6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
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.
Starring: Johan Rudebeck, Per Löfberg, Olof Rhodin, Camela Leierth, Kim SulockiHorror | 100% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
BDInfo
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (2 BDs, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
After having watched (and reviewed) The Editor and now Evil Ed, I’m starting to wonder if I should be concerned about the mental health of several friends I have (including one brother-in-law) who make their livings cutting film. Even some ardent film fans probably aren’t that aware of how much a good (or conversely, a bad) editor can add to (or detract from) the basic footage that a director and his cinematographer have handed over to him or her, but it’s not hard to realize what a painstaking job editing can be, even when dealing with a director who basically “edits while shooting”. Reversing that concept a bit to a professional who “shoots while editing” might give a little clue as to the carnage that erupts early in Evil Ed, when an addled editor has evidently spent a few too many hours slicing and dicing while watching a kind of hilariously turgid foreign film, something that leads to rather explosive (and bloody) results. That leads to an ostensible promotion for hapless shlub Edward Tor Swenson (Johan Rudebeck), a kind of workaday guy who suddenly finds himself thrust into a major editing project with a horror series called Loose Limbs, something that in turns leads to Ed’s pretty serious mental undoing.
Evil Ed is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1 (despite the verbiage below). Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer:
Evil Ed is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with 5.1 and 2.0 stereo sound. The original 16mm AB negatives were scanned in 2K at Focus Film, Stockholm. The film was graded on a DaVinci Resolve at International Pictures, Stockholm. Picture restoration was completed at R3store Studios, London and supervised by Arrow Films. Editing was completed in Premiere Pro at Action Film, Stockholm and effects were completed using After Effects at Branbomm Film. The soundtrack was remastered from the original audio tracks. This restoration was supervised and approved by director Anders Jacobsson.I saw no discernable difference in the footage shared between the two versions, and frankly not that much difference between the original cut's footage and the bits added for the so-called Special ED-ition. The film has a lot of grading or pretty aggressive lighting regimens in key scenes, often toward the purple or blue side of things, and that, combined with the gritty ambience of the 16mm format (as is discussed in a supplement, it "wasn't even Super 16"), means that detail levels are fairly widely variant at times. In bright, natural lighting or especially when the film ventures outside, the palette perks up considerably and detail levels are also more pleasing (look at the beautifully saturated reds and blues in screenshot 10). The effects work is actually quite impressive given the film's shoestring budget. While grain generally resolves organically, there are some compression hurdles that arise that add both pretty severe chunkiness as well as what look like chroma anomalies to certain moments (see screenshot 19). With an understanding of the film's original smaller format and its chaotic shooting schedule, the results here are good if not optimal.
Evil Ed features LPCM 2.0 and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks, rather surprisingly in English. The surround track has occasional moments of clear channelization, but this is not the most consistently immersive track many horror fans will have heard. Sound effects are nonetheless delivered with quite a bit of force, and dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly. There are no issues with damage or distortion.
Disc One
- Special ED-ition Trailer (1080p; 1:04)
- English Trailer (1080p; 1:59)
- Swedish Trailer (1080p; 2:28)
- Swedish Teaser 1 (1080p; 00:33)
- Swedish Teaser 2 (1080p; 00:31)
- "Bergman" Teaser (1080p; 00:44)
- "Nutty Professor" Trailer (1080p; 1:43)
Evil Ed is, as its creators seem to be (as evidenced by their fun interviews in the supplements), a goofy, funny offering that doesn't take itself at all seriously, but which manages against considerable odds to actually have a rather potent, discernable style. The film may frankly ultimately not make a bunch of sense, but it's one of those sui generis entries that is incredibly distinctive and unique, even if few would argue it's an underappreciated masterpiece. As has been the case with several Arrow cult releases lately, it's the supplemental package as much as the main feature (in either of the versions presented here) that may make this a worthwhile purchase for some fans. With an understanding of the 16mm source and the chaotic shooting conditions, technical merits are generally fine, if occasionally problematic.
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