Rating: 
Summary: And we'll charge again and make them Yankees run!
Review: 1964's "Two Thousand Maniacs" is an H.G. Lewis cult film that's packed with hillbilly horror and hilarity. While presenting a shocking slew of onscreen violence and gore, the film simultaneously entertains audiences with a colorful cast that seems to leap off a Broadway musical. In fact, while the acting is similar to that of a theatrical ensemble, "Two Thousand Maniacs" incorporates the use of the high, long-range camera shot, which represents the perspective of an audience member in the balcony. Also, Lewis himself composed the score, moving the story along with the banjo tunes of a country jamboree. With plenty of redneck jargon to go around, this film is guaranteed to make you do-si-do in your grave!
Let's get this shindig started, shall we? This tall tale takes place in the small town of Pleasant Valley, Georgia. Cheering crowds wave their Confederate flags as they plan a Centennial celebration. Led by Mr. Buckman, the town's charismatic Mayor (Jeffrey Allen) the locals invite several Northern tourists as guests of honor. Such invitees include Terry Adams, a lovely surburban girl (Connie Mason), Tom White, a hitchhiking school teacher (Thomas Wood), Bea Miller, a sexy minx (Shelby Livingston), her husband John (Jerome Eden), and newlyweds David (Michael Korb) and Beverly Wells (Yvonne Gilbert). With lots of flash and excitement, the Pleasant Valley citizens offer these six Yankees two full days of free food, music, and Southern hospitality...all for free! Sounds like a great deal, right? Well, unfortunately there's a small setback. Mr. Buckman refuses to explain exactly what the celebration is about. Tom immediately knew that the Centennial had something to do with the Civil War, a battle which Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee lost. That alone makes him suspicious. After secretly investigating the town's history, Tom discovers in horror the TRUE purpose of the celebration: In April, 1865, Pleasant Valley's ancestors were shot and killed by an army of Union soldiers, and the survivors vowed to seek a bloody revenge!
Meanwhile, Rufus (Gary Bakeman) and Lester (Ben Moore), a pair of boisterous redneck boys in charge of the festivities, conspire with the Mayor to commit the most sick and twisted acts of murder ever to be seen on film. The first victim, Bea, is seduced by the dangerous charms of a fellow named Harper (Mark Douglas). As the two kiss in the woods, he grabs Bea's arm and slices off her thumb with a switchblade! Then, back in the Mayor's office, Rufus and Lester hold the screaming woman down and chop off her arm with an axe! That same evening, a barbecue is held, and John is drinking merrily with Betsy (Linda Cochran), a giggling Southern belle. Little did he know that his own wife's appendage is being charred over an open flame! Shortly after, HE becomes the next unlucky victim; completely inebriated on moonshine, John is dragged across the ground by Rufus and Lester. Before the eyes of an insane crowd, they tie John's limbs to four horses. As each animal runs a different direction, he is torn to pieces, organs and all! Later on, David is forced to crawl inside a barrel lined with nails. As the locals roll the barrel down a hill, the nails pierce and mutilate his chest, face, and abdomen, soaking his clothes blood red! Finally, the widowed Beverly is given the most cruel and sadistic treatment of all. Tied down on a platform, she lies helplessly as the people of Pleasant Valley throw baseballs at a target. Once the target is hit, the terrified woman has every bone in her body crushed by a gigantic boulder! As all this action is taking place, Tom and Terry are the only ones fully aware of the town's sinister legend. As the two make their escape, narrowly dodging a quicksand swamp and an angry mob, they both learn another perplexing fact; according to a neighborhood police officer (Andy Wilson), Pleasant Valley HAS NOT EXISTED IN 100 YEARS!
I chose to give this film 4 stars because the heroes' character traits are dull compared to those of the villainous rednecks. Still, this movie IS worth seeing. In a way, H.G. Lewis was one of the first directors to successfully create a disturbing horror film set in the rural South; he did it before Tobe Hooper's "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and Rob Zombie's "House of 1000 Corpses."
