Two Thousand Maniacs!

Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964), written and directed by the original splatter exploitation king, Herschell Gordon Lewis, tells the story of the centennial celebration of Pleasant Valley, a town in the deep South founded at the end of the Civil War. The inhabitants of Pleasant Valley plan to lure six Yankees into the town to take part in the celebrations. Little do the Northerners know that they will be the focus of an elaborate revenge for violence visited upon Pleasant Valley by retreating Union troops in 1865.

The premise of Maniacs is fairly simple. Although there is some attempt to address the paranoia and bitterness harbored over the outcome of the Civil War and of continued Civil Rights activities, in the end this film is basically about exploitative gore. By today's standards, the graphic violence and gore of the film would hardly bat an eye, but this was both cutting edge and highly controversial filmmaking for the mid-1960s. By this time, Herschell Gordon Lewis had already made a name for himself in the sexploitation genre and had cut his teeth in splatter films on 1963's Blood Feast. But Maniacs was an early film for the man who would soon be known as the King of Gore, and the violence and blood here is only a fraction of what it would be in later films such as 1970's The Wizard of Gore (exposed to a whole new generation of movie-watchers by a featured reference in 2007's Juno).

There are a few aspects that can be a little off-putting about this film, and about the DVD release. First, obviously, is the gore. Although the blood in the film is quite obviously fake, appearing to be a mixture of spaghetti sauce and red paint, it is dealt with in such a straightforward and unflinching manner that it can make one feel a bit queasy at times. Secondly, the portrayal of Southerners and Southern culture, both intentional and unintentional, can vary from laughable to downright annoying. The actors are laying the "Southern yokel" on a bit too thick, and some of their accents are pretty terrible. Props, however, to Jeffrey Allen, who plays the town mayor. He is expansive but not over-the-top, and his accent is probably the best in the film. Thirdly, the audio and video quality of the film are sometimes not so great. This is due to a few factors. Herschell Lewis worked on a very small budget, and most of this was put towards props and makeup, leaving audio, video, and editing short-changed. These problems might have been addressed in the DVD release, but were left as is, and so, at times the audio is practically inaudible, and there are a few rough transitions and color shifts in terms of video quality.

For all its shortcomings, the film succeeds where it needs to. It is a great example of the classic gore exploitation, and it has quite a few inventive death scenes to keep your interest up. Just don't go into this film expecting anything to grand, and you'll be entertained.

The Reverend says: 6/10.