It's been a while since I've seen a horror movie by Herschell Gordon Lewis but I've been watching mostly recent horror movies for a while now and felt like an oldie for a change. I enjoyed H.G. Lewis' Blood trilogy (Blood Feast, 2000 Maniacs, Color Me Blood Red) so I figured it's about time I watched another one of his. Lewis practically invented the splatter film so I figured with the word "gore" in the title, I couldn't go wrong with The Wizard Of Gore.

The plot of The Wizard Of Gore is simple. Montag the Magnificant (Ray Sager) is an illusionist who specializes in butchering female volunteers on stage only to have them walk away unscathed to the shock and delight of the audience... until a few hours later when the girls drop dead from the very wounds inflicted upon them during Montag's act.

The highlight of The Wizard Of Gore (other than the gore, which is really the highlight of every H.G. Lewis film) is Montag himself. Sager's performance is just so entertaining. It's loud and hammy, as one might expect considering the film was made in 1970, but that's exactly how it should be. Montag is the ultimate showman and it's only right that the acting should emulate that. At the same time, Montag is rather complex and mysterious. On stage, he's as charasmatic as he is creepy. Off stage, he's both charming and awkward at the same time. You really don't know what he's about until the end.

Then, of course, there's the gore. The Wizard Of Gore was made a really long time ago so it's only natural the special effects aren't the most realistic. There's continuity errors all over the place and the plastic heads are so fake, you couldn't mistake one for a real severed head if you tripped over it in the dark. That's all forgivable though. The actual blood and guts look surprising real (they actually just might be). They also look great onscreen. The film is shot in technicolor so the red blood really stands out and there's tons of close ups while Montag is fondling his volunteers' entrails.

Montag's glee playing with blood and guts is matched by that of Lewis himself. Clearly, this is supposed to be a fun movie and the filmmakers make it very easy to have fun watching it, not to mention the pacing is really good. Unlike modern horror movies which are just about nonstop, The Wizard Of Gore has breaks in between the carnage that are long enough, you don't get overwhelmed but short enough, you don't get bored. There's also a couple of neat dream sequences thrown in here and there. They're not gory or even bloody but they're certainly macabre and add a little variety to the film.

Overall, The Wizard Of Gore is fun, easy to watch, and not short of blood and guts, not to mention a renowned horror classic. No horror fan should hesitate to check this out.