Writer/director/cinematographer Hershell Gordon Lewis is considered by bad movie fans to be one of the few "autors" in film history to have equaled or at least come close to equaling the abysmal work of Ed Wood, Jr.. While it's debatable which was worse or if another small-time film maker (such as Ray Dennis Steckler or Al Adamson) was the worst, no one in the know would argue that Lewis was a brilliant film maker! However, even the most inept can occasionally get lucky and TWO THOUSAND MANIACS is Lewis' moment in the sun. Unlike previous films such as BLOOD FEAST (which were all amazingly bad), there was enough good about TWO THOUSAND MANIACS that I actually recommend you watch it--particularly because it proves substantial budgets or consistently good acting aren't necessary to make a decent film!
The film begins with two very stereotypical hillbilly idiots tricking two cars full of Yankees off the highway and into their town. There the locals declare that these outsiders are their guests of honor for a centennial celebration and they are convinced to stay. Now the audience knows this is a very bad idea, but the six folks don't yet suspect that these hicks mean to do them great bodily harm. Of course, that might also be because they didn't see the folks running around town with nooses in preparation for their arrival! One by one the Yanks are brutally killed and the ways they did it were pretty clever and the gore was amazingly realistic for 1964. It's amazing to think that with a budget of $46.28 that they were able to achieve these effects, as the blood actually looked like blood and the killing was quite shocking for the mid-1960s.
Two of the six are reasonably bright and guess what is in store, so the last part of the film consists of showing their efforts to leave this deathtrap. Oddly, despite the budget, the acting of these two was pretty good (particularly William Kerwin) and the last 15 minutes of the film turned out to be by far the best. There were several wonderful twists and turns that showed Lewis could actually write a clever script and despite the stupid hillbilly acting earlier in the film, the film was surprisingly good. I won't ruin it, but it sure was nice to see that things only improved as the film progressed. Plus, every time I thought that the movie SHOULD have ended sooner, the additional portions kept building on an excellent "Twilight Zone" style script.
By the way, the film offended many when it debuted--though it also became a cult favorite. The gore and offensive portrayal of Southerners as crazy morons must have made many at the drive-ins have heart attacks! I sure wish I could have been there to see it!
