Heavysyde

Fanedit: Nocturnal Visions
Original: Nocturnal Animals + Boardwalk Empire; Enemy (2013); Demolition (2015); Visions
Author: Josh Nitsche/ohhidied
Released: 2019

(Old review, deleted from reddit)

Nocturnal Visions is an edit of the book story of Nocturnal Animals that incorporates scenes from the Nocturnal Animals flashbacks, from Visions, and from a couple other films, as flashbacks/nightmares/visions. Jake Gyllenhaal and Isla Fisher star here, rather than Amy Adams. u/ohhidied does a phenomenal job of constructing an expanded narrative, giving the wife more characterisation through skilful intercutting between the various scenes. As well as adding entire scenes from other films, there are also very frequent brief flashes to the other sources which really improves the edit. My only critiques are that the audio fades a little two quickly once or twice, and that a couple of the “visions” seemed slightly out of place. There’s also a brief shot where there is a black screen as Tony and the officer are backing up to find the fence, unsure if this is intentional.

This fanedit is really underrated and seemingly flew under the radar. It doesn’t hurt that the original Nocturnal Animals is a great film. I encourage anyone who’s seen Nocturnal Animals to go ahead and watch this edit, it’s incredibly impressive.

Fanedit: The Woman on the Train
Original: The Girl on the Train
Author: Maniac, Zagadka
Released: 2021

(Old review from reddit)

I quite liked The Girl on the Train, didn’t really understand the hate towards it. This edit takes a film I thought already was pretty good and cuts it down to focus on the most interesting character, Rachael. Narrative is now very clear with sideplots reduced, whereas the original got a little lost with its plot about halfway through. Really excellent and clean A/V editing here, top notch. One example, the scene where Rachel is in the public bathroom having a meltdown, this was intercut with another scene and rescored too, really impressive work. You wouldn’t know it was recut unless you check the original. There’s also another modified scene at 47mins, really spectacular editing here, I won’t spoil it though. These modifications would have worked very well in the original, and brought even more doubt to the viewer regarding the culprit. The rescore was well chosen throughout, and integrated with the existing soundtrack (which was already quite good), although the rescore was a little too loud at times.

If you’ve never seen The Girl on the Train, I’d honestly recommend watching this edit instead since it hides the reveal better and is more focussed.

Overall, a fantastic edit, and I liked the slightly modified ending. Well done to Zagadka & Maniac on yet another one.

English subtitles available.

Fanedit: Shawshank - The Duality Cut
Original: The Shawshank Redemption
Author: Daedal
Released: 2024

Spoilers ahead.

This edit takes the first half of The Shawshank Redemption and plays it out chronologically, up to Andy’s one month solitary confinement, whilst splicing in the second half of the film, mostly chronologically, in black and white throughout.

Very good A/V quality. Black and white scenes look good. Bitrate 12.5 mbps. Audio editing is mostly good, besides clashing scores at 07:50. Great and varied transitions, and audio editing, between scenes from the different timelines.

The new structure creates a lot more mystery as to who Andy is and why he’s in prison. The flow and pacing of the two storylines is good.

We go from Red narrating in the main timeline about “Andy kept to himself at first”, to Red’s narration in the later timeline about Andy escaping, and then back to Red continuing to narrate in the main timeline about Andy speaking after a month. Splitting Red’s main timeline narration like this here is confusing. Similar issue at 57:46.

The transition between “this place could’ve got the best of him” and Andy staring at the rope is an inspired one - although by this point we know that Andy isn’t thinking of committing suicide.

The misdirection of the viewer into thinking that Andy has killed himself for the first half an hour or so is a good choice. You find out that Andy has escaped, which lessens the tension of the first storyline; instead it’s replaced by curiosity as to how Andy got to the point of escaping. For first time viewers, this order is inferior, but a good alternate take for those who have already seen the original.

I like the choice to have Red leaving (b&w timeline) right after talking about being institutionalised (main timeline). It then cuts from “Brooks was here” (b&w) to Andy reading Brooks’ letter - excellent choice. Cutting out Brooks’ little subplot works for well for this edit, you get all the info you need from the way Daedal has structured these scenes.

The viewer is kept ignorant of why Andy is in prison and if he’s innocent up til the end, another good choice.

Personal preference: I think most or all of Red’s narration can go, at least for the black and white scenes. A lot of exposition that the audience doesn’t need to hear, and a lot of redundant info too. The narration also spoils that Andy is taking the Warden’s money and on the whole reduces the mystery around the b&w timeline.
The Warden saying “salvation lies within” and giving back the Bible could have led into the scene of the Warden opening that same Bible and reading that line.

