Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.0

Evil Ed Blu-ray Movie Review

The unkindest cut.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 15, 2017

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.

As the making of documentary included on this new Blu-ray makes clear, Evil Ed was made without a ton of pre-planning, and with a self admitted “guerilla” sensibility, but which nonetheless had a production that spanned several years for one reason or another. That may account at least in part for the film’s kind of slapdash, haphazard ambience, though to be fair Evil Ed actually has more of a narrative throughline than any number of other cult horror items. This is not to say that some (maybe even many) elements in the film aren't very well developed, and certain sequences seem to basically just come out of nowhere (something that's alluded to in that making of featurette), so some viewers will need to set their expectation bars accordingly.

There’s really not much to the rest of Evil Ed in terms of a traditional “plot arc”, with the bulk of the film given over to Ed’s deteriorating mental state once he’s isolated in a sequestered environment in order to make editing choices for films so that they’ll pass European censor boards. Passing lip service is given to Ed’s family life, though really not enough to generate much emotional effect. Some of this material, which was filmed but which wasn’t included in the film for whatever reason, is covered in the Deleted Scenes supplement, and some may wish at least some of it would have been included in the film, since it at least partially humanizes Ed. Instead, Ed is left to pretty much go off his rocker, imagining a host of creatures who afflict him while he starts taking out perceived nemeses.

For those who are simply along for the blood and guts elements, Evil Ed has some appropriately splatter-ific moments, many of which play out in appropriately cartoonish environments. The entire film is obviously a love letter to splatter films of yore, and as such those with a history with this subgenre will find little in jokes and references that may not resonate with more generalist fans. The film has style galore, despite its on the fly (though laboriously extended) shoot, with director Anders Jacobsson skewing perspectives and offering askew framings that help to subliminally relay Ed’s deteriorating mental condition.

Evil Ed Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

Evil Ed Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Special ED-ition Version (1080p; 1:38:49)


• "You keep 'em heads rollin'. . . (1080p; 45:32) is a fun, informative and at times pretty funny making of documentary, with some great interviews with the crew, all of whom have a kind of "hey, we have some equipment and a location, let's put on a show" attitude. In Swedish with English subtitles.


• Before Ed (1080p; 9:47) explores some of the early work of various crew members. In Swedish with English subtitles.


• Beyond Ed (1080p; 10:13) documents various activities by the crew since Evil Ed. In Swedish with English subtitles (though some English language text is included on screen).


• Reconstructing Ed (1080p; 21:05) is a fun look at the production of this "Special Ed-ition", and answers the question I'm sure many of you have been asking: Where were at least some elements stored? In Swedish with English subtitles.


• New Scenes (1080p; 6:10) looks at the footage added to the Special Ed-ition. In Swedish with English subtitles.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 21:36) has some explanations by Anders Jacobsson and Doc as to why some scenes (and frankly whole storylines) were jettisoned. In Swedish with English subtitles.


• Trailers and Teasers

  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)

• Image Gallery (1080p)


• Introduction (1080p; 4:13) features Anders Jacobsson and Doc and is available under the Play menu.

Disc Two

• Original Cut (1080p; 1:33:09)


• Lost in Brainland (1080p; 3:06:39) is an almost unbelievably exhaustive making of documentary (take a gander at the running time), one which provides perhaps more information than the casual fan is going to be interested in, but which does have extended interviews, snippets of what amounts to a production diary, and lots of behind the scenes footage (some with fairly spotty video quality). In Swedish with English subtitles.


• Bloopers (1080p; 4:41) actually come from the Making Of supplements, not the film.

As usual, Arrow has also included a nicely appointed insert booklet.

Evil Ed Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.