"Director's Cut II Horror Edition" by Simon Shaw
Suggested Retail USD$49.00
Available from your favorite dealer
In a Blink: 9 Out of 10

"Director's Cut II Horror Edition", the latest incarnation of Simon Shaw's "Director's Cut", carries on where the original left off, with great ideas, routines, and themes to accompany the outright fun props.

Let's cut to the chase: "Director's Cut II Horror Edition" is more of a prop than a single trick. In fact, the accompanying DVD and PDFs are loaded with tons of effects, ideas, handlings, and the like that pretty much prove that this isn't just a trick but a prop to replace a deck of playing cards in certain routines, to break away from the "card trick" genre a bit and give spectators something more to look at than four suits and a bunch of spots.

And that's a blessing all by itself.

I won't dive into all the effects given with "Director's Cut II Horror Edition"; first, there's a few dozen of them and second because they'll all seem familiar to you in one way or the other, from simple reveals to drawing duplications to, yes, a Color Monte variant. I will simply say that the supplied effects run the gamut of routines and all of them are worth a look in light of the prop even if you wouldn't give them a second glance as a "traditional" card trick.

I speak from experience here. The titled effect, "Director's Cut", is one of the first card tricks I learned to do with a certain piece of knowledge I'll leave off naming for now. It was a silly thing then and it's a silly thing now. No self-respecting card worker would ever think about breaking it out, surely. And yet, and yet here, with the movie posters instead of playing cards, it's a light, fun, reveal of a selected film that can either be dark and mysterious or lighthearted and fun. It's no longer a thirty-second piece of fluff but can be minutes worth of entertainment.

That says a lot about the props right there. And like ye olde playing cards, the props in "Director's Cut II Horror Edition" are as flexible as your thought processes allow. I mentioned the reveal, but there's so much more you can do here (you'll get tons of ideas from the documentation which is almost encyclopedic). Me personally, I splurged and got the "regular" edition, too, so that I have options for "Out of This World", assemblies, living/dead tests (most appropriate, that), and much, much more. But that's because I love the theme and so do my audiences. Movies are "it" for me and mine, and anything involving them puts me a little bit ahead in the game to entertain my spectators, and I'll scrounge for every advantage I can get.

So what are we getting here? We get twenty-six cards, each with a different horror movie (for fans like yours truly, note that the movies run from the classical to later releases, from Lugosi's "Dracula" to the American version of "The Ring"). Shaw did his work here, to be honest, and threw in a bunch of extras to allow for even more creative thinking, including duplicates, strangers, and a double. With those in the batch, you've got a pretty good collection of effects at your fingertips.

I'm high on "Director's Cut II Horror Edition". I think Shaw did me a personal favor in releasing it: it's something I'm interested in, and it's something my audiences find interesting and that's a hell of a combination. If I had any complaint at all it would simply be in the size of the cards: business card size doesn't cut it, especially with some of the posters ("Blair Witch Project", for example, looks more like a black rectangle with a white blob on it unless the lighting is really bright and the conditions very intimate); me, I'd have paid extra to have them done up as, say poker-sized playing cards so visibility is less of an issue.

Really, that's the only issue that keeps me from whipping out "Director's Cut II Horror Edition" every time I get a chance. Maybe that's a blessing; it also keeps me from doing an entire act with those movie posters. And I would, too.

Bottom line? Want something different, something that doesn't scream "card trick"? Something just offbeat enough yet solidly entertaining that's as flexible as you are? Are you are horror movie buff whose audiences like movies? Oh, you have got to pick this one up; neither you or your audiences will regret it.

Big, huge, head-spinning thumbs up for "Director's Cut II Horror Edition".

"Director's Cut II Horror Edition" by Simon Shaw
In a Blink: 9 Out of 10

Practicality: 8
Being more of a prop than an effect, this is all in what you do with it. However, most of the routines require no gaffs, gimmicks, or set-ups, so the practicality here is pretty high. The biggest problem, though, is the size. The posters are hard to see except in the most intimate of settings; it would have been nice to see these on poker-sized stock.

Workmanship: 9
The cards are very nicely laminated and handle pretty well for basic sleights if needed. The printing is gorgeously reproduced and looks wonderful.

Documentation: 10
There is a ton of excellent documentation supplied here, from some great instructions on DVD to PDFs of both the original "Director's Cut" routines and the new one for the "Horror Edition". Huge thumbs up here.

Effect: 9
It's all in what you do with it, but some of the supplied routines are solid winners that leave audiences both entertained and awestruck.

Presentation: 9
As with the effect, the presentation here depends on what you do. However, using these "posters" instead of playing cards has a definite impact on spectators and allows for tons of creative presentations of your own.


Shane

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