2001 Maniacs is a remake to Gorefather H.G. Lewis' 2000 Maniacs. There's been a lot of hype surrounding this one for some time and I've been meaning to check it out but it didn't seem that it would ever be released. Finally, it's on DVD and it more than lives up to the hype IMO.

The movie opens with a history class being taught by none other than Peter Stormare in a cameo appearance. This is where the main characters are introduced and it's immediately apparent that these guys are typical fratboy jerks. After the professor informs these guys (their names don't really matter) that "those that don't learn their history are doomed to repeat it", they're off to Florida for a spring break to be full of sex, drugs, and drinking. Along the way, they run over an armadillo that just so happens to be the pet of none other than Hostel director Eli Roth, reprising his role from Cabin Fever. Eventually, they're forced to take a detour that lands them in a town full of Southern ladies and gents, led by Mayor Buckman (Robert Englund) who seem to be stuck in the 19th century. The guys are warmly greeted by Buckman and are welcomed to partake in an annual barbecue along with the rest of the town and a couple other unfortunate jerks (again, names don't matter). Little do they know that not only are they guests of honor of the barbecue but also the main course.

From the start of the movie, it's obvious that this is going to be a shamelessly tasteless horror flick full of gratuitous sex and violence. But here enlies the charm of the movie. Rather than trying to make a serious horror film, as which it would fail miserably, director Tim Sullivan takes 2001 Maniacs in the exact opposite direction, making the already cheesy plot even more ridiculously outlandish. As a result, the movie generates more laughs than scares but, for once, it's actually okay to laugh at a horror movie, which is what makes 2001 Maniacs so absolutely fun and entertaining to watch.

Obviously the acting is horrible (with the exception of Englund, who is brilliant and borderline Shakespearean as Buckman) and you're likely to take more delight than pity to Peter Stormare threatening to expell the protagonists and a gas station attendant saying they're going to be pushing up daisies by midnight. But, again, that's not what the movie's about. This is a remake of an H.G. Lewis film so naturally it's high on gore. Amongst the many creative, hillariously over-the-top deaths in the movie is a scene in which a man's insides being liquidated by acidic moonshine, a gigantic iron bell being dropped on a woman, and a particularly grisly sexual encounter involving iron teeth. When people aren't having sex or being killed, the relations between the Northen city folk and the Southern country folk are bound to yield a few laughs.

All in all, an excellent movie. If you're looking for a movie you can watch without using your brain, 2001 Maniacs is a good watch.

This one has been hyped now for quite some time, though your review has made me look forward to picking it up.  Last summer, the director and Robert Englund had a Q & A at a mostly shitty horror convention.  The director seemed like a cool guy, very reminiscent of Eli Roth in his approach towards horror (I.e.: cranking up the humor and T&A a bit).  And Englund, as always, had plenty of great stories to tell.  Unfortunately, the only downside to this was when they showed a random montage of clips from the movie (sort of like a trailer that lasted ten minutes) it just did not seem all that impressive.  Still, though, I'll probably be picking this up some time soon.  Preferably on Sunday when I see "Slither" so I can enjoy two hillarious splatter fests within a twenty-four hour period.