The Editor

This is one of the funniest films of the year, and i'll be goddamned if I don't tell you that.

Seems like a horror film, but it's not really. It's kind of a whodunit.

Murders keep happening on the film set. And they suspect the editor is in on it.

Women get slapped for no reason, but to "keep her in line". There is mad full frontal nudity for no real reason. Male and female.

Double talk and triple talk.

Flashback with no payoffs. It reminds me of The Naked Gun. If you are expecting a straight horror film, this is not for you.

It may not be for everyone, but I thought it was great.

It is pretty clear that much fun was had in making this but perhaps more effort was put into emulating previous affects and scenarios and less on creating a coherent story within which to set them. There are marvellous sequences like the homage to Black Belly of the Tarantula and Hitch-Hike but maybe things go a little far with the inclusion of Videodrome and Poltergeist. Fantastic though much of the gore and re-enactments and jokes are, we simply don't care about the main protagonists here and the flat, almost bored performing (intentional?) at times is off putting. Again references to gays and disabled - referring to the main guy with fingers missing once as a cripple was startling and maybe vaguely amusing but again and again? Similarly the face slapping gets a bit much but I suppose somewhat salutary especially where used prior to sex. Mixed bag but maybe more fun after a few drinks especially if you only have a very rudimentary awareness of gialli.

'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

It's the sexy 1970s and a horror movie editor finds himself involved in a string of killings when his coworkers start to die.

It's hard to give this as score for bad acting, editing, goofy plot points and bad dialogue because that was the point of the movie. The entirety of the production is intended to be a parodied version of Giallo films, so everything is intentionally goofy and poorly done. Unfortunately, that's not enough to construct a joke, let alone a movie. One of the most recurring "jokes" is the massive amount of full-frontal nudity (99.99% female and 0.01% male.) So again, that's the entirety of the joke: "Hey guys, look at how much nudity and exploitation of women used to go on in those movies. We did it too. Isn't that hilarious?"

This movie is like later seasons of The Simpsons and Family Guy when the joke is "hey, remember that?" Everything is intended to be referential, and not stand-alone high quality production or effect. It's almost like the filmmakers made this movie specifically for hipster fans of 70s Giallo movies to watch with their friends, so the cool hipster can showcase every aspect of their knowledge of Giallo films.

I sincerely did not enjoy the viewing and I am very likely not to ever seek out seeing it again. However, there were a handful of things that made me chuckle, so this scores higher than a 3. I also slightly enjoyed the lighting and the attention granted to practical horror effects.

If you are a fan of Giallo and you want to show off to all your loser friends how much cooler you are than them, by pointing out all of the elements of Giallo, then watch this movie. If you don't know anything about Giallo and your friends makes you watch: they think they are cooler than you. Ditch that friend, and seek out a better horror comedy.

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.