2001 Maniacs (2005) Review

You are what THEY eat!

This movie was never on my radar until recently when I saw an ultra gory clip online. Intrigued, I looked into it more I noticed that both Freddy AND Jason ( Robert Englund and Kane Hodder) are in it. How could I not watch this! It also has Lin Shaye who I'm a big fan of as well as Eli Roth, both big names in horror, so I definitely had to watch it.

2001 Maniacs is a reboot of the 1964 splatter fest Two Thousand Maniacs  which was directed by "The Godfather of Gore" Herschell Gordon Lewis. Two Thousand Maniacs was the second film in his Blood Trilogy, bookended by Blood Feast and Color Me Blood Red . These were all notoriously gory horror movies, however the special effects in 1960's B-horrors were less than spectacular (I'm pretty sure they literally used cherry sauce as blood). 2001 Maniacs delivers the same story but realistic gore I can get behind.

The concept of this movie is about as unique as it gets. Three separate groups of people from the North get lost while on the road and wander into the deep South. They find themselves in the middle of a time capsule of an old southern town, confederate flags are everywhere. They throw a party for their northern guests, but only to trap them. You see, this southern town is still bitter over their loss during the Civil War and want to exact some payback on these Yanks (in some very creative and bloody ways).

2001 Maniacs is a balanced blend of horror and comedy, so as long as you don't take it too seriously there's really no complaints to be had.

"The south will rise again!"

...this song was stuck in my head for days.

Worth Watching?