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Blu-Ray : A Rental at Best
Ranking:
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Release Date: October 5th, 2010 Movie Release Year: 2005

2001 Maniacs

Overview -

Based on the campy cult classic by the Godfather of gore, Herschell Gordon Lewis, and starring horror legend Robert Englund, 2001 Maniacs is a bloody comedy/spoof that audiences will love. 2001 Maniacs tells the story of a group of college students on their way to spring break. They decide to take a detour through an old southern town - and are soon in for a big surprise. The residents of Pleasant Valley insist the kids stay for their annual barbecue celebration...but instead of getting a taste of the old south, the old south gets a taste of them!

OVERALL:
A Rental at Best
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
Region Free
Video Resolution/Codec:
1080p/AVC MPEG-4
Length:
87
Aspect Ratio(s):
1.78:1
Audio Formats:
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles/Captions:
Spanish
Special Features:
Audition Reel
Release Date:
October 5th, 2010

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

You have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy something like '2001 Maniacs,' I plum-reckon. It's one heck of a hee-haw, filled with buckets of blood, guts, boobs, silly tongue-in-cheek jokes and plenty of glorious Southern hospitality. Based on the drive-in cult classic from Herschell Gordon Lewis, the movie is an intentional B-level feature with a wicked sense of humor that celebrates the lighter side of the splatter-gore subgenre. As long as viewers can laugh at the over-the-top carnage and bloodthirsty caricatures, then this wacky horror comedy from writer/director Tim Sullivan will deliver the laughs along with some wild, hillbilly mayhem.

Robert Englund, the man behind the iconic face of Freddy Krueger, stars as the mayor, George Buckman, of the small town Pleasant Valley. Englund gives another memorable performance, though not seen by many mainstream audiences, as the one-eyed Confederate rebel with a hidden agenda. I've always thought he possesses one of the best menacing smiles in Hollywood, a unique feature that perfectly complements his even more threatening eyes. As a twisted cross between Colonel Sanders and Mark Twain, he also appears to be the ringleader of a clan of crazed cannibals with a unique taste for Northerner blood.

Those Northern guests happen to be six college students on Spring Break and a mixed-race biker couple, the latter of which are the source of some stupid but still amusing wisecracks. Be-cause, you kno', they're all in the Deep South. Soo Wee! They were "accidentally" detoured unto this idyllic Georgia municipality just as the township was preparing for its "Guts & Glory Jubilee," a festival that commemorates the American Civil War. As would be expected, the group is none too bright in seeing through the folk's unusual kindness as they frequently make offensive one-liners about their ways of living. So rather than feeling bad for the kids' systematic massacre, we join the side-splitting ruckus.

The always-marvelous Lin Shaye plays Granny Boone, who appears attached to the mayor. And like Englund, Shaye does a great job with her little ole Southern drawl, and she, too, secretly harbors a mean-streak in her chameleon-like demeanor — mighty hospitable and generous one minute, but willing to skin ya alive if given the opportunity. Playing Mother Hen to a town which seems like kin, the sweet, little old lady thoroughly enjoys licking an oversized skewer after it's been used to impale one of the more flamboyant students. It's an amusingly funny role for Shaye, perfectly matching Englund's hyperactive portrayal. And with most of the focus on them, we can ignore the terrible acting of the rest of the cast.

'2001 Maniacs' is the silly blend of slapstick and graphic gore, otherwise dubbed "splatstick," which is nothing new really when recalling Stuart Gordon's 'Re-Animator' or Peter Jackson's 'Dead Alive.' But Sullivan does terrific in balancing the genres without one overwhelming the other and provides his ensemble of demented hillbillies with plenty of facetious dialogue. The low-budget flick is not meant to be taken serious — either in the storyline or the special effects though they are cool to watch — because the movie never takes itself serious. It's fun and comical when you're in the mood for a gory laugh, and that's about it.

The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

Lionsgate Home Entertainment offers '2001 Maniacs' to Blu-ray on a Region Free, BD25 disc inside a blue eco-case. At startup, we get a couple of skippable trailers before the main menu selection.

Video Review

Ranking:

'2001 Maniacs' takes a meat cleaver to Blu-ray with a mostly average but also troubled 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode.

Framed in a 1.78:1 window, the transfer shows a good and generally stable contrast, allowing for plenty of visibility. Overall resolution, however, is quite inconsistent with some decently detailed scenes offset by others with fuzziness, weak shadow delineation and some low-level noise. Several sequences appear artificially sharpened though it doesn't often distract. Blacks range from acceptable to muddy gray blobs. The image simply feels flat and mundane. Colors are typically bright and accurate with natural skin tones, but they fail in giving the movie any energy or pop.

We've seen worse transfers, but we've also seen far, far better.

Audio Review

Ranking:

The audio has a bit more life to it, though it doesn't make much of an impression either.

The DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is very front-heavy, which is understandable for a low-budget feature like this. But even as the lossless mix displays a broad imaging, it feels unsubstantial and listless. There's good balance between the channels, and the musical score makes the best use, spreading evenly across the soundstage. The mid-range maintains decent clarity and definition, yet it's never pushed extensively with a lackluster low bass. Vocals are generally intelligible, but several conversations are difficult to make out with distractingly noticeable ADR work. Surrounds are pretty much non-existent.

This is a mild to average high-rez presentation. Nothing more.

Special Features

Ranking:

Lionsgate gathers together the same collection of supplements seen on the DVD release.

  • Audio Commentaries — Two commentary tracks and both added to the movie's humor. The first is a filmmaker discussion with writer/director Tim Sullivan, co-writer Chris Kobin, and producer Chris Tuffin. Their enthusiasm is contagious as they talk shop with a healthy sense of humor and honesty about the movie they made. They cover much of the usual ground while also relating some very funny on-set anecdotes.

    The second audio commentary is with Sullivan and star Robert Englund, and it's a bit more straightforward than its predecessor. The two men joke about the movie and the production, sharing their knowledge of the genre and what they aimed to accomplish. It's not as involving or funny as the producer's track, but it's still good and worth at least one listen.

  • "Inside the Asylum" (SD, 42 min) — A surprisingly exhaustive look at the making of the movie. Featuring interviews with cast and crew, much of the attention is on the special effects and gore, which Sullivan seems to absolutely adore. The short doc also touches on other areas of the production, like several good quips about the characters and the script inspiration. Behind-the-scenes footage gives viewers a sense that filmmakers had lots of fun making the movie.

  • Audition Reel (SD, 7 min) — Just like it sounds, and the piece is actually funnier than I think it was meant to be.

  • Deleted Scenes (SD, 37 min) — 27 exorcised and extended scenes are collected here, and only a handful of those outtakes are amusing. The highlight is an alternate opening with John Landis as the professor.

Final Thoughts

While not as depraved or in-your-face as other "splatstick" features, Tim Sullivan's '2001 Maniacs' is still funny horror comedy. You probably have to be in the right mood — or in a wanton state of mind — to really enjoy the silly flick. With Robert Englund and Lin Shaye in the lead roles, it makes for an easy and amusing night of gore and laughs. The Blu-ray arrives with troubled video and average audio, but the supplements are surprisingly exhaustive. In the end, if you're not a fan of the subgenre, then this may not be for you. But if you're feeling a bit adventurous, the low-budget B-movie may be worth taking a chance.