The Editor (Movie Review)

Them Canucks sure are friendly folk, but I think the weather up there in the great white north is driving them freakin' crazy. Case in point, The Editor, the newest film from Adam Brooks and Matthew Kennedy (two members of the production company Astron-6) that takes on the task of spoofing giallo movies. In doing so the directors reach some surprising levels of humor while also proving that there is a limit to how much silliness one can stomach when it comes to a spoof movie.

From the team who brought you Father's Day and Manborg comes the story of Rey Ciso (Adam Brooks), a once renowned film editor struggling to remain relevant due to an incident that left him without fingers on his right hand. Now handicapped with wooden fingers his latest production is troubled as a murderer is picking off members of the cast one by one and chopping off the fingers on the right hand of the victims. As the main suspect Rey tries to finish the film and somehow restore his reputation. 

Astron-6's mission statement is 80's centric, no-budget, genre-bending cinema and The Editor lives up to exactly that at an estimated budget of $130,000. With a resume of films like Father's Day and Manborg, most who're familiar with team behind Astron-6 probably know exactly what to expect- only this time under the thumb of giallo cliches. Brooks and Kennedy's film is filled with wall to wall sex, violence, bad dubbing, cheesy acting, and ridiculous plot twists. More than half of what's going on makes absolutely no sense, and the heavy handed cinematography comes off as though every giallo film in history puked over every scene. 

One cannot possibly approach The Editor with a straight face, and if you can't jump aboard the joke in the first 30 seconds, then it's best to abandon ship immediately. Truth be told, even if you're in on the joke you'll still most likely tire of hearing the punch line over and over again long before the credits roll. Given the budget the gore effects are rather impressive, and as spoof movies go you can do a lot worse (all you've gotta do is seek out the Wayans). However, The Editor is just another send up (albeit with an incredible score) that wears out its welcome and should have made its bow around the hour mark. 

Note: Screened as part of the 2015 Fantasia FIlm Festival