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 | 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
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:

Finland:K-18 | France:-18 | Argentina:18 | Italy:T (DVD) | 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 novelized his screenplay into a tie-in book, the original edition of which is now in high demand by collectors

Quotes:

Tom White:Has it occurred to you that nobody has told us what this centennial is all about? Now, this is 1965, and a hundred years ago it was 1865, right? So, what happened in 1865?
Terry Adams:It was the ending of Civil War. The war between states!
Tom White:Well then you tell me why would a southern town want northerners as guests of honor at the centennial. It must has something to do with what happened a hundred years ago. So, something is very wrong with this town.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Blood Trilogy Outtakes (1996) (V)

Soundtrack:

Rebel Yell

Different Type of Horror Film

Decided to watch this film, but I really was not very sure if I was going to enjoy this flick with unknown actors, but as I started to view this film I became very interested. A young couple gets themselves involved with a town where strange things start to happen to people. The town's folks remember the Civil War days when their town was destroyed by the Yankee's up North and it seems this town celebrates this event by having Yankee guests participate in some games of chance for both men and women. These games of chance will greatly surprise you and you just will not believe just what is going on until it actually happens. There is one scene when a man gets into a barrel and rolls down a hill which becomes very tragic. This is a rather short film, but great to view on Halloween night, or anytime you find it showing on TCM. Enjoy.