The Wizard of Gore

When I was a kid, I couldn't get enough of the Horror genre. Renting Horror flicks, on the weekend, from everywhere from Blockbuster to the smaller places like Video Warehouse. It wouldn't take too long to plow right through every Friday The 13th, every Elm Street, and yes, every watered-down Halloween disappointment, among countless others. Eventually, it would come to my attention that there is a whole other universe, an alternate universe, if you will, of Horror. I had discovered the wonderful world of vintage B-Horror. You know, stuff like Basket Case, Messiah Of Evil, and Burial Ground. Needless to say, it didn't take long to discover the ground-breakingly cheesy flicks of good ol' H.G. Lewis. Known mostly for his earlier stuff like Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs, Herschell Lewis would later go on to make a movie that really stood out for me. One of the goriest, and might I add one of the least well-thought-out Exploitation flicks of the 70's. This is The Wizard Of Gore.

I sure am glad I like gore, because magicians are kinda lame. And if nothing else, this 1970 gore-epic teaches us this. If you like 'em unrealistic and confusing, then I assure you, you will approve of this lame-brained story, which involves, you guessed it, a magician. Montag The Magnificent. Played by Ray Sager, a man 30 years younger than what the role calls for. No problem. Nothing a little white spray-paint and fake-looking, uneven white eyebrows can't fix. Ridiculous-looking eyebrows are the least of Montag's problems. Because this guy is rude, irritable, kinda loud, and just plain unpleasant. In other words, Montag is a real bummer. This old codger, who is clearly in a bad mood, spends the first 10 minutes of the movie explaining to everyone why his magic doesn't suck. None of that "saw a woman in half" stuff... Well, actually, that's exactly what's gonna happen. Except it's gonna be authentic, and gory as all hell. And basically, it's just gonna be real, except this chick just gets up and walks off unharmed. So, that's basically why Montag's magic doesn't suck. Montag, as a person, on the other hand does suck. because the "magic", or whatever takes hold later on in the evening, and said chick literally falls apart, in all her gory glory. No cgi here, gang. Just excessive, fake-looking gore, complemented by awkward, inept acting along with the usual stupid dialogue. It was beautiful, I tell you.

And might I add, the old, grainy VHS that I had originally seen this on was much more suitable for a movie such as this. The cleaned up pristine look of the screen totally ruins it, in my opinion. However, owning a movie you love on DVD is kind of necessary, considering all the cool little extras involved. The commentary being a good example of that. In the audio commentary, Herschell makes mention of his disdain for this film, which is funny considering he's the guy who made How To make A Doll and Blast-off Girls. And now this should be the part where I warn you of the evils of the remake, from a couple years ago. I could present my own separate rant, dedicated to my hatred for this film. Instead, I'm just gonna let you know that I only made it about a half an hour through, and let you make up your own mind. what a shame that Herschell's next film, The Gore Gore Girls would turn out to be his last for 3 decades. Herschell's long-awaited next project, Blood Feast 2 would end up 10, or hell, even 11 times gorier than anything he'd done before. As if things couldn't get any better, I would imagine a DVD release for Herschell's next film is right around the corner. So, if you happen to dig lewis, you may want to keep an eye out for The Uh-Oh Show!, starring Lloyd Kaufman, and the legendary Joel D. Wynkoop. But first things first. If you've seen Blood Feast and/or Two Thousand Maniacs, and you got the Lewis fever, The Wizard would be the next logical step. Passionately recommended to Gorehounds, young and old. 10/10

Utter madness from HGL and probably his most accessible and entertaining film. The central premise is brilliant - someone should remake it - but all the weird subplots and scenes all add to the deranged atmosphere.

The gore is pretty nastier and a definite progression from A Taste Of Blood and The Gruesome Twosome. The "eyeball" scene really surprised and shocked me because for once the effects are reasonably convincing. But it's Ray Sager's pompous portrayal of Montag that is the most appealing aspect for fans of kitsch and the ending is a genuine eyebrow raiser. Questions of existentialism and hardcore gore? It's all here. You will, at some points, question your sanity. That is, of course, if we're not all a figment of someone's imagination. Indeed, are you in fact sitting reading this review now? Or are you actually at home, asleep, dreaming that you are here? Aaaaagh!

