Recent films like Berberian Sound Studio and The Strange Color Of Your Body's Tears have paid homage to giallo and the '70s Italian horror genre, in a way creating a modern resurgence. Now the Canadian collective known as Astron-6 have thrown their hat in the ring with a satiric approach. Adam Brooks and Matthew Kennedy lovingly pay tribute to the genre and cleverly poke fun at everything from Suspiria and The Beyond to the more obscure films from that era. There's great attention to detail in everything from the production design and lighting, to the overdubbed dialogue and eerie synth score, and they even got Claudio Simonetti from Goblin to contribute to the main theme.
Adam Brooks instills great comedic sensibility into his character, Rey Ciso. Once the greatest editor in the world until horrific circumstances left him with wooden fingers on his right hand, Rey now finds himself cutting sleazy bottom-of-the-barrel slasher pictures. The supporting cast all remarkably lend authenticity to their bizarre characters, such as Paz de la Huerta (Boardwalk Empire) as Rey's hilariously disappointed wife, Udo Kier (Suspiria) playing it delightfully straight as Dr. Casini, as well as Laurence R. Harvey (The Human Centipede 2) bringing surreal wackiness as Father Clarke and Matthew Kennedy's hammy portrayal of cop Peter Porfiry, providing the narrative a fun, bumbling tour guide through the ridiculous supernatural plot twists that unravel throughout the mystery.
Familiarity with the genre tropes and influences that The Editor proudly wears on its sleeves will certainly enhance your enjoyment of the story, as every detail from the common misogyny and plot devices of these films are put through the grinder for laughs. However, nobody needs encyclopedic knowledge of the Italian horror genre to appreciate the ludicrous characters and funny punchlines. No punches are pulled during the grisly murders that offer up stylistic gore in Grand Guignol tradition. One ironic flaw that The Editor has is a pacing issue toward the final act that could certainly have benefited from some good trimming, but that certainly doesn't unravel everything that made this film enjoyable to watch.
Those familiar with Astron-6's previous films, Father's Day and Manborg, should know exactly what to expect as far as tone and execution, though The Editor proves to be the best effort from Astron-6 to date. It's remarkable what they've accomplished with minimal budgets and it'll be interesting to see what they would do with bigger bucks. More importantly, it's evident that this creative team is upping the ante with every project and I look forward to whatever they choose to do next.
This Scream Factory release has a fair amount of extras, including audio commentary with Adam Brooks, Connor Sweeney and Matthew Kennedy, an insightful documentary called "Making Movies Used to be Fun", featurettes on the music and poster art, and deleted scenes. All in all, The Editor is a nice little package to add to your Scream Factory collection.
Movie Score: 4/5
Disc Score: 3.5/5
Daily Dead's Official Podcast! Daily Dead's Official Podcast!
