitle / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Traitor Shot / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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With My Hands Tied / int_d956fd4b
 F/X: Murder by Illusion
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Affectionate Pickpocket / int_d956fd4b