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Jeffrey Allen, Gary Bakeman, Linda Cochran, Mark Douglas, Jerome Eden ... see more see more... , Yvonne Gilbert , Michael Korb , Shelby Livingston , Connie Mason , Bennie Moore , Vincent Santo , Andy Wilson , Thomas Wood , William Kerwin , Ben Moore

Drive-in gore king Herschell Gordon Lewis reached a creative peak with this darkly comic slaughterfest about six vacationing Yanks who fall victim to the cheerfully violent Southern hospitality of Ple... read more read more...asant Valley. Made the guests of honor in the town's centennial celebration, the hapless visitors soon discover that the obligations of their title include being used for the locals' bloody amusements -- which include being rolled downhill in a barrel full of sharp spikes and strapped down beneath a boulder for a hideous variation on the dunking booth -- and eventually ending up on the spit for the evening's barbecue. It turns out the bloodthirsty rednecks have come back from the dead after 100 years to exact symbolic revenge for the slaughter of the entire town by the Union Army. Filming on a shoestring in St. Cloud, FL, Lewis even contributed his talents to some of the songs (credited to the Pleasant Valley Boys), including "Rebel Yell" (not to be confused with the Billy Idol tune) and a rousing rendition of "Rollin' in My Sweet Baby's Arms," which accompanies a shot of a severed arm rotating on a barbecue spit. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

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52% liked it

3,547 ratings

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31% liked it

13 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 28 min.

Directed by: Herschell Gordon Lewis

Release Date: January 1, 1964

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DVD Release Date: February 22, 2000

Stats: 220 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (220)

  • FilmFanatik
    October 3, 2011
    FilmFanatik
    Herschell Gordon Lewis' Two Thousand Maniacs! may be low in the gore department, but the story is completely bonkers. A group of southern folk invite people who are passing through town to their annual festival - only to later kill them in some ridiculous ways and eat them afterw... read moreards at a BBQ. I actually like stuff like Blood Feast more than I do this. I'm not sure if it's because of the amount of gore in that film compared to this one, but it just seems much more fun than this one. Not that this one isn't enjoyable, but it has some slow areas with character build-up that doesn't go anywhere. The ending is also an obvious conclusion way before you get there to see it. It's all bad in the good way, but mediocre when you look at the rest of Lewis' work.
  • ajv2688
    July 15, 2011
    ajv2688
    I was surprised that this wasn't as gory as his other movies. The story is good, though, I really liked the ending most of all. As usual the actors aren't great, but they try hard. Overall this was a pretty good movie, if only it didn't shy away from the gory parts.
  • matertenebraum
    September 30, 2009
    matertenebraum
    An entire town bathed in pulsing human blood! Madmen crazed for carnage! Brutal...evil..ghastly beyond belief!

    The two thousand maniacs of a small town clebrate the 100th anniversary of the Civil War by forcing a handful of Notherners to serve as "guests" for a variety of macab... read morere, blood-crazed fun and games.

    The festivities include a screaming man placed in a rolling barrel lined with nails, a hit-the-bull's-eye carnival game with a pretty gal and a boulder, and a blonde sexpot whose arm is hacked off and barbecued! But before they can slaughter te only clever Yank (Thomas Wood), he and the lovely Terry Adams (Connie Mason, "Playboy's Favourite Playmate") try to escape...

    Photographed, written & directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis who has become known as the 'Godfather of Gore' this was the second in his so-called Blood Trilogy following Blood Feast (1963) & followed by Color Me Blood Red (1965) & is a neat enough little exploitation gore film that has a reasonable story behind it. The script moves along at a nice enough pace, it's populated by over-the-top character's & gore although I think the twist ending goes on for too long & could have been edited down to be a bit punchier & dramatic. The basic story here is pretty good, it show's a bit of imagination especially during the set-piece gore scenes & I especially liked the barrel with nails hammered inside which is then rolled down a hill with someone inside, ouch! This is a surprisingly good effort on what was probably intended to be no more than a quick cheap gore film to capitalise on the huge success of Lewis' seminal Blood Feast which is widely regarded as the very first gore film ever made. I liked it.

    Director Lewis has a decent imagination & is good at getting the most out of what must have been tiny budgets (apparently he did the voice over on the trailers for his films because he didn't want to pay anyone) but he really can't direct at all, his films look dull & are very poorly staged. Here for instance look at the reactions of the victims as they appear to be in mortal danger, none of them put up any sort of fight or struggle & almost seem willing to let their tormentors kill them, he just can't direct actor's & Two Thousand Maniacs! is a good case in point. There's some good gore here although tame by todays standards, someone has her thumb cut off & then her arm chopped off with an axe, someone is drawn & quarter having had his arms & legs tied to four separate horse, someone is rolled down a hill in a barrel full of nails which ends in very bloody results at the bottom & someone is squished with a huge boulder. The special effects aren't too bad either although the blood looks a bit bright.

    With a supposed budget of about $65,000 only Two Thousand Maniacs! didn't turn out too bad but it's hardly any work of art & the sound is absolutely terrible. It's sometimes hard to understand what character's are saying as their voices 'echo' on location, there are constant pops & crackles in the soundtrack & the sound effect of those cars at the start sound nothing like cars at all, I have to admit I thought the opening theme was annoyingly catchy. The acting is truly terrible, I'm sorry but there's no other word to describe it.

    Two Thousand Maniacs! is a neat enough exploitative gore film from the 60's with a slightly better story than you would perhaps expect, if that sounds like a film you might like then by all means check it out, if it doesn't then don't.

