Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)

Director:

Herschell Gordon Lewis

Writer:

Herschell Gordon Lewis

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 | Civil War | Revenge | Celebration | 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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paul Champion	...	Banjo player (uncredited)
Charles Glore	...	Guitar player (uncredited)

Directed by
Herschell Gordon Lewis

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Herschell Gordon Lewis

Produced by
David F. Friedman	....	producer

Original Music by
Larry Wellington

Cinematography by
Herschell Gordon Lewis

Film Editing by
Robert L. Sinise		(as Robert Sinise)

Production Design by
David F. Friedman

Production Management
Jerome Eden	....	unit manager
Andy Romanoff	....	production manager

Art Department
Lorin D. Hall	....	carpenter

Sound Department
David F. Friedman	....	sound recordist
Henry Lieberg	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jerry Whittington	....	sound effects editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Lorin D. Hall	....	electrician

Music Department
Charles Glore	....	musical director (as Charles Scott)

Other crew
Gretchen Blank	....	script supervisor
David Guilbert	....	production assistant
Harry Kerwin	....	crew chief

Production Companies

• Jacqueline Kay (as The Jacqueline Kay, Inc.)
• Friedman-Lewis Productions

Distributors

• Box Office Spectaculars (1964) (USA) (theatrical)
• Force Video (1982) (USA) (VHS)
• Continental Video (1984) (USA) (VHS) (as Comet Video)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (2000) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Image Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• CMV Laservision (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
• Manga Films (2002) (Spain) (DVD)
• Siren Visual Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (2006) (USA) (DVD) (on "The Blood Trilogy")
• SBP (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• SBP (2006) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Art House (????) (Greece) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Palace Home Video (????) (Australia) (VHS)
• Rhino Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS) (Horror Classics release)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• VEC (1984) (Canada) (video)
• Video Service Corporation (????) (Canada) (VHS) (The Cinephile Collection)

Also Known As:

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:

Australia:R | New Zealand:R16 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:Unrated | Finland:K-18 | France:-18 | Argentina:18 | Italy:T (DVD)

Filming Locations:

St. Cloud, Florida, USA

Company:

Jacqueline Kay

Trivia:

This film inspired the name of American alt-rock band 10,000 Maniacs.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Silver Scream (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Dixie

Hilarious and bloodthirsty - a great cult film!

Two Thousand Maniacs is not a film that is on every horror fan's list of best films - but it should be, as when it comes to ingenuity and influence, this film certainly isn't lacking! Two Thousand Maniacs is my first taste of 'the godfather of gore', Herschell Gordon Lewis, and I already want to see more! Given his title, you would expect this film to be gory - and while the gore is rather tame by today's standards, considering that it was released in 1964 - three years before violence was brought to cinema with Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde - it's amazing that Lewis was able to get away with scenes that see a man pulled apart by horses, a woman crushed by a rock and other such highlights. And it's not only the gore that makes this film noteworthy - the plot takes influence from films such as 'Bad Day at Black Rock', in that it follows a small town with a secret - only this time that plot has got itself a horror makeover! We watch as two cars full of people are detoured towards a town hidden deep in the American South. They are told that they are to be the guests of honour in a town celebration. However, they quickly find out that being a guest isn't always honourable...

One of the main reasons I loved this film is because it's absolutely hilarious! Lewis sets the film up with a jokey tone from the beginning and keeps it going throughout. It's things such as the scene after the one that sees a woman have her finger cut off that makes this film so great. We cut to a sequence involving the screaming woman, along with the perpetrator, and the town's major - laughing their heads off! The film is also quite frightening. Insanity has been seen in cinema more times than anyone could count, but Lewis delivers it differently; it's not the fact that these two thousand people are mental that's scary - it's the fact that there's so many of them! The American Deep South is a popular destination for films of this ilk - and Lewis does a great job of making sure that we know where the action is taking place. Redneck flags fly, country music plays and the accents are great; and all of this seems to fit the action brilliantly. On the whole, this might not be the best produced horror film ever made; but it's an important one, and a film that anyone who enjoys bizarre cult classics should definitely seek out! Recommended.