Evil Ed (1995)

Evil Ed: Directed by Anders Jacobsson. With Michael Kallaanvaara, Olof Rhodin, Hans Wilhelmsson, Anders Ek. A mild-mannered film editor is assigned to cut a series of infamous slasher films and is driven murderously insane by the miles of extremely violent footage he edits.

“Ed (coincidentally an editor) is hired to cut horror films down to be favorable in Europe (where standards are much more rigorous). But he finds the films very mind-destroying and starts going a little bit mad. Okay, u0026quot;a little bitu0026quot; might be an understatement.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhen you think of horror films, you may not think of Sweden. And if you are thinking of the goriest ones, maybe even less so. Which is all the more reason why u0026quot;Evil Edu0026quot; exists and why it is both a great gore film and a brilliant satire. Swedenu0026#39;s State Cinema Bureau existed from 1911 until 1996, not officially disbanding until 2011. This made it the oldest film censoring organization in the world. Which explains Ed. While the film takes place in the United States, the job Ed has is clearly a reflection of what censors in Sweden actually did. (The United States has never had an official censorship bureau, though it feels that way sometimes if you want your film to get a R rating rather than an NC-17.)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eRegarding the film itself, let it just be said first of all: best. opening. scene. ever. A man in an office who blows up his head with a grenade. His boss then says — with a straight face — u0026quot;youu0026#39;re firedu0026quot;. The entire film does not keep up this level of intensity, but it certainly tries. And anyone who likes their gore with a heaping spoonful of comedy will be enamored.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTake the shotgun scenes, the decapitation, the clips from fictional film-within-a-film u0026quot;Lost Limbsu0026quot; (which one wishes were a real film). The writer-director of u0026quot;Evil Edu0026quot; (Anders Jacobsson) thought up the idea of a woman who gets raped by a beaver and then immediately after gets shot in the face with a bazooka. That is something you wonu0026#39;t find in any other movie (at least, unless there is a scene in u0026quot;Zombeaversu0026quot; that escapes the memory).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis filmu0026#39;s biggest flaw is the quality. The picture is not as crisp as a 1995 film should be, and the sound could be touched up (though it is not bad). Because of the production value, you might feel like you are watching a 1980s film. Although, this criticism may also be one of the filmu0026#39;s strengths — u0026quot;Evil Edu0026quot; also has the 1980s style of writing and directing in it: a sense of fun and giving the audience a little something extra over the top. We all miss those days.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe 3-disc Arrow Video Blu-ray is ridiculous, but this is the sort of title that deserves it. We have an introduction by writer/director Anders Jacobsson and editor Doc. An extensive making-of documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew, a featurette looking at the early filmmaking endeavors of the Evil Ed crew and a companion piece where the filmmakers discuss their careers following Evil Ed. There are deleted scenes and bloopers…u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut the real gem here (other than the new, extended cut of the film) is u0026quot;Lost in Brainlandu0026quot;, a never-before-seen extended three-hour making-of documentary. Holy smokes, could there possibly be anything left to say about this film after all these interviews and three hours of investigation?”