Arrow’s ‘Evil Ed: Special Edition’ is Stunning (Review)

Directed by: Anders Jacobsson

Cast: Johan Rudebeck, Per Löfberg, Olof Rhodin

Eddie is a weird fellow. Let’s just say he takes socially awkward to a new level and leave it at that… of course that would take a little fun out of it, wouldn’t it? The truth is, Eddie, the new editor at a major studio doesn’t like his job. The studio is genre friendly, which means Ed spends his time studying extreme violence and gratuitous nudity. And before long the effects of the film start to show in Eddie’s personality. Ah, hell, they show in his behavior!

Eddie is driven mad by the intense footage he works with day in and day out. It doesn’t take long before he’s gone far off his rocker, and taken to mirroring the grotesqueries he sees while working.

You want to talk about a job taking its toll? Eddie lives that and then some.

The humor in the flick is insane and over the top. The punchlines are cheesy as can be, but they’re cheesy in just the way you’d want from a good, fun exploitation film. And this is most certainly exploitation in every sense. It’s the movie you turn to when you’ve grown tired of high-concept horror, and need to turn your brain off for a while.

There are monster elements in the film, supernatural elements in the film… hell even slasher elements. It’s also loaded to the gills with nods to classic pictures, which could seem a little off given the tone of the movie, but it works, as do the numerous posters (Evil Dead included) hanging from Eddie’s walls. It’s all great entertainment, and director Anders Jacobsson never once holds back on the lunacy. That’s commendable. He knew exactly what kind of film he was aiming to make, and he succeeded. That too is commendable.

If you’re on the hunt for nutty genre piece drenched in gore and good laughs, you’re looking for Evil Ed. It may be something of a rare find these days, but you can get it in an insanely rewarding 3-disc set that comes absolutely loaded with brilliant extras and addition cuts of the film and top-notch supplements like the making-of documentary, Keep ’Em Heads Rollin’, a featurette titled Reconstructing Edward – featurette on the creation of the Special EDition cut in addition to some deleted scenes and bloopers (and that’s not even taking into account the third disc in the set).

I’m telling you now, if obscure ‘90s work are for you, you’ve got to get your hands on this!

Rating: 4/5