In 1964, Herschell released what might very well be his best film, 2,000 Maniacs-a gore-soaked southern-fried updating of Brigadoon (a Broadway production about a Scottish village that reappears once every hundred years)—complete with rock crushings, quartering by horse, and full-fledged cannibalism. Its central theme—the south will rise again to punish the wicked Yankees—struck a note with audiences (who were, obviously enough, mostly southern) and the film has lived on as a cult classic—loved by horror fans and cult film freaks…and guys like Tim Sullivan.
Sullivan (along with co-writer Chris Kobin) has paid homage to Lewis' classic film by making a sequel to 2,000 Maniacs. Naturally, 2,001 Maniacs is a gore-soaked horror comedy with lots of really bad humor, naked women, and loads of body parts. What more could you ask for?
Three college buddies—Anderson (Jay Gillespie), Nelson (Dylan Edrington), and Corey (Matthew Carey)—set off for Daytona and Spring Break. Unfortunately, while driving through Georgia, they take a little detour. This trek off the beaten path leads them (along with the seemingly requisite carload of college girls and an African American biker and his Asian girlfriend) to Pleasant Valley…population 2,001.
The kids have arrived just in time for the "Guts & Glory Jubilee", and Mayor Buckman (the inimitable Robert Englund) has chosen them as the guests of honor. Swept up by the town that time forgot (and all the college-aged hormones flying around), everyone decides to stay. Bad idea.
What ensues is bizarre mixture of camp humor (there's a recurring joke about buggering a sheep as well as two wandering minstrels who sing about the plot—one of whom is Scott Spiegel, director of the slasher classic Intruder), T&A (with the requisite "southern cousins"—although they're both girls in this outing), and some fairly impressive FX work. Sure, it's not art—but it does a nice job of capturing the mood of Lewis' original film and updating it for modern audiences.
The story focuses on the college kids (who are essentially interchangeable and look like the cast of one of those WB shows), but it's Robert Englund and Lin Shaye who steal the film. Englund has proven that he can ham it up to Shatner-esque proportions over the years (see any of the Nightmare on Elm Street films from part 3 up 'til New Nightmare if you don't believe me…or better yet, Tobe Hooper's Eaten Alive) and he doesn't disappoint here. Lin Shaye, who has always come across as a more "serious" actress, goes totally into camp country this time out, playing demented Granny Boone without any sort of restraint (check out her musical number…). When the film bogs down at various points (and it does…), it's almost always Shaye and Englund who turn up to get it back on track.
Lions Gate has released 2,001 Maniacs on DVD, and the end result is pretty impressive (or at least a lot more impressive than the butcher job they did on Christian Viel's Samhain earlier this year). Viewers are treated not only to the film, but alternate scenes (one even has John Landis turning up), scenes that were trimmed from the final version, and a documentary. No commentary track, but you can't have everything.
Ultimately, 2,001 Maniacs is a solid sequel to a film made over four decades ago. Director Tim Sullivan clearly loves H.G. Lewis' films and has set out to make an updated version that increases the exploitation elements while remaining true to the source material. The end result is a fun flick—particularly if you've seen the original that inspired it. If that weren't enough, it gave Robert Englund a job now that New Line isn't churning out a Freddy film once a year. That alone should make it worth seeing.
All kidding aside, though, fans of gore comedies like Evil Dead and Dead Alive will want to give this one a look. It's not on the same level as those two films (which are classics), but it does enough things right to entertain for the ninety minutes it's on the screen.