Conclusion - this is a well executed alternate take of The Shawshank Redemption, and a good viewing for those who’ve seen it before. Daedal has strong editing ability and the edit is of professional quality.

Fanedit: Game of Thrones - Film VIII - The Retribution of Queens
Original: Game of Thrones: Seasons 6-7
Author: Anjohan
Released: 2023

Spoilers ahead.

This film mostly focusses on the first half of Season 7, but also covers the end of Season 6 and the Hound’s storyline from Season 6. Here are some comments I wrote whilst watching:

Undead army marching being turned into a Bran vision was well done
Good editing during the scene where Jon decides not to strip the umbers and karstarks of their castles
43:55 noticable audio shift
Anjohan has remixed Melisandre’s theme during the scene of her leaving the House of the Undying. Although this thematically doesn’t make sense, it’s still a very good addition
Very good rescore when Euron makes his alliance proposal to Cersei, it sets a dark mood
Sam finds out about the dragonglass about a few minutes after arriving at Oldtown. I think that Sam’s arrival and him finding the book on Dragonglass should be separated
Cut Dany touching the sand on Dragonstone - I thought that was a good scene.
Transition between Dany’s arrival in the map room on Dragonstone to the sudden appearance of all her Westerosi allies is jarring
Bitrate drops a lot from 1:15:50 onwards
Audio glitch at 1:18:17
Good little cuts to dialogue throughout
Some audio transitions were noticeable, eg at 1:24:18, 1:29:22
Great rescores throughout, eg when Jon announces to the Northern lords he is going to Dragonstone, Jon and Petyr talking in the crypts, Jaime charging Daenerys’ dragon
Cuts Sansa’s antagonism to Jon in several cases, which makes her character less unlikeable
Good job cutting Jon assaulting Littlefinger, that was always a dumb moment, intended to satisfy the audience it seems. However, Littlefinger touching his neck shortly afterwards due to being strangled is left in.
Pace/flow of conversation at 1:38:41 is too quick
Good modification to have Daenerys herself to decide to fly to the Reach
Cut out the entire pointless Sansa/Arya drama plotline. Great change. Littlefinger’s death is still pretty dumb though (unfixable)
Bronn’s death is a very creative and well executed change. I also like having Jaime die here. These two deaths bring more weight to the attack. But the editing for Jaime’s death is clunky and not as well done as Bronn’s

I would suggest the following (personal preference):
Less of cringy Lyanna Mormont would be good
Varys monologuing about his true intentions to Daenerys seems quite out of character, I would’ve cut it
Ed Sheeran is in it for five seconds, not sure why leave him in at all
Ironborn bullying Theon is pretty illogical
I would’ve dropped Tyrion being at Daenerys’ attack on the cabin train, as it’s hard to believe and was put in to artificially bring more emotional weight to the scene

Fanedit: Game of Thrones - Film VII - The Wars of Ice & Fire
Original: Game of Thrones: Season 6
Author: Anjohan
Released: 2022

Spoilers ahead.

This film covers a large part of S6, and ends where the show’s Season 6 ends, with major plotlines in the North, at King’s Landing, and in Slaver’s Bay wrapped up. ie what George RR Martin should’ve given us with A Dance with Dragons, but oh well. The A/V quality and editing is solid as usual, but I’ve noticed in all of the films so far drops in bitrate. One comment on audio editing: at 2:59:30 there’s a very abrupt music change. Otherwise, all good, and good rescoring again.

Comments I made whilst watching:
The Bran visions are edited so that more things are shown.
The Tower of Joy scene is re-edited to remove the Three Eyed Raven. Well done.
Yara references the dumb escape mission from S4. I guess that means Anjohan kept in that subplot. I would’ve dropped that subplot entirely, it was terrible.
Removal of the kingsmoot. It works well without the Kingsmoot. And the Kingsmoot was shockingly weak in the original, so might as well drop it.
Bronn, a sellsword, is giving tips on siege tactics. I would cut it.
Edd being Lord Commander doesn’t make any sense. They have elections, it’s like the showrunners forgot about the opening of S5. That ought to have been cut
I would’ve dropped Asha bullying Theon at Volantis or wherever they were, doesn’t add anything.
Very solid visual & audio editing of the scenes involving the Lady Crane subplot.
Delaying the reveal that Ramsay has Rickon was a smart move.
Continuity error where Arya is stabbed by the Waif is fixed.
Battle of the Bastards is still too long, it doesn’t seem like much was cut from it.
Good streamlining of the Trial sequence.

