Blu-ray Review: The Editor (2015)

We have yet to see either of Astron-6's previous efforts (Father's Day & Manborg), but after experiencing the craziness that was The Editor, we have no choice but to add them to our Must See list.

If the movie's IMDB page is to believe, then The Editor was made for less than $150k... Canadian. Now, we're not calling anyone a liar or anything, but this movie did not look like something that was made on the cheap, as it boasts some pretty solid Gore FX and CGI scenes.

If it was truly made for such a small amount of money, then we have even more respect for it as a film, and more importantly, the people behind it.

And if these guys can make a movie on so little, and have it turn out so good, then what in the hell are these assholes who get budgets of $1 million or more doing with their half-assed movies?

Get it together, everyone else!

Following a bizarre editing accident, Ray Ciso has been reduced to a joke, relegated to using his wooden hand to edit together cheap, trashy movies. It can't be easy going from the greatest film editor the world has ever known, to wooden-handed gimp, but then the film business is a tough one. Anyone who tells you any different is a liar!

IT'S A SHAME ABOUT RAY.

At least Ray has his sexy little assistant, Bella, to brighten his gloomy days. She's totally in love with him and still thinks that he's an artist, but he's lost all confidence in himself, so he spurns her advances. As if his luck couldn't get any worse, the actors on his new film start getting bumped off one-by-one by a black-gloved killer, and he becomes the prime suspect.

MAYBE IF YOUR MOVIE WASN'T SO SHITTY, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO DIE!

With tough as nails Inspector Porfiry all over Ray's ass, and sure that he's the killer, Ray sets out to find the real killer (who may be himself) before he ends up in jail or dead... or before that sweet little piece of ass Bella gets killed off, and then he has to keep going home to his harpy of a wife, which honestly feels like a fate worse than death or jail to us.

Wacky Giallo hi-jinks ensue. 

SAVE HER, RAY!

As huge fans of Giallo films, and of 70's and 80's Italian Horror in general, The Editor tickled us in a very special way. I know that sounds dirty, but this movie was so amusing that there's really no other way to say it. The crew over at Astron-6 get what makes Italian Horror so great, and they've done an admirable job of replicating the genre's best virtues with The Editor. Of course the movie plays it for laughs, as it's a straight-up send-up of the Giallo films that we (and obviously they) have grown to love over the years, but they do so with affection and respect that doesn't demean their inspiration.

If you're familiar with Giallo, or old Italian Horror movies in general, then you're well-versed on how silly they can be; stories that make very little logical sense; bad acting; even worse dubbing; endings that make you say "What does that even mean?!?" But the beauty of Italian Horror movies lies in their ability to creep you the hell out with genuinely effective atmosphere, great scores, and boundary-pushing kill scenes, all of which is accentuated with copious amounts of gore and nudity.

And even amidst the laughs, this movie's got it all.  

Adam Brooks plays the role of Editor to perfection; he'd honestly fit right into any Giallo film of old with ease. Equally as convincing, or at least nearly so, was Matthew Kennedy as Inspector Porfiry. Both of these guys know their Horror, and more importantly, they love it. Conor Sweeney may have been the funniest of the bunch playing Cal, but that's a tough call to make. The ladies of The Editor did their jobs well too, with Samantha Hill being the standout.

PLENTY OF DRAMATIC SMOKING OCCURS IN THIS MOVIE.

The Editor exists to be humorous, and while some of the gags didn't work for us, there's a lot of hilarious stuff to be found here. From the dialogue, to the gay subtext between Porfiry and Cal, we laughed our asses off at many times during this one. Honestly, when Porfiry is having sex with his wife, and he can't really get into it until he looks over at the picture of Cal on the dresser, we lost it. Add to that the dog and the painting, and that whole sequence was comedy gold. Then again, everything that happened between Porfiry, Cal, and Jasmine was great, and there were multiple scenes with them.

And what was with Porfiry and the mud/cake? Brilliant.

The specific homages to some of our favorite films were awesome too. We caught bits from The New York Ripper, The Beyond, Blood & Black Lace, Murder Rock, and Suspiria, with a bunch more that we probably missed. I'm sure we'll catch those on future re-watches.

NOT SURE WHICH IS CRAZIER: THAT OUTFIT, OR THE FEATHERED HAIR.

The average movie fan who comes across this movie without any experience with Giallo films might not "get" that this movie is an homage, and a lot will be lost on them. Shame, that.

POOR GIRL, SHE DOESN'T GET IT.

Paz de la Huerta. She's an awful actress, and even looking at her makes us cringe. We honestly don't know how she keeps getting work. I'm sure we're in the minority on this one, but we just can't bring ourselves to tolerate her. And yes, we've tried.

YEAH, SHE MAKES US FEEL LIKE THIS.

Like any good Giallo movie, The Editor offers up plenty of crazy, gory kills, all of which are over-the-top and excessively bloody. Good stuff.

MESSY ITALIAN HORROR GOODNESS.

Also like any good Giallo movie, The Editor gives us plenty of nudity, sexiness, and sexual subtext throughout.

THOSE SEX SCENES... LOL

"Honey, I am in our home." We're still laughing off of that one.
"Arturo, she was a dancer. She was the best... the best... the best!" That one got us pretty good too.

"IS THE KILLER IN THERE WITH YOU?"

A fun, clever, and enjoyable satire of the Giallo film, The Editor is a movie that we really loved, but one that we fear many Horror fans unfamiliar with the Italian Horror movies of old will not fully grasp. That shouldn't scare any casual Horror fans away from watching this one though, and in fact, we hope that it will make them seek out some older Argento and Fulci films et al., so that they can be in on the joke. Because it's a wonderful joke to be in on.

Grab the Blu-ray and enjoy.

B+

The Editor is available now on Blu-ray and VOD.

The lovely ladies of The Editor have their very own Hottie Post, which you can check out right HERE.