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The Editor
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Shout! Factory Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (18th October 2015). |
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The Film
 After beginning in the early 60's, exploding in the 70's, and coasting through the 80's, there was a precipitous drop in the number of Italian giallo pictures being released thereafter. The only director keeping the movement afloat was Dario Argento, the man responsible for some of the greatest Italian horror films ever made, and if you’re familiar with his output post-90's then you are likely aware his efforts did little to bolster the sagging sub-genre. Recently, however, filmmakers have begun to produce pictures heavily influenced by those seminal works of the 70's. While some have made attempts to slavishly replicate their influences – for example, “Amer” (2009) and “The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears” (2013) – one film has chosen to veer off into parody territory: “The Editor” (2014). Put together by a trio of guys from Canada, “The Editor” is a faithful production that employs all of the trademark techniques and trappings of giallo, while at the same time skewering some of the more outlandish aspects of those pictures. The film perfectly imitates the directorial flourishes of Dario Argento, Mario Bava, and Lucio Fulci to such a fantastic degree that it made me wish the humor had been dialled down a bit; it prevents a good film from being great. Rey Ciso (Adam Brooks) used to be a giant in the world of film editing, but when an accident left his right hand minus four fingers the only work he’s now able to get is cutting low-budget horror pictures. Any respect he once commanded is now gone, including from his wife, Josephine (Paz de la Huerta), who has fallen on equally hard times. She used to be one of the hottest actresses in Italy, now she’s just a chain-smoking has-been. Rey finds himself at the center of controversy when a murderer begins gruesomely dispatching those involved with the film he’s currently editing, with the killer leaving a damning calling card: cutting the fingers off his victims’ right hands. On the case is Detective Porfiry (Matthew Kennedy), a wily cop who sees Rey as the prime suspect, although with this being a giallo, viewers should be aware that nearly everyone is a suspect; red herrings are a staple of these films, after all. As the bodies bloodily pile up, and the overt eroticism reaches incredible heights, Rey finds himself in a game of cat-and-mouse with a killer who delights in taunting the disrespected editing legend. There’s a very fine line to stride when making a parody that also works as an actual film because, should the comedy be too absurd, the quality of the film suffers. So much of what Brooks and Kennedy – who in addition to starring in the film also wrote and directed it – have done here is perfect – the Bava-esque lighting choices, the gloved killer POV shots ripped directly from Argento, the ocular torture and blinded-white eyes of Fulci. “The Editor” is a wonderful amalgamation of all the giallo staples, done to perfection. Then there’s the comedy. Some of it – like the woman whose eyes go white with blindness after seeing a victim; or the actors whose mouths frequently don’t match their words (a love letter to bad dubbing) – works well. But there are ridiculous moments that go too far over the top, and those took me out of the movie. Without nitpicking specifics, it’s simply an overall tone that permeates certain moments and turns them into something more akin to a David Zucker & Jim Abrahams picture. Had the film toned down these moments, the movie could have stood on its own as a legit giallo while also slyly lampooning some of the sub-genres more ludicrous facets. There is a hesitation to condemn some of the film’s deficiencies because, being that this is a parody, anything that is “wrong” can simply be chalked up to giallo adherence. The dubbing is often poor. The story is convoluted. Editing is sometimes choppy. The second act drags. And the ending is confounding. These “problems” are, of course, endemic to nearly every giallo out there – even the celebrated ones. In the spirit of authenticity everything must be intentional, even if it comes at the expense of tightening up the film. What Brooks and Kennedy were able to accomplish with $150,000 and a truckload of ambition is impressive, and while not everything in “The Editor” worked for me enough of it is done so damn well it’s impossible not to recommend it to giallo fans.
Video
In keeping with the retro aesthetic, the film’s 2.35:1 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encoded picture is not entirely pristine and slick; however, for the majority of the runtime the image is exceedingly crisp and detailed. Colors are richly saturated, sometimes too much so (intentionally), and there are lots of scenes using blue or red gels. There are some minor compression issues in regard to black levels, which sometimes look a little hazy. Flashback and film-within-the-film footage usually looks scratchy and rough. As a whole, though, this is a beautiful image, replete with wild colors and practically dripping off the screen.
Audio
The lossless English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound track (48kHz/24-bit) capably handles the film’s moody, synth-driven score composed by a roster of acclaimed talent that includes Claudio Simonetti. Dialogue is delivered clearly, even when the mouths are intentionally out of synch with the words. Rear speaker assistance is minimal, though the front end pumps out enough of a dynamic experience that can be overlooked. An English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo track is also included. Subtitles are available in English.
Extras
The bonus features included here are a mixture of genuine extras and tongue-in-cheek comedy bits, with an audio commentary, featurettes, a documentary and deleted scenes featured on the disc. DISC ONE: BLU-RAY The audio commentary features co-director/co-writer/actor Adam Brooks, co-writer/actor Conor Sweeney and co-director/co-writer/actor Matthew Kennedy (all of whom wear multiple hats here) delivering a lively, energetic track full of actor backgrounds, production history, location shooting and just about anything else you might want to know. “Making Movies Used to be Fun” (1080p) is a documentary that runs for 51 minutes and 3 seconds. This incredibly comprehensive making-of features interviews with all of the film’s principals and shows off lots of behind-the-scenes footage including much of the glorious FX work. “Hook Lab Interview” (1080p) is a featurette that runs for 7 minutes and 11 seconds, this appears to be some sort of joke about the film’s score. It’s… odd. “Brett Parson Poster Interview” (1080p) is a featurette that runs for 5 minutes and 35 seconds; this is done in the same vein as the previous featurette, i.e. not seriously. “Astron-6 Film Festival Introduction” (1080i) featurette runs for 1 minute and 57 seconds, it’s not for a real festival. There are also a number of deleted scenes (1080p) included: - “Nurses” runs for 44 seconds. - “Fantori Nightmare” runs for 1 minute and 29 seconds. - “Police Station” runs for 2 minutes and 5 seconds. - “Bridge Confrontation” runs for 1 minute and 43 seconds. DISC TWO: DVD This is a DVD copy of the feature film.
Packaging
The two-disc set comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keep case, with each disc housed on a hub opposite the other. There is a slip-cover included on first pressings.
Overall
Fans of the giallo movement will have fun with this zany parody of those ripe film elements. It gets a little too absurd for its own good at times, but manages to hold it together well enough that it doesn’t go off the rails.
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