Fanedit: Game of Thrones - Film VI - The Repentance of Sins
Original: Game of Thrones: Seasons 5-6
Author: Anjohan
Released: 2022

Spoilers ahead.

This film-to-tv edit of Game of Thrones covers a small part of Season 4 and large parts of Seasons 5 & 6. As before, good A/V Editing. A/V quality is good but there are noticeable bitrate drops during dark scenes. Audio editing and rescores are very well executed.

Many major plot points from the 5th and 6th seasons are trimmed, largely following the same events as the show.
If only Stannis’ storyline could have been saved. Perhaps an impossible task.
One major streamlining that is very well done is the speed with which we go through Daenerys’ S5 storyline + part of her S6 storyline. The Harpies seemed to drag on endlessly in the show.
Interestingly, some changes are made to Bran’s arrival to Bloodraven’s cave, which perhaps will feed into the overarching storyline that Anjohan is going for.
Arya’s entry into the House & Black of White is instant, no timewasting. Similarly, her other scenes (all from S5) are well chosen without all the boring filler the show includes.
The Sparrows’ plotline isn’t concluded - perhaps Anjohan is going for a 3 act structure for the Sparrow arc, with Tommen aligning with them falling at the end of this edit.
Leaving Jon’s resurrection for the end of this edit was a great idea, it leaves over 2 hours and plenty of events between his death and resurrection, whilst in the show he was brought back almost as soon as he was gone.

Again, Anjohan’s done a good job here and shows his editing skill. Although the later GoT seasons fall in quality, this is much much better way of watching and rewatching them compared to the originals. My preference would’ve been for more aggressive cutting of some plodding scenes and extended battle sequences.

Fanedit: Planet of the Apes Revision
Original: Planet of the Apes (1968); Beneath the Planet of the Apes; Escape from the Planet of the Apes; Conquest of the Planet of the Apes; Battle for the Planet of the Apes
Author: Jorge Torres Torres
Released: 2017

This highly ambitious edit streamlines plot elements from the first five Planet of the Apes films into a single film running only at 1hr 14mins (excluding credits). A lot of creative decisions are made here, such as retelling large parts of the first film’s story as a flashback during Zira’s recollection of events during the third film. The second film makes appearances throughout the story, including the ending, and the events of the fourth and fifth films are aggressively jettisoned and placed into the second half of the edit. A huge number of cuts and audio editing has gone into this in order to make transitions between the films unnoticeable. Montages are frequently used effectively. Some hilarious rescoring as well.

Someone who’s not seen the films would not be able to tell from which film the footage is coming from. The plot is rapidly paced but can be followed. All in all, a very impressive endeavour that’s worth a watch for fans of the franchise.

This edit can be found by searching for the author’s vimeo page.

Fanedit: Game of Thrones - Film V - The Cold of Death
Original: Game of Thrones: Seasons 4-5
Author: Anjohan
Released: 2022

This film-to-tv edit of Game of Thrones covers the end of Season 4 and a large part of Season 5. A/V Editing is good, additional score is added numerous times. Sometimes the audio transitions are too quick or the dialogue is drowned out by the rescore - eg at 2:27:44. But mostly good. Occasionally, the transitions feel rushed, such as during the battle beyond the Wall, but I understand this is too keep the runtime down.

The plot is essentially a heavily streamlined version of the original, there are no major divergences. Season 5 is a pretty weak season of television in my view, which makes sense since it diverges so heavily from the books, so Anjohan did not have the best base to work from. What he does is take the very strongest scenes, and also scenes that are weak but are essential to prevent plotholes, and stitches them together. The focus of this edit is placed on the strongest plotline of Season 5 - the Wall and Hardhome. Dorne is aggressively cut down to barebones, as it should be. Arya appears (material from the end of Season 4) but none of her Season 5 scenes are in this one (maybe in the next one). Sansa’s butchered storyline is made as good as it can possibly be. The S5 Meereen plot, which is very weak, is completely removed and the focus is instead on Tyrion going from King’s Landing to Meereen. The King’s Landing / Sparrow plotline is well refined. Stannis arrives at the Wall, but his conclusion I believe will be in the next film. The highlight of this film is Jon Snow’s election as Lord Commander and (mis)handling of his post, along with the battle at Hardhome. I think Brienne could’ve been cut even further after the fight with the Hound, perhaps entirely.

