2001 Maniacs

2001 maniacs is essentially a grind house movie if you look at it. The story is the third most important part of the film, after gore and sex. That being said, i do not really mind that since i am a fan of gore myself.

The plot in the movie is not anything new, a bunch of teenagers gets into trouble with the supernatural. You have seen that several times if your a fan of horror. What makes this movie better than average is the fact that it's self avare of it. It doesn't try to be the shining or something like that, instead we get pure grind house fun. The camera is even outdated for the time, a pretty classic grind house team (since they were made on a shoestring budget).

Robert Englund is great as the main villain (As always), the main cast of teens are bad and the acting overall from them is stale and uninspiring. What makes this movie fun to watch is the interaction of the teens (Bad acting) with the townspeople (mostly good acting). The plot moves along with a decent speed so you are never bored with it, and the climax is pretty good.

Another thing that really make it feel like a grind house aside from the gore and the sex are the fact that it is not scared of taking the low road. It's rare to have such strong language in horror movies that are mainstream produced as this one has. "Boy, Negro, Chinaman (Sorry, Chinawoman) and such. Its a movie that doesn't care at all and is just out to entertain you.

Is it better than 2000 maniacs? No, it is. not Is it a bad movie? Yes it is, but it's also a pretty decent one. Once again, that is if you see this movie as a grind house movie, which it really isn't, but there are strong influence by the grind house cinema in it. The best part of this movie is the kills, that isn't anything strange since that's true 90% of the time when there is a body count. But there is also a pretty fun dark humor in this film that doesn't go unnoticed.

We get blood, boobs, gore, comedy, guys chasing sheep, kids killing cats and super hottie cousins "boning" each other! The comedy is actually funny…the gore is actually…well…gory! The T&A is top notch (its Christa Campbell guys!) and the acting was excellent.

Not only do we get a damn good horror film but we get a DVD that actually puts most "Special Editions" to shame! This release is packed with extras! I would like to point out to readers though that no matter how hard a DVD company tries to convince you…subtitles and closed captions are not bonus features.

I'd like to point out a few facts as well…for starters; Eli Roth is back to reprise his role from Cabin Fever as wonky drifter Justin (Eli Roth) and his good buddy Dr. Mambo (the dog) is back as well! Eagle eyed viewers may also spot Tim Sullivan hammering on a coffin and Scott Spiegel (Evil Dead 1 & 2, The Dead Next Door) as one of the hillbilly banjo singers that constantly wander about the movie! So, for those of you looking for a damn good film, run, don't walk, to your nearest Best Buy and purchase 2001 Maniacs. Don't hesitate!

Three college students decide to travel to Florida for some fun at Spring Break. After seeing a detour sign, they take the dirt road in hoping to get to their destination a little quicker. Soon they discover a little town called Pleasant Valley. Five more people show up right after them and decide to stay the night for some celebration.

2001 Maniacs sounds promising for the old school B-horror movie fans. A bunch of young college kids, go to this town and the residents decide to kill them and eat them. Crazy isn't it? Well, what should have been and what could have been is missing in 2001 maniacs. Call it a sequel or a remake of the 1964 film Two Thousand Maniacs, 2001 maniacs suffers from trying to be over the top but failing to do so. The deaths are good to watch and with a little bit more blood, then the fun time that is suppose to be had by this film could have been achieved. You're suppose to laugh with this movie and in some cases you do, but in others you are wondering why am I watching this?

What could have, what should have, is exactly what 2001 maniacs is. With a premise such as this film has, you would expect over the top gory funny and unique deaths. You do get these qualities in the deaths, but they are not anything that one would expect. When you are about to see a women lose all their limbs from horses running in opposite directions, you get excited a little bit, if you're into that sort of thing, but in Maniacs it losses it touch.

The goal of this film is to be a throw back to the old cheesy bad horror movies, and it achieves this goal. The dialogue is cheesy, the deaths are gory (although you'd expect more), there's nudity from young hot chicks, and of course the villains are crazy as hell, so crazy that you may even root for them in their evil goals. Some things you may question in the film, such as why would such a young and hot woman, known as Kat, be attracted to a southern hillbilly with awkward teeth, or even why the one character arms wrestles another to see who will give or receive in some homosexual sex. This film definitely pokes fun at the south, having some characters chase after animals with that twinkle of love in their eye.

Maniacs has a good build up but the delivery is kind of weak. The ending horrible and tries to take the film in a whole other direction. If there were a different ending then this film would have been graded a bit higher. I can see a future for Tim Sullivan in the horror genre, if he had some better material.

So how can I give this flick a recommendation, well it lies in the over the top performance from Robert Englund, who is the highlight of Maniacs. His role is so juicy and fun to watch that every time he isn't on screen you feel bored by the flick. I recommend this flick for fans of Englund and fans of the genre. If you're into some cheesy dialogue and violence just for the sake of violence, then 2001 Maniacs is right up your alley.

In the 2000s, it seemed a fad to take old cult horror movies and remake them. Sometimes it worked, most of the time it didn't. This one at least went out of its way to expand on the mythos of its predecessor

Should anyone be given the role of Mayor Buford, one should devour the scenery. Robert Englund, bless his heart, does just that, and in the most delightfully cheesy manner. The victims, downgraded from rational adults to a bunch of obnoxious college students, deserve no sympathy to the point that in the first five minutes, you just want all of them to die.

The violence is admirable, only one of the death scenes is a callback to the original. Blood effects are standard 2005 slasher movie level but they're gruesome all the same. The writers got creative and they get props.

In this modernized version, minority victims are introduced, an African-American man and an Asian woman, both of whom are subject to racism. But this is expected as the antagonists, after all, are Civil War era Southerners. That said, this movie is in no short supply of Southern popular culture references, mostly to Gone with the Wind.

All in all, when comparing to the 1964 Herschell Gordon Lewis cult classic, 2001 Maniacs is simply a contemporary upgrade but watch it as a standalone, it's okay.

I saw "2001 Manacs" last night at a midnight screening at the Fantasia Festival and I really enjoyed it ... so did the 300-400 other people in the theater with me. Tim Sullivan and Christa Campbell introduced the movie and held a Q&A session after (I had to leave, it was 2am) but I'm sure they were pleased with the audience response. It was great to see Robert Englund again, he always does a great psycho. The movie was funny and gory ... sure the plot wasn't Oscar caliber, but anyone looking for that is going to the wrong movie. If you want to see a good horror movie, the real 'guts & glory' kind, this is the movie for you. I feel confident in recommending this movie and plan on picking up the DVD (especially since the version that was screened hasn't gone to the ratings board yet, so the DVD will probably be the only place to see this exact version).