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[tab title="Movie Review"]
Never before has losing one's mind been so brutally glorious and funny!
Wickedly directed (and shot) by Anders Jacobsson and written by Göran Lundström and Christer Ohlsson, Evil Ed is a clever response to Sweden’s own government-sponsored view of film censorship. We’re not talking “light” edits either. From 1911 until 1996, Sweden was the capital of censorshit abuses and had its own film bureau that made sure everything coming out of Sweden was squeaky clean. Evil Ed, released in 1995, lampoons all of that with a wicked tale no censor would dare touch. It remains SPLATTERific entertainment that once signaled the death knell for state-run censoring.
The horror comedy operates, English language dubs and all, as 100% satire 100% of the time. There’s simply no break from the hilarious commentary. The sticky wicky film hits at censors hard with the tale of a film editor who, used to editing documentaries about sane topics, completely loses it while editing a gory tale of putridity for a studio who wants the violence toned down and removed. With seemingly miles and miles of footage to gut from the film, Ed's mind weakens and caves to the obscenely violent images he's watching.
Arrow Video celebrates the film’s insanity with a blood-soaked limited edition release of the movie, newly restored for its Blu-ray debut. Obviously, the film is indebted to such horror comedy classics as Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead 2 and Peter Jackson’s Brain Dead, but – even if it recreates some similarly-themed shenanigans “borrowed” from those movies – it provides enough Sweden-specific differences to move it past sheer copycat material.
Evil Ed, especially now with its newly-extended version (included on this release), is a gore gone gonzo delight of grisly extravaganzas. The limbs fly everywhere as, working in complete isolation, Edward Tor Swenson (Johan Rudebeck) slowly loses his mind while stitching together scenes for the latest Loose Limbs horror series. Poor Ed. He’s simply got nowhere but down to go.
Co-starring Olof Rhodin as his sleazy boss at the Splatter and Gore department of the film studio he works for, Per Löfberg as the horror fan supreme geek Nick whom he brutishly attacks, and Gert Fylking as the SWAT leader in charge of bringing about the very end of Evil Ed’s psychotic rampage, this gorefest of comic insanity is every inch a damn good time…especially if you like to see fantastical variations on body parts and creepy crawlies.
Evil Ed is an impressive feat of unconventional visuals. Ed – after beginning to remove the nasty bits from the film he’s been assigned to edit – starts hallucinating severely. His fragile mind is not used to all the bizarre and murderous images he’s been tasked to edit and so begins his trip into the surreal. Full of twisted mental patients, wild-eyed freaks, and all sorts of creatures in his fridge, Ed’s journey into the mouth and mind of Evil Ed is not soon forgotten.
Just keep the barf bag nearby. Evil Ed thinks you’re gonna need it.
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[tab title="Details"]
MPAA Rating: R for sadistic violence and gore, language and some sexuality in a horror comedy.
Runtime: 93 mins
Director: Anders Jacobsson
Writer: Anders Jacobsson, Göran Lundström
Cast: Johan Rudebeck, Per Löfberg, Olof Rhodin
Genre: Horror | Comedy
Tagline: It's a no brainer.
Memorable Movie Quote: "Where's my beaver-rape scene?"
Theatrical Distributor:
Official Site:
Release Date:
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: May 30, 2017
Synopsis: Mild-mannered film technician Edward enjoys his job. That is, until he finds himself transferred from his regular post to the “Splatter and Gore department”, where he’s forced to edit hours upon hours of grisly video nasty footage. Traumatized by the onscreen violence, Ed starts to lose his grip on reality – with ghastly (and bloody) consequences...
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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]
Blu-ray Details:
Home Video Distributor: Arrow Films
Available on Blu-ray - May 30, 2017
Screen Formats: 1.78:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: Stereo/5.1
Discs: DISC 3 (BLU-RAY) – ORIGINAL CUT (LIMITED ED-ITION EXCLUSIVE)
Region Encoding: Region-free playback
Evil Ed arrives on 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 with a special 3-disc limited edition release that features a 5.1 surround sound or original stereo mix. The aspect ratio is 1.66:1 and features a striking palette of improved colors and deeper shadows. Black levels are unwavering and strong. Details range from good to great as this was originally filmed in 16mm and blown up to 35mm. .
Supplements:
Commentary:
-
While highly recommended, it is sad that there are no commentaries for the film.
Special Features:
With two versions of the film and reversible sleeve artwork featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys, this limited edition release is a definite keeper. There’s a collector’s booklet with new writing on the film by critic James Oliver and a making-of documentary that is fantastic. You also get the newly-extended version of the movie, clocking in at 95-minutes, and a featurette on its creation. Deleted scenes, bloopers, trailers, and a still gallery found out the collection.
DISCS 1 & 2 (BLU-RAY + DVD) THE SPECIAL ED-ITION CUT
- World premiere of the newly-extended version of the feature (95 min)
- Keep Em Heads Rollin making-of documentary
- Reconstructing Edward featurette on the creation of the Special EDition cut
- Deleted scenes
- Bloopers
- Teasers and Trailers
- Still Gallery
DISC 3 (BLU-RAY) THE ORIGINAL CUT (LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE)
- Original Cut (93 mins)
- Lost in Brainland never-before-seen extended 3 hour version of the making-of documentary
- PLUS OTHER SURPRISES!!!
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