All in all, I’d say Anjohan makes very good choices in regards to scene selection and makes the best possible film out of the source material. Seeing edits like this makes you wonder what Game of Thrones would’ve been like had it been released in cinemas instead of on television.

The second volume is now available. It covers the middle third of A GAME OF THRONES. More info here:
https://ifdb.fanedit.org/the-game-of-thrones-purist-cuts-volume-ii-the-crowning/

Subtitles for Dothraki dialogue are available.

Next will be the third volume, covering the final third of A GAME OF THRONES. followed by the fourth and fifth volumes, which will cover A CLASH OF KINGS, corresponding largely to Season 2 of the show.

This project in progress. I’ve completed the first volume of this edit, covering the first third of A GAME OF THRONES. More info here:
https://ifdb.fanedit.org/the-game-of-thrones-purist-cuts-volume-i-the-wolfsbane/

I’ve aimed to re-arrange all scenes in chapter order and cut materials that isn’t in the books - without creating any plot holes. I’ve also added chapters to the video, so you can see, if you’re curious, which chapter is playing out. Location cards have also been added. I’ve aimed to trim dialogue that doesn’t appear in or contradicts the books. All in all, about 1/3 of the first season has been cut, and over half of the second season.

Halloween - The Myers Case ( Halloween (2007); Halloween II (2009) ) - Maniac (2020)

This is a remake of an older Maniac edit, “Halloween - The Devil’s Eyes”.

Great A/V quality. The A/V editing is done at a professional level, as usual. The audio work - rescore, sound effects, audio fading etc - is superbly done. Quite a few creative editing decisions are taken to overlay different video and audio together and it works very well. The transition between the first and second films is seamless and intelligently handled.

Spoilers for Halloween (2007) below.

The edit takes the opening of Halloween (2007), renders it in black and white, and places it - as a flashback - after Myers’ prison escape. While I do think the idea of turning the opening into a flashback is a good one, so as to allow the film to begin quickly, I do think it would’ve worked better had the flashbacks been chopped up and scattered throughout the first act rather than playing out as a single long block.

Quite a lot of footage is cut - around 75 minutes overall from the two films combined. It allows for this to operate as a single long film, and streamlines the narrative. I do have a critique of this. The reason I quite like the Rob Zombie remakes is because of their characters, story, and atmosphere. They’re closer to psychological horrors than slashers. By cutting so much footage, this feels like a long series of murders, similar to the original Halloween film, and for me loses some of what make Zombie’s remakes so great. I would’ve preferred to see more of the violence cut in favour of the characterisations and conflicts, especially from the second film, rather than the other way around. However, that is just my personal preference, and this cut does work very effectively for those who preferer slashers.

Available on Maniac’s website, maniac1962.

IFDb listing:
https://ifdb.fanedit.org/halloween-the-devil-s-eyes/

Dune - 50 Minute Edit (Dune, 2021) - blankblank (2022)

This edit of Dune (2021) significantly cuts down the original and replaces the score with various tracks - largely electronic music. Nearly all the original audio is gone, including all dialogue, with a few sound effects remaining, such as that of the helicopters. The footage is drastically cut down to remove all shots of characters speaking, streamline the film, and match footage to audio cues and transitions.

Editing is well done, with the few sound effects used integrated well and the transitions between songs being mostly well executed. In a few cases I probably would’ve favoured more abrupt fades and fewer cross fades. Visual editing, which includes cuts to match music and the occasional fade, is also well done, and the footage which remained is appropriately chosen. The editing of the visions/dreams was very nice.

The narrative itself is certainly less clear than the original, and leaves it to the viewer to piece it together. As I barely remember the original film this was a little challenging at times but not so much so as to become lost. If you’ve not seen the original, then you definitely will be lost. While some dialogue could have been included to clarify the narrative, I appreciate the editor’s intent of making this an entirely visual story with audio only serving to immerse the viewer rather than provide any explanations. It’s up to you to create the story in your mind - as you would when watching a music video, which this edit resembles.

I’m a big fan of electronic music so I did enjoy this edit. I thought that the tracks chosen matched the footage well and often set the tone of what we were seeing, which helped tell the story better.

