2001 Maniacs (2005)

Directed by Tim Sullivan [Other horror films: Driftwood (2006), 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams (2010), Chillerama (2011, segment ‘I Was a Teenage Werebear’)]

I’ve not seen this one in at least 12 years, if not longer, so I was eager to revisit it. As it is, while this remake of the classic H.G. Lewis film was somewhat fun, I’d have a hard time saying that it was that great of a film. It’s certainly serviceable, if you’re into a gory time, but it’s not something I entirely loved.

I should say that it’s been a while since I’ve seen the original 1964 movie (though I think I’ll throw that on next), so I can’t say with certainty whether the ending they had here was also in that version, but I was generally happy with the finale of this one. For the longest time in the film, we don’t really know why the folks of Pleasant Valley, Georgia are killing these young people, aside from the fact that they seem to hate Yankees. And honestly, though I’d seen this before, I wasn’t sure if we were going to get an explanation at all, but we finally did, and I appreciated that.

Two points in the movie’s favor are the gore and Robert Englund. The special effects here are decent, and while the kills don’t always land (such as those metal teeth), they’re usually pretty solid, and live up to the moniker Guts and Glory Jubilee (though I’m somewhat disappointed they didn’t recreate the knife barrel I remember so clearly from the original).

As for Robert Englund, well, naturally he’s a big name in horror (A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Phantom of the Opera, Kantemir, Eaten Alive, Galaxy of Terror). In fact, if you’re a horror fan who doesn’t know Englund, something went wrong, brahs. He’s obviously having a lot of fun hamming it up in this film, and when Robert Englund has fun, I generally have fun too.

Englund aside, we did have some other performances that worked out, including Lin Shaye (Dead End, Insidious), who took a more prevalent role in this one. Of the younger crowd (Jay Gillespie, Dylan Edrington, Matthew Carey, Brian Gross, Marla Malcolm, Gina Marie Heekin, Mushond Lee, and Bianca Smith), the only ones that really stand out are Gillespie, Malcolm, Carey (Hollows Grove), and, to an extent, Mushond Lee. Oh, and Peter Stormare (Fargo, The Lost World: Jurassic Part II, Bruiser) pops up for a bit.

Still, being a horror comedy of somewhat questionable humor, I didn’t entirely love the jokes here. Some of it was a bit much for me, such as the guy who was chasing around his pig (as he engaged in carnal relations with the animal), or some of the dialogue. No doubt some of it was pretty funny (“if I supply the peaches, can you supply the cream?”), but it was very much mixed, in my view, and not altogether my type of humor.

Despite my issues, I still largely found 2001 Maniacs fun. The finale had issues, but it was decent, and I appreciated how they pulled some things together and gave us some answers. I didn’t love all the humor here, and it’s a pretty simple movie, so I’m leaning around average with this one, if not a little lower. Loved Robert Englund here, though.

6.5/10