2001 Maniacs (2005)
Directed by Tim Sullivan
Writing credits Chris Kobin Tim Sullivan
Robert Englund.... Mayor Buckman
Lin Shaye .... Granny Boone
Giuseppe Andrews .... Harper Alexander
Jay Gillespie .... Anderson Lee
Marla Malcolm .... Joey (as Marla Leigh Malcom)
Dylan Edrington .... Nelson Elliot
Matthew Carey .... Cory Jones
Peter Stormare .... Professor Ackerman
Gina Marie Heekin .... Kat
A bunch of college students take a detour on their way to spring break. They end up in Robert Englund’s southern town. Trouble lies ahead. For some reason, they take it on faith that a bunch of wackos dressed like they just stepped out of the Civil War want to make them the guests of honor at their festival. The Guts and Glory festival is about to start with lots of college student guts as the main course.
It’s hard not to like “2001 Maniacs”. It’s nowhere close to being a horror film but the maniacs enjoy causing bodily harm so much that their sick bliss starts to get infectious. “2001 Maniacs” treats anybody getting violently killed as the most hilarious thing you ever saw. Bodies are mutilated with great joy. It does not skimp on the red stuff.
*GORE SPOILER*
One of the first gore scenes involves a girl with her hands and feet tied to the end of the four horses of her apocalypse.
She thought she was going to have a roll in the hay with one of the southern gentlemen but he had other plans for her body. Namely, to rip her to pieces. Hey, they needed something to eat. It even ends with him paraphrasing the famous ending line from “Gone with the Wind”. If that’s not class then I don’t know what is.*END GORE SPOILER*
I had a good time watching “2001 Maniacs”. Any horror fan will get into it. It’s surely not the scariest movie ever made. Actually, it’s not even trying to be scary. It just wants to show you a good gory time with Mayor Englund and his hungry maniacs. You can’t blame it for that.
SCORE: 2.5 out of 4 maniacs
And of course, here's my favorite scene:
Ahh, kissing cousins. Would any movie about maniacs in a southern town be complete without them?
Yummy.
How the hell can one write a 350-word review of 2001 Maniacs with nary a mention of the 1964 drive-in gore classic 2,000 Maniacs! ?
ReplyDeleteAt least 98% of this page's visitors came here to learn how this remake compares with its world-famous predecessor — only to find the reviewer has never even frigging heard of it.
This is NOT the work of a serious 'B' student, let alone a Ph.d.
Your parents must have been liquored up when they named you Dr. Gore, Dr. Gore, because you, sir, are a quack.
Cordially,
Big Gus
Big Gus,
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing. Appreciate your comments and concern.
For the record, I graduated Maggie Cum Loudly from the Doctorate program at B.U. (B-movie University in Tijuana. It was a course over the internet). I was first in my class of three. We studied the classics like "2000 maniacs", "Ilsa She Wolf of the SS" and various Jess Franco "films" to get a good solid foundation to write reviews.
I wasn't aware that 98% of my readers wanted comparisons to the earlier film. An oversight on my part I suppose but I think "2001 Maniacs" stands on it's own B-movie merits. Blood, guts, etc. And how about those kissing cousins? Now that's worthy of a serious dissertation. In fact, my post doctorate work will be concerning lesbian exploitation in horror films. Conclusion? I like it.
Earnestly,
Doctor