One thing I’d suggest as an improvement is to include more of the original audio effects. For example, while the song choices for the Harakan attack were good, the impact of the scene felt lacking due to there being no audio to match what we are seeing - no explosions, no impact of swords, no battle cries etc. Adding those in, whether from the original mix or from online sound effects, would improve immersion.

The Curse (The Witch) - Maniac (2022)

Spoilers for both The Witch (2015) and the fanedit, The Curse (2022).

This is an edit of The Witch, Robert Eggers’ first feature. I requested this edit from Maniac a while back as I felt that the film had a lot of potential, being a very effective psychological horror, but I disliked two main things - the Old English dialogue, which became excessive and irritating after a while, and the ending, which moved the film more objectively away from psychological horror towards supernatural horror. This edit fixes both of these objections.

Firstly, a large chunk of the film is cut entirely - about 39 minutes in all, leaving the edit at a rapid pace of just 53 minutes. I had no problem with this as fanedits that are just rehashes of the original with little changed don’t interest me - this is an entirely different take.

Along with the cut footage goes a large chunk of the cumbersome dialogue, and as a result I felt the edit’s dialogue was more than tolerable.

There is a significant amount of rescoring and sound effects added which further darken the mood and bring a frantic, panicked feel to the edit - very skillful work. Additionally, the characters of Thomasin and Caleb are placed at the forefront, and each are given new flashbacks. These are taken from scenes that played out linearly in the original but are repurposed in an incredibly effective manner. Even though Maniac says he’s not a fan of psychological horror, he has ironically enough made this film even more of a psychological horror by increasing the ambiguity of events and implying that even more of the film takes place in the characters’ minds than the original does.

Finally, there are two death scenes that are both handled better by Maniac than in the original. Firstly, the aforementioned flashbacks edited for Caleb, giving him a much more unnerving death than in the original, which instead features a long monologue. The second is the death of the baby, which in the original takes place early on, but now forms the basis of Maniac’s much more ambigious ending. In both cases, the A/V editing is simply outstanding.

I’d say this is another masterpiece in fanediting from Maniac, and he should seriously consider putting out a couple more psychological edits in between the guts and gore. Similarly to Eggers, Maniac understands very well what makes the audience feel fear and discomfort.

I think you’re right - both posted on 16 August. Cheers!

Edit: turns out it’s a coincidence - the two are separate
https://forums.fanedit.org/threads/300-full-combat-edition-by-jamiemark.660/#post-13226

I wonder where this edit went, can’t find any reference to it anywhere,

No, It Really Is Bram Stoker’s Dracula is on info.

My bad regarding the post-wedding comment, I guess that’s Cimino’s fault. I agree that you don’t technically need the scene of Michael/Stan earlier confrontation, it adds context that there is some tension between the characters but like you said, the cause of Michael’s outrage is the gun being pointed, so that’s a fair point.

I believe I have the 1080p version. I suspect that the audio level issue that I had is from the original, as it occurred even during scenes where I did not see any cuts. Could just be something on my end.

One Shot (The Deer Hunter) - Maniac (2021)

Video quality is very good. Audio isn’t too great, and sometimes the levels change, but I suspect that the original is at fault. Cuts are largely unnoticeable. A few rescores, are were well chosen.

The Deer Hunter is one of my favourite films and, in my view, a masterpiece that moves just a little too slowly at the beginning. I was interested in this edit as it promised to reduce the first act, which features a very long wedding sequence. This goes further than that and takes out quite large chunks from the film. I estimate that about 30 minutes is cut from the first act and a little over 30 minutes from the second and third. Since I’m a big fan of the original, I’m not sure what to make of that. While the edit does progress at a far higher pace, a lot of great stuff has been cut. Outside of the first act, I was mostly fine with the pace of the original. The edit does however (largely) work narratively.

The first act is reduced to just under 30 minutes, which is very impressive, and it allows us to get to the superb second act a lot more quickly, with all the moments preserved from the first act being the most relevant ones to the story and main characters. I do still miss the absence of some scenes, but the edit works without them. Two critiques of the new first act:

24:48 the characters are talking about what Stan said earlier, but it’s not clear what about. I suspect something during the wedding that was cut.

Michael and Stan’s conflict is not set up in this version, as the scene from the first act in which they quarrel over clothing is cut, meaning that their confrontation in the third act makes less sense.

All in all, it’s a technically and narratively sound edit, and it has its merits in making the film an easier and shorter watch. However, I didn’t think that the second and third acts should’ve been cut so much, and so I do still prefer the original - with the exception of the first act, which is mostly improved in this cut.