Some say the Wizard of Gore is one of HG Lewis' weaker flicks, but I must disagree. Blood Feast may have been more ground-breaking and unintentionally hilarious, but W.O.G. stands up fine against that movie and any of his other gore films. There is a certain cheesy charm to Lewis movies, no matter if they are skin flicks, gore flicks, or even kiddie flicks. In this movie, the wonderfully hammy Ray Sager plays the Wizard and his main occupation seems to be delivering quasi-fascistic prattle to audiences with mutton chop sideburns, interspersed with running his fingers through the tomato-sauce covered animal organs that erupt from his victims, all to the audience's delight. There is some weak storyline involving an independent woman reporter and her well-tanned boyfriend, who try to solve the mystery of the Wizard, the fools. However, this is pretty much just window dressing for the 5-6 gory scenes of the Wizard doing his thing. In particular, there is an eyeball poking and manipulating scene that would have done Lucio Fulci proud. And please don't forget the awesome furniture and late 60's bourgeois home furnishings and polyester pantsuits that make all of these late 60's films look like "Barbarella" by todays standards. If anything, you have to love the fact that there was actually a time in this country where you could make a movie like this and it would be distributed. Thinking about the time period when Lewis was doing his thing and the way he was doing it is enough to blow your mind even more than his movies. If you haven't checked them out, you are doing yourself a disservice!

This might have been an excellent short. And it works wonderfully as a fetish movie if seeing young women getting tied up and mutilated is your cup of tea. As a feature movie it's just dire.

Unusually for a horror movie, it features a young professional woman in one of the leading roles -- and she doesn't even get raped and mutilated in the first five minutes for being a harlot! She investigates a magician who performs gory tricks in his show, with the same girls he performed his tricks on later dieing accordingly. This repeats itself no less than four times (if I counted correctly), each scene lasting maybe ten minutes and being as linear as train tracks in a desert, until her boyfriend muses: "All those girls who went on stage in the show died in the same manner later in the evening. Maybe there's a connection?". His girlfriend is so impressed by his cleverness that she proceeds to fornicate him out of gratitude -- and rightly so. It was the most intelligent moment of the entire movie.

I'm not asking for too much, am I, here? I just want to be entertained. For that, I'm willing to forfeit good taste, intelligent plot, competent acting at the door. In the Wizard Of Gore, though, Herschell Gordon Lewis reveals himself as a gore fetishist. The premise of blurring reality and imagination may be interesting, but it's never developed into a story. Fail!

Though this is one of my all time favorite movies, I would still have to give it 7 out of ten because it has too many flaws for me to rate it as a perfect film. For one, the plot does meander and great deal. Also, the characters for the most part are pointless and annoying. Still, this does not matter in the world of Herschell Gordon Lewis. This is easily one of the stupidest, most unbelievable, disturbing and hilarious movies that I have ever seen in my entire life. You'll find yourself laughing out loud as you vomit at the sight of people having swords shoved down their throats, being done in with punch presses, being chainsawed in half and every other disgusting thing you can possibly imagine. Only in the world of cinema can things this ridiculous happen. That's what I love about movies, they take you into a different world, and this movie does just that. Aside from the gore, what really makes this movie stand out is it's evil villain 'MONTAG THE MAGNIFICENT'. After watching this movie, my friend Jason and I decided to start worshipping him and revelling in his badassness. Also, what totally rules about this movie is just how terrible the acting is. Ray Sager is actually the worst actor of all time. It made me laugh the entire time I watched it, yet at the same time his presence has an unnatural creepiness to it. The ending has to be seen to be believed.

Truly a unique horror film that should be seen by fans of bad cinema or just anyone who wants to be totally grossed out and given nightmares.

(My personal rating is 10/10)