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MAY 7 VHS MOVIE REVIEW : EVIL ED
From horrorsociety.com
This movie has always been one of my favorites as a kid and it left such a huge impression on me. Evil Ed is a Swedish made film that was sort of scary, but more a horror tribute film with a splash of comedy with it. The premise is about an editor who gets a promotion and begins editing extremely bloody slasher flicks. Now, after watching to any hack and slash films he looses his grip on reality and begins slaughtering people. There are a number of things that make this movie work but you have understand that it does get loony at times and it’s all in good fun.
First off, the great thing about this movie is its numerous movie connections with other great classic horror film. The green monster in the fridge closely resembles the gremlins from Gremlins or even the Crites from Critters. The of the fictional slasher series Loose Limbs is named Sam Campbell, a tribute to Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi from Evil Dead series. There are posters b-movies on the walls and it plays homage to the cheesy one-liners that indie movies often have. Even the movie itself is titled Evil Ed in reference to Evil Dead.
The humor in this movie is not over done, but at times uncalled for. The Boss of Edward has some great lines and some of the wacky things that Ed says are also pretty funny. Like I said, I am sure some of the lines in this movie are inspired the by the corny one-liners that b-movies have and you can really see it in this movie. A scene where a I guy blows his head off, blood everywhere and Sam says, “Your fired.” C’mon, that’s pure cheesy brilliance. The movie does get pretty gory at some points, such as the hospital scene. Although, I think in this movie the gore should be overdone because of the way that Ed’s psychosis is… you never really know if it’s imagination. Even the gore, in some way, is pushed so far that I could be considered funny in some ways.
However, despite these connections, the movie had bad acting and very bad voice-overs. That was one thing that really bothered me at times was the unnecessary voice-overs. There were times when the voice-over didn’t match up with the lips and times when the acting was very overdramatic and it briefly took me out of the movie.
Overall, if you’re looking for a good cheesy movie with notable movie references, good gory fun and attributes independent movies for what they are, then you’ll love this movie. Despite it’s minor flaws I love this movie and it truly is one of the better Swedish made horror flicks out there.
MAY 7 VHS MOVIE REVIEW : EVIL LAUGH (1986)
Another annoying teen horror film that has nothing to offer the viewer except bad acting, lame effects and illogical situations. To give you an idea what to expect: In the beginning of the film, a guy complains that he doesn't have any liver to serve for dinner. The cackling unseen killer stabs the guy with a butcher knife and cuts out his liver, placing the still-steaming organ on a dinner plate. Get it? Ha! A group of kids converge on a long-abandoned building to help a friend (the guy who had his liver removed) clean it up so he can turn it into a pediatric clinic. What most of them don't know is that years ago the building was an orphanage where a series of brutal murders took place. Someone doesn't want the kids messing with the building, as an unseen maniacally-laughing psycho begins dispatching them in various unimaginative ways. Between scenes of bad dancing (and terrible original rock songs), horny sex and in-fighting between the young cast, the chuckling weirdo begins the killing spree. A delivery boy is offed with a power drill (off-screen), a couple having sex are butchered with a knife, another guy is stabbed in the crotch and so on. The cast learns about Martin, the murderer who committed the murders in this building years before and we are left to wonder if it is indeed Martin who is killing the kids (or is it someone closer?). Barney (Jerold Pearson), a horror movie fan, is the only voice of reason, wanting everyone to leave the house before they all get killed (He even warns his friends not to have sex because, in horror films, anyone who has sex dies, predating a similar scene in SCREAM by over ten years). No one believes him and most of them are killed before the remaining members finally believe. Barney discovers an audio cassette containing the killer's voice saying no one in the house deserves to live. When the killer is finally unmasked, you'll be punching your TV in retaliation for having been cheated out of 85 minutes of your life. You may just kick your dog after having to view the preposterous "surprise" ending. Guaranteed to bore you after ten minutes, EVIL LAUGH seems to pull away when it should be charging ahead. Director Dominick Brascia (who also co-wrote and co-produced this with star Steven Baio, who looks like [and is] Scott Baio's emaciated brother) doesn't let us see most of the killings and tosses in numerous references to FRIDAY THE 13TH and HALLOWEEN, cheap sex jokes and shows issues of Fangoria every now and then to give the film some street cred. The acting is pretty erratic, ranging from OK (Baio) to unbelievably bad (the guy who played the cop). That's a shame, because most of the film is filled with endless dialogue scenes with people spouting inane lines like, "10:30? By God, it's the middle of the night!" By the time the killing spree kicks in, you'll either be sound asleep or scratching your balls in anticipation. One way, you'll be rested and relaxed. The other way will only get you looks of disgust by those around you and you'll be bitterly disappointed to boot (as well as having sore balls). What you will see is a lame axe to the head, a knife to the groin (the tip protrudes out of the guy's ass) and Steven Baio having his head shoved in a microwave oven. None of the effects are well done or filmed in any way to give them impact. EVIL LAUGH ia a minor slasher film that doesn't have one original idea in it's tiny little head. It was supposedly shot in one week and it shows. Also starring Kim McKamy, Tony Griffin, Jody Gibson, Johnny Venocur, Myles O'Brien, Howard Weiss and Susan Grant. Krishna Shah, the director of HARD ROCK ZOMBIES (1985), was one of the Executive Producers. A Celebrity Home Entertainment Release. Rated R. { text from critcononline.com }
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