Silence (A Quiet Place; A Quiet Place Part II) - Maniac (2021)

A two in one edition of A Quiet Place I & II. Both great horror films in my view, so I was certainly intrigued to see what Maniac did here.

As usual, video quality and A/V editing is superb, didn’t notice even one transition, which is impressive. Flash frame at 53:24. There’s one flashback sequence towards the beginning which stands out as it looks professionally edited - the sound design in particular is commendable. Subs are present (Hard coded English), which is appreciated, especially since there’s a lot of sign language in these films.

Both of these films are pretty trim to begin with, yet the edits flow quite well with a few scenes and subplots cut - I didn’t feel the loss of most of the cut material. While moving the AQP2 flashback works well, I personally prefer the original AQP opening due to the suspense and mysterious nature of the creatures early on. But this scene had to be placed here as I don’t think it would’ve worked well later on, and in terms of the new overarching story it works better for Emmett to be introduced at the beginning.

Very smart creation of new flashbacks around the 35 minute mark. I also thought that cutting out the creatures attacking small animals was a good choice. Always felt this was a flaw of the original AQP, as if they were that sensitive to noise they’d be constantly attacking any animals that make the slightest sound, including insects.

Watching the originals for the first time was very tense due to the unpredictable nature of the films. While naturally some of that is lost on a rewatch, this edit keeps the films fresh through new flashbacks, a quicker, leaner story with fewer subplots, and very well chosen rescores. I greatly enjoyed revisiting these films, more so than I would have had I simply watched the originals. Another fine piece of work from Maniac.

American Businessman (American Psycho) - verifypassword__ (2022)

This edit by u/verifypassword__ takes the psycho out of American Psycho. This is very well edited throughout - seamless. If I didnt know the original so well I’d think that the scenes originally played out that way, and mostly without voiceovers too. Audio work is very skillful.

Nice editing when Patrick removes his mask, rescore there is well done. Also good job removing the screaming during the skipping.
Cracked up at “I have all the characteristics of a human being.”, and Patrick sprinting from his date with Jean to dinner with the investigator.
Tracks for the rescore were well chosen, including the ending track.

This is truly a hilarious butchering of American Psycho - great job OP. The editing particularly is impressive, did not notice any issues whilst watching on desktop.

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/fanedits/comments/sdaky3/american_businessman_edit_of_american_psycho/

sounds very cool, I’d been meaning to watch this show but never got around to it. Would it be worth watching your edits instead?

has this workprint been officially released? if not, anyone know where to find it?

The Dark Chronology: Chapter 1 (Dark: Seasons 1-3) - Dizzy_108 (2020)

This is an interesting take on Dark which seeks to reorder the series chronologically. A very bold goal considering how interwoven time travel is in the series’ plotlines. I watched part of the first chapter and enjoyed it. Of course, you have to have watched the original show to make sense of things. The A/V quality is good and it’s well edited to the point I watched.

My main critique would be that the titlecards are frequent and break the flow of the show - would’ve been much better as a subtitle in the corner of the screen.

For now, I don’t think I can watch the rest of this as the framerate is wrong, which makes watching the footage difficult. The framerate most likely should be at 23.976 fps, but it’s as 25 fps. Stuttering is constantly noticable as a result. If Dizzy_108 can fix the framerate in the future I’d definitely watch the rest of the episodes.

More info here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/fanedits/comments/hoove2/the_dark_chronology_dark_netflix_fanedit/

Left a review here. Great work.

Jigsaw II: Endgame (Saw, 2004-10) - Maniac, Zagadka (2021)

The follow-up to “A History of Desperation”, this one does not dissapoint. Combining multiple different plotpoints from the 3rd and 4th films, as well as another film (which I won’t spoil), this tells a completely unique story from some of the highlights of the series. Incredibly well edited, with flashbacks being inserted continuously with great skill. A/V quality is great, and the pace is insanely high - it plays out like an hour and a half triller film rather than your typical horror. Despite the major narrative changes, “Endgame” remains faithful to the Saw template and themes, even more so than the writers of the later films do. The amount of vision and planning that has gone into making this is incredible, virtually every scene you see in this edit has been re-arranged and modified. I can’t imagine what the timeline looks like.

This is a must watch for fans of the series, and even if you’re not a horror fan it’s just a great edit which avoids the gore and torture porn of its source. The final sequence alone is worth giving this edit a watch. Another Maniac/Zagadka masterpiece.