Rating: 
Summary: pure genuis, true cinema
Review: 2000 Maniacs! is perhaps the greatest movie ever made. Watching this jaw dropping lunacy one can only imagine what Lewis could do with a George Lucas sized budget (although I have a hunch Lewis would shoot the flick for 30 grand and pocket the 150 million). For years I've been debating what makes this lil exploitation film so disturbing. Is it the quality of the 16 mm film (the dvd is surprisingly colorful and clear, but still has that early 16 mm look), is it the hammy overacting (the killers seem to be having a little too much fun!) Is it the obviously fake yet sickening mannequin arm that gets hacked off by these crazed hillbillies? There is absolutely not a trace of socially redeeming value in this film. Watching this, one doesn't know whether to laugh or be sick. Great hillbilly musical numbers, a classic stiff performance by former playmate Connie Mason, and bizzare murders makes this a must. Easily Lewis' finest film. This DVD includes a great audio commentary by Lewis and Friedman, a great gallery, etc. I can't praise this film enough. Critics that name Lewis as one of the worst directors of all time are clueless, they just don't get it.
Rating: 
Summary: gore in 1965
Review: After making the classic BLOODFEAST Herschell Gordon Lewis tried to get a little more creative with the story. Even though the movie has it's gory and funny moment's it tends to drag a little. But if your truly a gore fan or like twisted stupid horror movies (like I do.) I recomend it.
Rating:
Summary: OKLAHOMA with a splat!
Review: After seeing H.G. Lewis's BLOOD FEAST, I was expecting something a little more funnier but I guess this 1964 hit "in blood color" still packs a punch.Connie Mason and her boyfriend (who she picked up on the way) is headin' for Texas; a place ruled by psychotic nuts who grind their visitors to ashes. There's finger chopping, decapitations and a lady who gets crushed by a rock. This film may be a little over-rated and it takes a while to get moving but still theres a certain charm (if thats the word) and after thinking for a while, it suddenly came to me that TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSECRE completely ripped this one off; the idea of Texas being a complete loony bin. This film played in the drive-in for over 26 years. Great music!
Rating:
Summary: this town's gonna rise again... yee haw!
Review: Awesome classic splatterfest from the creator of the genre, HG Lewis. Considering it came out in the 60s, this is very graphic and pretty entertaining. Story concerns a southern town that was wiped out during the civil war but their ghosts have made it an annual celebration to capture northern folks and brutally kill them for fun and payback. I recommended this movie for connoseuirs of b movies/low budget horror and hilarious splatter. Also see Blood Feast and Wizard of Gore. Tasty!
Rating:
Summary: Yeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!Hawwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: H.G.LEWIS is the man!!!!!i adore this gem of a movie!when they bring stuff like this to a dvd and they do it wright you gotta love it.the picture is great for its age the sound is great, some of the acting is definetly good in that low budget way.this movie in its release days must of got alot of mainstream square's T'D OFF!!and for todays standerds it still holds its own.its bloody,smart,ironic,nasty,and funny as hell!!!i love it,and your not a true fan of the genre(horror/gore) if you dont have this dvd in your collection.so its initiation time!!! hurry up and get this gem of a movie before you cant find it anymore!!!!p.s.dont get lost in any old southern town with yankee plates!!!!!!!*&%#$@
Rating:
Summary: Watch this movie two thousand times
Review: Herschell Gordon Lewis(the father of gore films)brings us this bloody masterpiece. Shot in intensly vivid color, this slaughterfest is a reel hoot. Yokels from the deep south con abductee's from the land of Lincoln into thinking they are guests of honor at their town Centenial in 1964. An overbearing mayor pretends to host a gala for them in their honor. Instead,a vicious group of rednecks and hillbillies elaborate a murderous celebration. This film is so shocking now, I don't even want to think what kind of impression it gave to the '64 audience. Great background music, excellent sequencing, terrible acting...so bad it's great! All-time cult classic! Don't miss it!
