More Reactions To 2001 MANIACS All Over The Web!!

...Jigganaut is full of @#$%.

Harry,

I was at the 2001 MANIACS screening and loved it for being unafraid. Yes, unafraid of worrying about "fans" like the anal Jigganaut. I know horror films (silent to present). I grew up reading FAMOUS MONSTERS and CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN and seeing every horror film that played at the theater and on TV. My best pals run the top horror internet sites online. I know who Herschell Gordon Lewis is and watched the original TWO THOUSAND MANIACS that 2001 MANIACS is based upon. This freaking Jigganaut is obviously an extremely frustrated "filmmaker" who can't get his grand ideas made into projects. (from the way he wrote I'd guess he's a "wannabe" who talks ALOT about films but has no idea of anything concrete in the actual MAKING of a film) Why? WHY?!!! Because for him to spew such incredible and stupid abuse on a film that remained true to the original EXPLOITATIVE and LOW BUDGET source material it sprang from (like a spurting bloody artery!) is why! How this Jig-geek-not! can call himself a horror "fan" is bizarre. Oh, he's a fan of genteel horror maybe but he's not a KNOWLEDGEABLE fan of all things horror. It's a big bloody world out there.

Here's the smoking shotgun evidence. Not once in Jigganaut's gaseous diatribe did he mention Herschell Gordon Lewis. Hello?! This is the guy that made the beyond description gorefestGRUESOME TWOSOME for a dollar and change and other bloody beyond-the-pale films. GRUESOME TWOSOME is a film whose trailer I watched as a young kid in the Shannon Theater in Portageville, Missouri in the late 60s and said to myself as that electric knife cut a body open and a hand pulled out those "spaghetti guts", "Oh no! I'm not watching this!" Later (long after puberty) I managed to watch the film and discovered the wicked charms of Lewis who was making films while Viet Nam kicked into gear. And the good news with 2001 MANIACS is that director TIM SULLIVAN and the Raw Nerve/Bloodworks producers remain true to the subversive gory FUN of Lewis. Let me be clear. 2001 MANIACS isn't CITIZEN KANE. No, it's CITIZEN PAIN...and GAMES. It's low budget filmmaking (at least by today's Hollywood standards) that never once insults its viewers by claiming to want to be taken SERIOUSLY. But seriously it must be taken because it revels in exceeding your expectations (or fears) while making you squirm in your seat because you never know HOW FAR THIS FILM WILL GO to shock you and then make you laugh at how much you ENJOYED being taken past the limit.

And yet, despite its corny hoots and gore thrills something IS happening beneath this remake of a revered "classic" exploitation shocker. In a world where a secretive and retro-government and its leaders are trying to tell everyone to shut the @#$% up and pay no attention to the men behind the curtains and be happy while America and other countries' body parts and blood are literally exploding across the world we have this film to remind us that war and its crimes are never forgotten by those who spill the blood. Retribution is a bitch, you DAMN YANKEES! (see film to get the reference) Hey, it's not a pretentious film trying to get ADULTS to look around and talk about its wonderful artiness, it's an in-your-face HORROR (and this is important so listen carefully) COMEDY movie for kids and young people that have been overwhelmed by the last decade's follow-the-dots filmmaking that Jigganotafan jerks off to and that only a FAITHFUL Lewis remake can slap awake from their sedated MTV/pretty pictures slumber.

This film is not for everyone but the filmmakers aren't trying to hide that fact. This is a film for every stupid and not so stupid kid who is thinking of joining (or not) in the merry fun of Iraq and whatever others countries coming up on the list. There are no rules when people start hacking people's heads off and the Daisy Cutter bombs are landing and this film knows it. It's beyond ironic that the screening came out on the very day that the U.S. admitted there was absolutely no evidence of WMD in Iraq and that they were completely ceasing their hunt to find it. The message from the top: forget the administration's original reasons for invading Iraq, it's all being run by experts so stick to watching our Madison Avenue-written propaganda while averting your eyes from the messy EMOTIONS being churned up by those bloody photographs and testimonials that we don't want you to see. Oh, sure like Jigganaut I guess we should pay attention to what he feels makes a film technically proficient and then spout off a film school's list of why these things are more important than REACHING an audience. Any ass that shows up for this film while claiming to know horror and then wets his pants because his testicles got cut with a rusty jagged knife on a broken handle instead of being anesthetized and calmly operated on by a surgeon JUST DOESN'T GET IT. Go watch your JASON X.

But IF you really want to see something creepy and funny and DIFFERENT for a change instead of the same ol' trite @#$% that the studios have been passing off to you as "horror" for two decades then go see this film. It's messy low budget filmmaking shot in the freaking woods to save money but that's actually been made a plus because you don't have the suits trying to stick their dicks into it. If you REALLY know your horror films you will be glad to see the zombies are beginning to revolt and 2001 MANIACS is leading the way under the direction of Tim Sullivan with the help of Eli Roth, Scott Speigel and Boaz Yakin.

If you use this sign me with my non de plume, BONES.

And no matter how articulately that point was argued, you’ll still get reactions like this:

So I went to the 2001 Maniacs first screening last night in LA. I have to say it sucks in 2001 ways. It reminded me of the bad fx movies of the 80's. Not the good ones! You'd think with re-makes such as Dawn of the Dead and Chainsaw Massacre kicking ass, this was a great opportunity to bring the original up to speed. Well, it was two steps back for horror fans with a horrible script, bad acting, and lousy directing. Not sure why there are so many gay references, but it didn't make the movie any better. The FX work looked like it was done out of someone's garage. The only saving grace, was that Robert Englund gave a solid performance and seemed to enjoy playing the roll. It kind of reminded me of when Vincent Price did a part in a crappy movie but made you appreciate his performance just by knowing how he enjoyed practicing his craft. With a cast and script as pointless and unlikable as Cabin Fever, I now have huge doubts for Raw Nerve as this is what they chose to deliver for their first outing.

While leaving the theater and seeing the looks on everyone's faces as they sighed, the guy behind me put it best. "That's one that's going direct to video." I heard it was a screening for distributors, that's why they brought in the Fangoria crowd. Even gore hounds left disappointed.

The Gorn

And you know what? I’m not surprised by either side of the argument. The films of HG Lewis can hardly be called high art. The best way to sum up 2001 MANIACS is to say that it’s incredibly faithful to the spirit of Lewis’s work, and I’ve heard that he was beyond pleased when he saw it. That should clue in gorehounds as to what to expect, but if you want more reactions, you can hop over to Dread Central and read one by Mr. Dark, who I spoke to after the screening, or Twitch Film, where you can read an interview with co-writer/director Tim Sullivan,, or Bloody Disgusting, run by the always-enthusiastic Brad Miska, who I finally met last night. Overall, it was a great crowd, and no matter what you thought of the movie, I’m glad we were able to help Tim Sullivan and Raw Nerve kick things off in style.

"Moriarty" out.