Mild-mannered film technician Ed (Johan Rudebeck) enjoys his job, at least he enjoys his job until he finds himself transferred from his usual post into the "splatter and gore" department. Forced to edit hours upon hours of grisly video footage, mild-mannered Ed's mild manner starts to crack as he becomes increasingly traumatized by the excessive violence and, before long, begins to have a hard time discerning fact from fiction, violence from video. 

Owing a debt to a variety of early splatter classics, this Swedish gore flick is filled to the brim with flying limbs, exploding heads, creepy and crawly creatures and, of course, lots o' busty babes. With absolutely stellar packaging, and I mean just look at all the extras below in this 3-Disc, Director Approved, Limited Ed-ition, Evil Ed becomes one of 2017's truly great gifts for the gorehound in your family. It's actually a rather ingenious storyline to have the film's violence triggered by film violence, such a "duh" kind of storyline that it's kind of a wonder it hasn't been seen lots of times before. 

In addition to Rudebeck's top notch performance, Olof Rhodin shines as Sam Campbell, the producer in charge of the film that finally pushes Ed over the, well, ed-ge. 

Anders Jacobsson's name is all over this film as a co-writer, director, producer, D.P., and even co-editor. Jacobsson clearly had a pristine vision for the film and set out to bring that vision to life. Kudos must also be given to Henriksson & Lindh for perfect complementary music, while the film's ensemble cast is strong throughout even in the relatively brief appearances. 

For more information on Evil Ed, visit the Arrow Films website linked to in the credits. 

DIRECTOR-APPROVED 3-DISC LIMITED ED-ITION CONTENTS:

• Two versions of the film
• Original Stereo and 5.1 DTS-HD MA Audio Options
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
• Collector’s Booklet featuring new writing on the film by horror journalist Michael Gingold
   

DISCS 1 & 2 (BLU-RAY/DVD) – SPECIAL ED-ITION CUT

• Special ED-ition cut [99 mins]
• Introduction by writer/director Anders Jacobsson and editor Doc
• You Keep ‘Em Heads Rollin’ – extensive making-of documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew
• Before Ed – featurette looking at the early filmmaking endeavours of the Evil Ed crew
• Beyond Ed – the filmmakers discuss their careers following Evil Ed
• Deleted Scenes Featurette
• Reconstructing Edward – featurette looking at the preparation of the Special ED-ition cut
• New Scenes Featurette – a closer look at the scenes that were added to the Special ED-ition cut
• Trailers and Teasers
• Image Gallery
   

DISC 3 (BLU-RAY) – ORIGINAL CUT [LIMITED ED-ITION EXCLUSIVE]

• Original cut [93 mins]
• Lost in Brainland – never-before-seen extended three-hour making-of documentary
• Cast and Crew Interview Bloopers

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic