Back in the age of video, when VHS was the method of weekend
movie viewing, the mom and pop stores competed with major chains by offering
some off the beaten track movies. These were mostly made for video features but
on occasion there were movies that hadn’t fared all that well at the box office
but seemed to do major business on tape. Most of these were horror films and in
fact a number of directors making major movies today cut their teeth on these
films. Those stores were packed with box art that caught the eye and helped to
develop a cult following for a number of films. EVIL ED was one such movie.
The plot isn’t overly developed. Money hungry film executive
Sam Campbell has his hands on series of slasher films called the LOOSE LIMBS
series. The problem is overexposure to the films leads to homicidal tendencies.
His last editor locked himself up and eventually had to be killed to get his
hands back on the print. In an effort to have them toned down enough to pass censorship
inspection Sam transfers mild mannered Ed Swenson to his department, Splatter
& Gore, to edit the films.
Ed is sent to a home Sam has set up just for this project
with the first film in hand. The more Ed watches the weirder things get. He
begins hallucinating, seeing a tiny demon running around the house. With each
successive film Ed watches his darker side emerges, a violent psychopathic side
that comes out when people stop by and interrupt his project. The question is
will he edit the film as instructed? Will it eventually drive him completely
mad? And will his homicidal tendencies erupt on an unsuspecting town, including
his wife and daughter?
While it sounds simple, and in a way it is, the film puts on
display all of those things that helped it develop the cult following that it
has. The box art may have garnered the interest of gore hounds but not all
movies with great cover art delivered. EVIL ED delivers on all levels. The
story holds your interest and the gore level is about a 9 on a 10 scale,
something gore hounds reveled in at the time and still do.
Here’s the kicker. The movie may have been released on VHS
but it happened about the time that video stores were beginning to die out.
This may be part of the reason that fans were scouring to find it for such a
long time, rarity. Made in Sweden while there was still a censorship board at
the time it was intended to make fun of that board. The film makers were
ridiculed by the board at the time. It seems they’ve had the last laugh as the
film has now been given a superb treatment by Arrow Video and found its way to
blu-ray.
The release of this film by Arrow was greeted with glee by
the horror community. Message boards and Facebook posts were agog that they now
had a chance to own this film in the best way possible. Honestly Arrow Video
has provided this film with so many goodies and in such great shape that it
makes you wonder why major studios don’t offer as good a product on mainstream
titles as they do on theirs.
First off there are two versions of the film included here.
Then we get to the extras. Wow. Included is a reversible sleeve with newly
commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys, a collector’s booklet with writing by
film critic James Oliver, the world premiere of the newly-extended version of
the feature, the “Keep Em Heads Rolling” making of documentary, a featurette on
the creation of the Special Edition cut, deleted scenes, bloopers, teasers and
trailers, a still gallery and “Lost in Brainland” a never before seen extended
3 hour version of the making of documentary. Yes, a 3 hour making of which
means it’s nearly twice as long as the movie itself!
Let’s face it, this is not Oscar material here folks. It is
plain and simple a gore filled horror film for fans of both horror and gore. It
is a tribute to the movies that came from the eighties and lined the shelves of
video stores everywhere. It is a poke in the eye at censors both in content and
commentary in the story. For fans it will be something to sit with friends and
have a good laugh over. For non-fans it will be a horror film that will test
their limits. And, as always, it is more proof that Arrow Video is a force to
be reckoned with when it comes to releasing films not quite mainstream but with
the effort put behind it as if it were CITIZEN KANE. Kudos once more to them
and their quest to be a favorite with fans.
Click here to order.
No comments:
Post a Comment