October 11, 2011

Horror-A-Day: 2001 Maniacs - Field of Screams

Seriously, something has to change. This month of horror is fast turning into a month of junk. With the likes of Leprechaun in the Hood, Oasis of the Zombies, and Ghoulies already under my belt, I feel as if I am at the wrong end of a very deep hole. I had hoped to turn it around with the latest movie, but that was not to be. I went in hoping for a little splattery fun, but I ended up with a poor excuse for a pile of splatter. Now I ma have to pin my hopes on the pre-Halloween weekend marathon to get some quality, no matter how much I would like to get it going sooner.



In 2005 writer/director Tim Sullivan gave us an updated take on Herschell Gordon Lewis gory classic 2000 Maniacs and cleverly called it 2001 Maniacs. It starred Robert Englund and it was a lot of fun, silly, bloody fun. So, when it came out that he was doing a sequel, I was sure it was going to be fun. It looked like Sullivan was keeping himself fresh by stepping away from splatter by doing Driftwood. He even went out and got Bill Mosely and Lin Shaye to star in the sequel. How could it be bad?

Well, let's just say that as good as I think Tim Sullivan can be, this is a bad, bad movie. 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams comes nowhere near the fun of he prior movie. It is filled with ad jokes that just fall with a massive thud all around the so called field of screams and there are just a couple of decent gore scenes. Even the gore couldn't save it, they were terribly integrated into the "story" and there was no real build up or tension for them.


This is the kind of movie I was seriously tempted to turn off mere minutes in, but I somehow managed to find the strength to soldier forward. I did make it through, barely. The characters are loud and obnoxious, the acting is terrible, and there was nothing and no one to like throughout.

The story? Well, it has Mayor Buchman (Mosely) finding that people don't wander into his ghost town too often anymore, so he takes his town on the road to find more Northerners to slaughter and eat so they can inch closer to the 2001 victims they need to finally rest in peace. You see, they were killed during the Civil War and are determined to find retribution.

They end up crossing paths with a reality television show called Road Rascals, clearly seeks to spoof the Real Life (you remember that Paris Hilton/Nicole Richie show, right?). Well, considering the out of date references and the fact they are bad characters and even worse actors. You will spend most of your time waiting for them to die, wanting them to die. That is, if you make it that far.

In all seriousness, this is a terrible movie that needs not be seen. Stick to the first outing. You can do better than this. It is a real shame as I do like Mosely and Shaye, this is not one of their finer moments. And this doesn't even get into the awful sound, with dialogue that feels laid in as an afterthought.



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