2001 Maniacs (DVD)

One of the quirkier horror movies I have seen this year is 2001 Maniacs, a remake of Hershell Gordon Lewis' movie 2000 Maniacs. From the trailer it's evident that the movie is going to be a nasty horror movie with an amusing twist. With Eli Roth the man that bought us Hostel and Cabin Fever as not only the producer but one of the cast, and a similar feeling about the movie to House Of 1000 Corpses from the offset, 2001 Maniacs is one hell of a ride. Three failing students head for Daytona for their spring break, however the road ahead is filled with hassles; so when the opportunity of a detoured short cut raises its head surely they would be foolish to ...  Read the complete review

You'd have thought, by now, that if American students only learn one thing in college, it's never to take a detour or short cut down dirt tracks when driving. Apparantly not ! As their seimester comes to an end, three college guys, Anderson Lee (Jay Gillespie), Cory Jones (Matthew Carey), and Nelson Elliot (Dylan Edrington), plan on heading down to Daytona Beach for Spring Break. After a break from driving, they wake up to find the road ahead closed, and a hastily errected "Detour" sign diverting traffic up a narrow dirt track. Before long, the trio arrive in the town of Pleasant Valley - a sleepy 19th century town, and are readily greeted by one-eyed ...  Read the complete review

For me, 2001 Maniacs was a film I knew pretty much nothing about. I did hear someone mention it every now and again and I kind of figured that it was a horror but other than that. It wasn't until I saw the DVD cover and read what the film was actually about that my eyes lit up with anticipation. There were two things that made me buy it. Obviously the first was the fact that it stared Robert Englund (i.e. Freddy), and the second was the tag line which was short and simple "You Are What They Eat." Straight away I was imagining a violent, bloody and gory film with cannibals and I have to say that 2001 Maniacs definitely lives up to my expectations. Within the ...  Read the complete review

The film has suspense zero, beyond what, the typical characteristics of productions of the sort are totally absent. One does not have scare, fear, mourning, agony, terror, repulses, interest, or any another feeling or action during the 87 minutes of the tram. The few scenes that call attention are more for the precariousness than quality technique. As examples, there are some deaths, as of a girl who is, literally, ummembered or a youngster who has the close parts eaten by an inhabitant of the village. The film folloies eight youngs that, when catching a shunting line, arrives at a stranger village with characteristic architectural of century 19. In the little city, the ...  Read the complete review