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing DVD for an Audacious Filmmaker
Review: I am starting to achieve a grudging admiration for the cinematic wonders produced by Herschell Gordon Lewis. Lovingly referred to by horror fans as the Godfather of Gore, Lewis, along with producer David Friedman, created a series of ultra low budget schlockfests throughout the 1960s that ushered in the age of the gore flick. Starting off with his 1963 classic "Blood Feast" and moving on from there, Lewis never expressed qualms about bad acting, cheesy special effects, plodding pacing, and gutter level production values. Lewis's films went on to great success at drive-in theaters across the country, but with the advent of DVD all of his classics have received the royal treatment so that new generations of brave explorers can enjoy his masterpieces. You need a pretty strong stomach to survive an H.G. Lewis film: it's not the unrealistic gore that makes you sick, but the sheer shock that anyone would conceive such atrocious acts and present them as entertainment. Even more shocking is that his films ARE entertaining, which makes you wonder about your own state of mind. Having just told you about the gore in his films, "Two Thousand Maniacs" is not the goriest H.G. Lewis film; in fact, it isn't even close. For the ultimate in Lewis gore you need to watch "The Wizard of Gore" or his latest film, "Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat." Those films are truly revolting in their grim depictions of onscreen carnage. No, "Two Thousand Maniacs" is a subtler Lewis at work. There are still numerous scenes of bloody violence throughout the film, most noticeably some nasty hatchet work, a drawing and quartering, a rock crushing, and a barrel rolling "contest" that looks amazingly, painfully realistic (a degree of realism being a first for Lewis). But the violence takes a backseat to the story, as well as to the brain numbing dramatic skills of Playboy model Connie Mason. I quickly discovered that if you can survive watching Connie Mason, you could make it through anything life throws at you. The rest of the cast isn't much better, but compared to Mason's theatrical dexterity they look like graduates of the Royal Shakespearean Theater. "Two Thousand Maniacs" is the story of a little southern town named Pleasant Valley and its centennial celebration. In order to appreciate fully the festivities, the townspeople lure in two carloads of Yankees with trick road signs. This is the first indication that something fishy is going on, although the travelers have no inkling that they are about to suffer a fate worse than one could possibly imagine. The strangers, one of whom is the inestimable Connie Mason, express bewilderment as the entire town turns out to greet them with waving Confederate flags and cheers of joy. The town mayor, who certainly ranks as one of the most amusing characters in the annals of film history, insists they stay in a local hotel in order to celebrate with the townspeople. He even assures his guests that the hotel bill is on him, in case the travelers feel burdened by the awesome responsibility of staying over for a few days. The group of carpetbaggers grudgingly acquiesces, with only Tom (a teacher heading to a convention in Georgia) questioning why a southern town celebrates the anniversary of the end of the Civil War. Lewis doesn't waste too much time getting into the gore, and the whole story plays out amidst banjo music, waving flags, and lots of rebel yells. The conclusion even attempts a surprising twist for a movie of this caliber, as the viewer discovers the secrets of Pleasant Valley and its gruesome celebrations. "Two Thousand Maniacs" aims for the funny bone as well as the churning stomach. Just look for the two hayseeds (named, appropriately enough, Rufe and Lester) that do most of the legwork getting the Yankees into town. Both take their roles so over the top that it's easy to write it off as prejudice against the South on the part of the filmmakers. In fact, many stereotypes in this film are downright offensive. Even still, the whole thing is great fun. Lewis filmed the picture in St. Cloud, Florida in roughly two weeks, and most of the people seen in the background shots actually lived in that town. The residents of St. Cloud went out of their way to accomdate Lewis during the shooting schedule, and many of these people saw the finished product and expressed their enjoyment of the film. The rest of the South apparently saw something in this film, as Lewis states on the commentary track that "Two Thousand Maniacs" was a big hit at drive-ins throughout the South. This DVD release has gobs of extras, including numerous outtakes (a lot of which show Connie Mason brushing her hair), tons of stills, and a gallery of promotional material associated with the release of the film. The best extra is the commentary track with Lewis and Friedman. This commentary is easily one of the best I have ever heard on a DVD, and it is one of the funniest as well. By listening to the comments about the film, you learn that Connie Mason was a terrible driver, that Lewis performed the title track to the movie, and that softballs thrown during the shooting of the rock crushing scene damaged parked cars just beyond the range of the camera. Friedman and Lewis get so chummy here that I wondered if doing these commentaries led to the making of "Blood Feast 2." Whatever the case, you cannot go wrong with this DVD. The picture quality is AMAZING for a film of this age and budget. "Two Thousand Maniacs" is a great introduction into the grotesque world of H.G. Lewis.
Rating:
Summary: A great one! A must for all cult fans!
Review: I bought this tape at a store for 5.00 bucks about 5 years back. A very gory and funny movie about the great south and it's very friendly folks. BUY IT. HURRY UP!
Rating:
Summary: great DVD..classic horror flick!
Review: I can't recommend this enough to fans of campy horror films..this movie made me a huge fan of H.G. Lewis and this DVD looks great..I am only 20 years old so this moive had its prime way before I was born..but thanks to Something Weird video, I was able to get my hands on this cheesy horror gem..plenty of extras,great commentary, and the movie looks good considering some people thought it wouldn't see the light of day since it's last release {maybe 1984? by comet video?}..anyways I'm talking from the perspective of a horror fan who missed the explotation bang in the 60s but hopefully these H.G. Lewis classics will give a new generation of horror fans a look into the past..
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