Warning do not read unless seen film.This film is another of those guilty pleasures of mine and strangely it's actually a favorate of mine from Herchell Gordon Lewis. Yeah, I'm a fan of the director whom is considered the "Godfather of Gore" and rightful so because he was the first or one of the first to utilze Gore effects at a time when it wasn't common. And yes, as usual it's low brow entertainment but the best kind (or as good as it can get).There really isn't much to say, I feel like what seperates this film from most of his past works is that it has an actually story line. This film is loosely based on a supernatural legend on a town that appears and disappears every year. I think that kinda a cool premise and shows you can do more with the supernatural subgenere, most of the time the ghost action is confined in a house, abandoned institute, or any other confined space, but here it's a whole town which means tons of ghosts, which also means the odds are not in the protagonists favor. This film is also more of a black comedy than horror as it really doesn't take itself too seriously, though there are horror elements as it has it's share of suspense and kills.Characters they serve their functions, let alone they act as best they can with whatever ability or lack there of they have (Herchell's film always had unknowns). However, to me the one's that stand out are the Mayor, Rufus and his friend with him, I really like how they play off of each other their both funny, menicing and clever. I really like how they put themselves out at first making themselves seem like typical friendly stereotypical town yokels but that's all an act just so their victims easily drop their defenses and maneuver them right where they want them, which can be kinda scarry. But they have a lot of really memorable and fun lines and despite each of them not really trained actors or just local talent all three of them actually did very well.I even like that twangy theme song which is fun, it's a hick song but it fits the film. However like in all of Herchell's films were all really in it for the gore effects and kills which it delivers in spades. I won't say too much but I like how each of the kills are made of as games which are by their nature colorful executions; let alone the fact that the effects are all practical and still look good to this day. Two of my favorates are one the barell roll where nails are hamered and the person takes a one way train straight toward their doom. And another kinda like the dunk tank only it's not water that coming down it's a boulder. This in a way is a different kind of horror because like in the slacher films your glad your not in the person's position but also you can't help but want to see the outcome of the person's circumstances, dispite how repulsive and bloody it is you can't look away because theres a repulsive beauty in the destruction, if you catch my drift.If your a gorehound and either have or have not heard of Herchall Gordon Lewis then this film is worth a look.Rating: 3 stars

It could have been a story from The Twilight Zone. A small Southern town comes alive each hundred years to get even for the Civil War. Unfortunately, the subtext for "Two Thousand Maniacs" is in-your-face hateful. Back in 1964 the premise probably was considered amusing. Now, however, it seems dated and is in very poor taste.There's a lot of sneering joviality in this film. The stupid, bloodthirsty townsfolk are bullies who get a lot of enjoyment out of inflicting pain. There are no heroes here, only villains. And the script plotting is weak. Just when you think the movie is ending, it's not. It revs back up with a slight "twist" and keeps going. This happens several times.Aside from a substandard theme and plot, the film's direction is poor. Among the worst scenes are those wherein cast extras stand around in the background watching; they look wooden and manipulated, the result of an unimaginative Director who doesn't seem to know how to set up a scene.The town is called "Pleasant Valley"; a more apt name would be "Amateur-ville", due to the acting. Actors recite their lines about as effectively as high school thespians. Prod values are cheap looking. And the sound is terrible. There's a subtle and unwanted echo on interior sets that makes some of the dialogue muffled and hard to understand. Color cinematography is adequate; images are clear and appropriately lit.A carnival-like tone drains suspense from a story that could have been interestingly thematic and eerie, if the script had been written, and the production directed, by Twilight Zone writer and host Rod Serling. Instead, what we get with "Two Thousand Maniacs" is a hateful plot, lacking suspense and mystery, in a film largely devoid of cinematic professionalism. Marketing the film in the Horror genre refocus the production to a friendlier niche audience, which explains its cult status.

If you've never seen a film by H.G. Lewis, then by crackies, it's high time you set yourself a spell,pop this evil mother into your DVD (or VHS,depending on what format you own)player,sit back & have your mind screwed with for 90 giddy minutes. H.G. Lewis was the pre cursor of splatter cinema,that would inspire untold generations of horror/exploitation directors to move ahead in this field. Lewis,and his partner in crime, Dave Friedman,crafted 'Blood Feast',',2,000 Maniacs',and others like it for drive in's across the Southern United States back in the 1960's to entertain & gross out audiences. 'Maniacs' concerns two couples that find themselves rail roaded into a Southern back water town that is celebrating a centurary of sorts. What the two couples don't know that the celebration is the 100th birthday of the Civil War. What follows is a nearly non stop blood orgy of graphic dismemberment,and sadism that even by today's standards, is very graphic. The acting is easily grade Z,and most of the special effects are laughable. If you want to scratch a truly perverted itch for a dose of early splatter cinema,then '2,000 Maniacs',or for that matter, any H.G. Lewis film should do the trick for you. Unrated,but contains enough blood,guts & gore to have earned it an 'X' rating (had there been a rating system at the time),but did earn an 'Adults Only' legend on the posters.

**PLOT SPOILERS ALL THROUGHOUT THIS REVIEW** Early gore film. It's about this town in Georgia called Pleasant Valley that was destroyed by the Yankees during the Civil War in 1864. It magically reappears a hundred years later and six Northerners are purposely detoured there to be killed off.The second gore film by the immortal Hershell Gordon Lewis. This followed "Blood Feast" which was an (inexplicable) hit. Like the first this has a stupid story, lousy acting (although Connie Mason did improve from the first one) and terrible direction. This was made just to show some likable people being killed off in bloody ways. One woman is gorily dismembered; another woman is crushed by a boulder; a man is drawn and quartered and another guy is rolled down a hill in a barrel studded with nails! The gore is, by todays standards, pretty poor and there's buckets of blood used in each killing. Also the womens murders are protracted and pretty sick--Lewis seems to take a sick kind of delight in showing them. Aside from all the murders this is surprisingly dull. The pathetic acting and script don't help at all. I'm just giving this a 2 only because it's slightly better than "Blood Feast".