    A marvelously perverse cult classick, TWO THOUSAND MANIACS! is also the second of the infamous "blood trilogy" (which includes Blood Feast and Colour Me Blood Red) from profucer David F. Friedman (Trader Hornee) and director Herschell Gordon Lewis (Blood Feast). Yeeeee-Ha! Oh, the South's gonna rise again!

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  • rubystevens
    November 10, 2008
    rubystevens
    much better than blood feast and more of a straight up comedy film. awesome banjo soundtrack :D
  • Stinger839
    July 6, 2008
    Stinger839
    Horror Not to Miss List Commentary:
    This middle movie of Herschell Gordon Lewis' Blood trilogy offers a great contrast of the grotesque with large celebration. The acting gets a bit annoying, and any gore hound will complain that their isn't enough blood on the screen, but I ... read morethink what is there and what is implied is sufficient. I get tired of the victims wandering about befuddled and acting poorly in a "middle of a Twilight Zone episode" sort of way, but it pays off when those scenes cut to a killing ritual occuring simultaneously on the other side of town. Don't waste your time with the over-gored and shitty remake '2001 Maniacs' until you've watched Lewis' hugely influential piece.
    "So Fucked Up" highlight:
    the barrel roll
  • YosemiteSamFan
    December 26, 2007
    YosemiteSamFan
    A black comedy as a group of city folks end up as part of a small-town annual celebration, where they become victims in the events. Hillbilly humour and surprisingly gorey, albeit fake. The deaths are creative and interesting. It feels very explotative but offers cheap demented c... read moreruel fun.
  • nickymo89
    January 14, 2009
    nickymo89
    I watched this because I enjoyed the sequel/remake called 2001 Maniacs and had never seen the original it was based on. Many scenes are the same with more gore in the remake. However, even though tame by today's standards, I imagine the original 2000 Maniacs was shocking in 1964.... read more It is more of a comedy and set the standard for many of the future horror comedies and for that I appreciate it's overall cheese factor but still took a bit for me to get through it. Watch it for what it is, an early "stab" at hillbilly humor with some interesting kills thrown in for good measure. Don't take it seriously because it sure doesn't either.
  • TonyPolito
    October 10, 2010
    TonyPolito
    Caught this as a TCM wee-hours double feature on Halloween along with 1963's "Blood Feast," this film's immediate directorial predecessor. Better production value and far less blood/gore than the latter. Still it was surely pretty gory for drive-in goers in 1965.

    A pack of over... read more-the-top, campy swamp-goobers who haven't really forgotten "The War of North-dern Aggression" and 'dem murderin' Yankee carpet-baggers snag some seriously century-overdue payback off of some incredibly gullible Yankee tourists passing through town.

    As with "Blood Feast," the film's best recommendation is its historical value as starter for the slasher film genre - as well as the 'stranger wanders into CreepyTown' setup. This is a film to which "Friday 13th" et. al. are strongly indebted.

    Draws loosely upon the plot of "Brigadoon."

    Filled with a score of authentic 1920ish mountain music that adds a realistic creepiness, most notably a rendition of "The South's Gonna Rise Again."

    RECOMMENDATION: There's little doubt this film gets an annual screening, as cause for a major kegger, in every fraternity house throughout the Deep South.
  • ShaneWreck
    September 20, 2009
    ShaneWreck
    For my money, this is H.G. Lewis' best work. The acting, effects, and story are still ludicrous, but they seem to be on a slightly higher level than the films that preceded and followed it. The barrel scene is one of my favorites.
  • mpghoul1973
    May 7, 2009
    mpghoul1973
    My favorite H.G. Lewis flick. Connie Mason cant act her way out of a paper bag but thats the charm of a Lewis film. Great musical numbers by the Pleasant Vally Boys. I got the soundtrack just for them. IAm not ashamed!

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Critic Reviews

David Cornelius
July 28, 2009
David Cornelius, DVDTalk.com

It's boring, it's shrill, and it's obnoxious. Full Review

Rob Gonsalves
April 9, 2007
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com

Herschell Gordon Lewis' follow-up to Blood Feast is a lot better and offers some laughably cartoonish violence. Full Review

Stefan Birgir Stefansson
April 11, 2006
Stefan Birgir Stefansson, sbs.is

jiiihaaa, we kinda suck

Kevin Carr
September 2, 2005
Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures

A hilarious, rediculous mess of shock schlock cinema.

Scott Weinberg
April 3, 2005
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

Camp classic grindhouse gore.

Pablo Villaca
October 16, 2004
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena

Apesar de importante na gênese do gore, Lewis era um péssimo cineasta, roteirista, compositor e diretor de fotografia. Mas, como Ed Wood, seus filmes têm o charme da ruindade.

Matt Bailey
October 14, 2004
Matt Bailey, Not Coming to a Theater Near You

It would be unkind of me to intimate that Herschell Gordon Lewis' cracker revenge fantasy is a documentary, but I can't help but see a little bit of truth in it. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
June 14, 2004
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

It's films like this that give B-films and Southern hillbillies a bad name. Full Review

Mike McGranaghan
January 20, 2003
Mike McGranaghan, Aisle Seat

Fun in a bad kind of way

Ken Hanke
December 11, 2002
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Notable only for its unconvincing gore and bad acting.

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  • One hundred plus years after a group soldiers slaughtered most of the town's people during the Civil War, six friends on vacation were made the guests of honor in the town's celebration. What movie was it? (original)  Answer »
  • After quitting the movie business, Herschell Gordon Lewis - auteur of Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs - invented which modern-day plague?  Answer »
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