The Editor

If you never have seen those old school Italian horrors called Giallo then you will never understand this flick. The way the sound was created (overdubbed?), the score, the editing, the lighting it all referred to the seventies galore of the Italian genre.

The story itself is what it should make funny, sometimes it was sometimes it didn't work at all. But overall this flick delivers on gore. The effects are top-notch. But again, it's the story that tears it a bit down. You can refer to those classics but don't exaggerate. After half an hour you have seen it all on that part. So if you aren't into Giallo's then this isn't going to be your thing, for the geeks they will search to all those references made towards the classics, I did, and get lost of the story somehow and that isn't good news. But it contains what makes a good Giallo, the glove, the POV from the knife, the eye stabbing and of course a lot of gratuitous nudity.

But the story guys....

Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 2,5/5 Effects 4/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0,5/5

How the sensibilities have changed. Maybe if you watch or have watched Giallo movies or movies from that era and you saw violence against women you cringed. For mostly good reasons that is, it means you are decent. Why does this movie go back that route/road though? Because it pays homage to those movies and in more than one way spoofs that behaviour.

So before you get yourself in a rage think about the context and what the movie is trying to tell us. Same goes for the blood and the nudity overall. Not to mention the spiritual nature of it all. It is far out as some might call it. And I have to admit I wasn't sure at first what the ending was trying to tell me. Then again many Giallo movies did not make sense. So in that regard this is quite coherent. If you don't mind the things I mentioned and want to either take a trip in memory lane or just experience (with a winking and knowing eye of course) whatever that specific era was trying to tell us ... here you go

This only makes sense if you are a fan of Italian "giallo" movies (Argento, Fulci, Bava etc.) If you have watched a lot of these then you will immediately feel familiar with the visual style, the soundtrack, the acting, the bad dialogue overdubs, the often wooden acting. Production-wise, this is a faithful recreation of the originals, and generally competently executed.

The problem is that it somewhat stops there. It wants to be both a homage and a prohibited-by-IMDb-term-for-urine-take at the same time, but for me failed at both. There are plenty of good scenes, but the number of direct quotes and allusions to old movies means that it is stylistically to uneven to fully enjoy as a homage, and the jokes mostly fell flat for me.

My advice: Give this a try if you're a giallo fan, but have one of the originals ready in case the joke runs out halfway for you. Otherwise: Stay well away - this will be completely incomprehensible to you.

'THE EDITOR': Four Stars (Out of Five)

An extremely odd horror-comedy/mystery flick, from directors Adam Brooks and Matthew Kennedy; the two also co-wrote the film, with actor Conor Sweeney. Brooks, Kennedy and Sweeney also star in the movie; along with Paz de la Huerta, Samantha Hill, Kevin Anderson, Udo Kier and Laurence R. Harvey (of 'THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE II' and 'III' fame). It tells the story of a veteran film editor; that becomes the prime suspect in a series of grisly murders. The movie is hilarious, quirky and packed with gruesome shocks and bloody thrills!

Rey Ciso (Brooks) was once considered one of the best film editors in the world. After a horrific accident, and a mental breakdown, left him disfigured; he now only works on low budget B-movies. When the lead actors, on his latest film, are brutally murdered, Rey becomes the lead suspect. He still struggles to complete the movie; while also dealing with a mentally ill wife (la Huerta), a new love interest (Hill), a moronic actor (Sweeney) and an incompetent police detective (Kennedy). The killer continues to viciously murder people, at the same time.

The movie is really weird (which I respect), and surprisingly funny; not to mention shockingly gruesome. Going into it, I didn't know quite what to expect (I kind of assumed it was just a poorly made B- horror flick); so I was pleasantly surprised. The filmmakers definitely have a lot of talent, and the film is packed with nostalgic style and wit; I can't wait to see what they do next. I've also recently became a fan of Paz de la Huerta; so seeing her (in a lead role) was a nice, added touch!

Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13nGzq8Gvgo

As the other reviews have stated this was a tongue and cheek spoof on some older horror genre films. It was well done, and once the movie started the whole theater (Ryerson during TIFF) was in stitches. The acting was on point, the lighting was perfect and the script was right in live with what you would expect. And the effects. What can I say about the effects. they did the job and then some.

I really felt like I was watching a movie from the good old days of horror just like I used to watch on Sci Fi theater, and Creature Features on Saturday afternoons.

I am pretty sure that if you watch this while having a few drinks and with a couple of friends you guys will have a hoot.