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    The Editor

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    WARNING: This review is hidden because it reveals the content of the film.
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    I’m a big fan of well made horror films, and even bad ones to a certain extent. When a movie introduces me a new genre, or a new director, a new era in the annals of horror, I get excited. While I’m not very familiar with the giallo films that “The Editor” is referring to, even I noticed how meticulous the homages are and now that I’ve seen it not only do I want to view it again, but I also want to see the films that inspired it. Rey Ciso (Adam Brooks) was once the greatest editor the world had ever seen. Unfortunately, an accident left him crippled and he’s been reduced to working on trashy, semi pornographic horror movies that even the actors featured in them have to admit are not very good. When people at the film studio begin falling prey to a serial killer, Ciso is the prime suspect. The investigation takes some bizarre turns as Ciso struggles to prove his innocence.

    As I said earlier, I don’t think I’ve seen a single film that would fall under the absurdist giallo thriller/horror genre (surprising, considering it’s considered a precursor to my favorite type of horror films, the slashers) I have heard enough about them to recognize one when I see one. Doing some quick research, I realized how spot-on this horror comedy is. If I had a list of what I would expect to see in this erotic thriller genre that began in the 1960s, this would have it all. It’s very bloody. It’s got an absurd amount of nudity (we’re talking full-frontal and of both male and female at times) It’s got a narrative that is difficult to follow and asks you to decipher what is going on, to the point where I’m pretty sure certain points purposely make no sense. There’s an interesting element of the whodunit. The police themselves get swept into the murders and become suspects. The camera work is stylish. There’s lots of sex. There’s a serial killer and as it goes along, it becomes increasingly artistic and leans towards the fantasy horror genre. It’s an extensive crash-course to the genre to the point where I’m 100% certain that I missed about half of the references here. And yet, I don’t feel like my enjoyment of it was in any way diminished.

    Understandably, this is an off-putting film because it’s very different, but it’s also fascinating to watch. I say that the story is, at times, completely incoherent, but it’s meant to be that way. It all feels very natural because the way the film is shot, the way the story progresses and the conclusions, as bizarre as they are all working in unison. Even if you don’t know anything about the pictures, actors and directors being referenced, you’ll quickly catch on that “The Editor” isn’t really supposed to be taken literally as much as it’s a surreal trip in a world that escalates into murder and madness. You might be missing out on the fine details of the joke, but you still get it.

    The nods and winks in the direction of film fanatics isn’t everything that I enjoyed. This is a very funny film. To me, there are two key components essential to a story that’s going to make we want to watch again, and I mean really WATCH to the point where I’m buying the movie, looking up the special features and studying the references it’s making:

    The first is a joy of filmmaking and genuine enthusiasm. This picture has it in spades. You can tell that everyone is in on the joke and the references are everywhere. Directors Adam Brooks and Matthew Kennedy must have “painstakingly” looked at the script over and over and tried to figure out where they could put this little nugget or that piece of imagery. We’re talking about trailers within the film, movie posters in the background, lines that have to be taken out of other movies because they are phrased so strangely they must have been translated from their original Italian into English, actors that play the material straight and an original story that feels right at home with the old ones people have seen time and time again. This is not a cheaply made movie that’s being strategically released to be profitable, nor one that was created to get some quick bucks out of an audience that will watch anything as long as it promises a chance of seeing a zombie or a dead body. This is a true love letter.

    The second element is rewatchability (I know it sounds redundant but give me a second here) A movie that’s worth seeing again has to have lines so good you want to memorize them and revelations, themes or ideas that make you rethink what you saw earlier and compel you to see the film in a new light. I think some of the characters in this film had their dialogue compiled from some of the worst lines you can find in giallo films, had a few words here and there tweaked so they would make sense and were then given to good actors charged with acting so wooden that they would become hilarious. If that’s the case I bet you that you could watch this film and suddenly recognize a string of sentences taken in a new, completely different context and it would be like a warm blanket, reminding you of the good times of the past. This movie is full of great quotes and has some very funny jokes (my favorite of which includes a police officer who slaps women all the time, and who gets praised for it. Sounds weird, but it’s very funny in context) It’s also got some nice ghoulish moments of people getting murdered and plenty of stylish visuals throughout. It even gets kind of scary at times. I say kind of because while this film is definitely belongs in the horror section of the video store, it isn’t really trying to give you nightmares as much as suck you into this bizarre tale that contains frightening ideas or moments.

    My only criticism of “The Editor” is that it plays everything so straight as is so well made as far as homages go, that some people that have never heard of “The Black belly of the Tarantula” or “Suspiria” won’t “get” it. This movie is a bit difficult to access and understand unless you’ve already seen a lot of Lucio Fulce, Mario Bava or Dario Argento’s works. I haven’t seen any but I’ve heard of the names and I had marked their works onto my “to watch” list before, so I got the jokes pretty quickly. The rest of the audience I was sitting with? I’m not so sure. That won’t be issue for you though, because now you know what the deal is and like me, you’ll do your “homework”.

    Sometimes I’ll admit that I encourage people to check out independent films because you want to support the little guy. That’s not the case here. This is a very professionally made feature that is a ton of fun to sit down with, has good re-watch value and as a special treat, will encourage you to do some research and learn some things about an iconic horror genre. What a pleasant surprise “The Editor” was; I kind of loved it. (Theatrical version on the big screen, August 29, 2015)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  3.9.2015 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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