Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)

Director:

Herschell Gordon Lewis

Writer:

Herschell Gordon Lewis (writer)

Release Date:

20 March 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

An Entire Town Bathed In Pulsing Human Blood! Madmen Crazed For Carnage!

Plot:

Six people are lured into a small Deep South town for a Centennial celebration where the residents proceed to kill them one by one as revenge for the town's destruction during the Civil War.

Plot Keywords:

Centennial | Celebration | Civil War | Revenge | Yankee

Cast

Connie Mason	...	Terry Adams
William Kerwin	...	Tom White (as Thomas Wood)
Jeffrey Allen	...	Mayor Buckman
Shelby Livingston	...	Bea Miller
Ben Moore	...	Lester MacDonald
Jerome Eden	...	John Miller
Gary Bakeman	...	Rufus 'Rufe' Tate
Mark Douglas	...	Harper Alexander
Linda Cochran	...	Betsy
Yvonne Gilbert	...	Beverly Wells
Michael Korb	...	David Wells
Vincent Santo	...	Billy
Andy Wilson	...	Policeman
Candi Conder	...	Switchboard Operator
The Pleasant Valley Boys	...	Bluegrass musicians

Also Known As:

2,000 Maniacs
Centennial (USA) (fake working title)

Runtime:

87 min | UK:84 min | Argentina:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | France:-18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | New Zealand:R16 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

St. Cloud, Florida, USA

Company:

Jacqueline Kay

Trivia:

Director Herschell Gordon Lewis has often cited Two Thousand Maniacs! as his personal favorite of his films.

Quotes:

Rufus Tate: We got us some good 'uns! Dogged if we don't!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "TCM Underground: Blood Feast/Two Thousand Maniacs! (#1.47)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Roll In My Sweet Baby's Arms

"Robert E. Lee Broke His Musket On His Knee..."

"Two Thousand Maniacs" is a wonderful Brigadoon-esque film about two groups of Yankees who become guests of honors for the southern town of Pleasant Valley's centennial. What these "guests" don't realize, though, is that they are going to be murdered in bizarre (and I mean, BIZARRE) fashions because of a war lost by the south 100 years ago.

The festivities include a woman being dismembered and barbecued, a man being quartered with four horses, and the infamous "barrel roll" sequence where a man is pushed down a hill in a barrel that has nails driven into its sides.

The movie altogether has a wacky, feel-good charm (despite its gruesome nature) that keeps you smiling, and you'll surely be singing its theme song after the movie's over! I sure as hell was.