Product Details

• Actors: Kyle MacLachlan, Elisabeth Shue, Dermot Mulroney, Richard T. Jones, Bill Smitrovich
• Directors: David Koepp
• Writers: David Koepp, James Burke
• Producers: Fernando Altschul, Gerald R. Molen, Laurie MacDonald, Michael Grillo, Michele Weisler
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: March 31, 1998
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0783218842
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #283,293 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In David Koepp's ambivalent tale of middle-class terror, modern society is already set just below the boiling point. When a massive, unexplained blackout strikes married couple Kyle MacLachlan and Elizabeth Shue's region, their already tense suburban lifestyle threatens to pitch over. Old friend Joe (Dermot Mulroney) adds some obligatory class and marital strain into the mix, but together the three debate what to do as their society is rumored to be collapsing (all phones and broadcasting are also shot). Making an end run for the in-laws' house 500 miles away, they come across several confrontations that compromise their values and test their survival instincts. Unfortunately, there are no fresh critiques of humanity's latent turpitude that lurks close to the surface, and the film's pacing is rather staid. --Alan E. Rapp

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A darn good little thriller..., June 14, 2004

By 

Christian Hokenson (Burbank, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Trigger Effect (DVD)

What can you say about movies that seemingly fly under the radar of most folks' awareness?? I think most people missed out on this one from the late '90s.

This was filmed as David Koepp's calling card into feature films as a director (having already written "Carlito's Way" and "Jurrasic Park," among other terrific films) and it is very light on action and very character driven... obviously budget gets in the way of major action set pieces, but that should never be an obstacle to good characters and plausible writing... Koepp handles all those chores adeptly and keeps a very good pace going... While his characters decide what to do when the blackout hits (and then lingers for days, and days, and days and...) you never feel as if their actions are out-of-line with reality and what people might do under the very same conditions.

This is a taut thriller, but hardly of the depth of Hitchcock's work. Instead, the film is an elaborate "Twilight Zone" episode (and gives its nods to Rod Serling's classic anthology show in both visual and verbal gags... the characters literally live at the corner of Maple and Willoughby streets (a gag on the episodes "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" (a direct antecedent to "The Trigger Effect") and "Last Stop, Willoughby" (which has nothing at all to do with this film, but is still a nice touch for those who feel this film is a direct lift from "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street") and is filmed in very sparse and minimalist ways to highlight the tension and agitation of the characters.

The key scene in this film comes fairly early, when all bets for civilized society are called off... this scene, when Matt (Kyle MacLachlan) attempts to get amoxicilin for his little infant girl (ear infection, very painful and made excruciating in the prior scene with Elizabeth Shue's character holding the crying girl during heatwave-like conditions inside the home). The pharmacist will not let him have it... plain and simple. The electricity does not work, the phones are also screwed and the doctor cannot verfiy the prescription... therefore, no medicine no matter how much pleading and cajoling Matt can attempt with the larger man behind the counter... as the scene progresses it turns ugly, a microcosm of just how frayed our civil attitudes have become in this day of technology handling just about everything for us. It's tense, it's upsetting, and it works very, very well without one punch thrown or one drop of blood spilled, a credit to Koepp's burgeoning (at the time) directorial skills.

The film kind of falls apart about 3/4's of the way through... it tries to wrap things up a little too neatly, but in the end, it's a satisfying film for those that like their thrillers with an apocalyptic edge (the film reminded me, just a bit, of the nuclear war thrillers of the 1980's including "The Day After," "Testament" and "Threads"... especially "Threads").

It's not corny, but it's not a masterpiece either... instead it's a competently written film with a first-time director (who wrote it) who pulls off the thrills on a tight budget. Worth a rental, if not a buy (especially at a price of under $10).

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SHOULD TRIGGER SOME THOUGHTS, April 16, 2004

By 

Michael Butts (Berkeley Springs, WV USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Trigger Effect (DVD)

THE TRIGGER EFFECT offers a somber view of what happens when a major force in our every day life---electrical power---is lost, and how we react to it. The expected looting, the raising in price of things such as guns, the importance of a doctor's prescription. One of the most chilling scenes is when Kyle McLachlan tries to get some amoxicillin for his infant daughter and the pharmacist won't give it to him without a prescription. The pharmacist (played by veteran character actor William Lucking) ends up telling McLachlan he "doesn't like him." Kyle is forced later to steal the medicine. Elisabeth Shue plays his wife, and Dermot Mulroney his friend, Joe. Michael Rooker has a strong cameo as a psychotic man who shoots Joe and steals the family's vehicle. Richard T. Jones who weaves in and out of the movie offers some sublime support in a pivotal key role.
This is a dark, disturbing film and it feels lethargic; yet its pacing and broodiness underscore the fact that society's underpinnings are fragile indeed.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a very interesting plot for a movie, January 26, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Trigger Effect (DVD)

I really enjoyed this movie. The acting is very good by the
three main characters. The plot is the power goes out in a busy
city for no reason at all. It shows the panic and hysteria
which goes on in a particular neighborhood without getting too
violent. The story centers around Elizabeth Shue and her husband
and another male friend. yhere is tension between the three main
characters, their neighborhood, and the city itself. This movie
shows what panic can do to ordinary people and the good and bad
it brings out in characters when faced with situations which
occur when they come in contact with the unknown. Buy this movie
you will like it especially if you like the three main actors
in the movie