The Wizard of Gore (2007)

Director:

Jeremy Kasten

Writer:

Zach Chassler (written by)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

What are you afraid of?

Plot:

Montag the Magnificent (Glover) is a master illusionist who performs at underground venues, selecting female volunteers from his rave-like audiences...

Plot Keywords:

Stage | Disembowelment | Remake | Neo Noir | Blood

Cast

Kip Pardue	...	Edmund Bigelow
Bijou Phillips	...	Maggie
Crispin Glover	...	Montag the Magnificent
Jeffrey Combs	...	The Geek
Brad Dourif	...	Dr. Chong
Joshua John Miller	...	Jinky (as Joshua Miller)
Garz Chan	...	Annie
Tim Chiou	...	Chinese Mickey
Evan Seinfeld	...	Frank
Flux Suicide	...	Dell
Amina Munster	...	Cecelia
Cricket Suicide	...	Cayenne (as Cricket DeManuel)
Nixon Suicide	...	Rexina
Kenneth Moskow	...	Detective Packard
Shannon Hart Cleary	...	News Reporter (as Shannon Egem)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vanessa Alexandra	...	Ring Master Of the Circus Of Horrors
Candice Cash	...	Tranny Raver
Mary Taylor	...	Concession Skag
Joe Bucaro III	...	Shark expert (uncredited)
Luna Rocio Cantale	...	Geisha girl (uncredited)
Joshua Lou Friedman	...	Montag's Biggest Fan (uncredited)
Paulah May	...	Garbage Girl / hobo fetish (uncredited)
Bob Rusch	...	Hans (uncredited)

Directed by
Jeremy Kasten

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Zach Chassler		written by

Produced by
Wileen Dragovan	....	line producer
Christopher Duddy	....	producer
Glenn W. Garland	....	executive producer
Glenn W. Garland	....	producer
Daniel Gold	....	producer
Dan Griffiths	....	producer
Jeremy Kasten	....	producer
Jimmy Maslon	....	executive producer
Eric Rinestone	....	executive producer
Jeffrey Silverman	....	executive producer
Jeffrey A. Silverman	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Steve Porcaro

Cinematography by
Christopher Duddy

Film Editing by
Jeremy Kasten

Casting by
Aaron Griffith

Production Design by
John Pollard

Art Direction by
Dustin J. Cardwell

Set Decoration by
Kris Fuller

Costume Design by
Carrie Grace

Makeup Department
Jason Collins	....	special makeup effects designer: Autonomous F/X, Inc.
Brie Ford	....	special makeup effects artist: Autonomous FX inc.
Elvis Jones	....	special makeup effects designer: Autonomous FX Inc.
Lori McCoy-Bell	....	hair department head
Melissa Sandora	....	key makeup artist (as Missy Sandora)

Production Management
Wileen Dragovan	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Joshua Lou Friedman	....	second second assistant director
Shelly Heyward	....	additional second second director
Paul Silver	....	first assistant director
Jesse Sternbaum	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Sam Berrini	....	leadman
Ian Taylor Fisher	....	property master
Mike Manasewitsch	....	assistant property master
Erin Paynter	....	scenic artist
Willy Roberts	....	on-set dresser
Judd Rubin	....	art department assistant

Sound Department
Peter S. Carlstedt	....	sound re-recording mixer
Peter S. Carlstedt	....	supervising sound editor
Francisco Koch	....	adr mixer
Tony Kucenski	....	foley editor
Darren Paskal	....	sound facility
Kurt Vanzo	....	supervising sound editor

Special Effects by
Michelle Deville	....	hair specialist

Visual Effects by
Travis Baumann	....	visual effects artist
Geoff Leavitt	....	lead visual effects artist
Troy Morgan	....	visual effects artist
Vivek 'Vic' Sharma	....	visual effects editor
Michael Shelton	....	visual effects supervisor

Stunts
Joe Bucaro III	....	stunt coordinator
Sonja Munsterman	....	stunt double: Bijou Phillips

Camera and Electrical Department
Mike DeGrazzio	....	digital imaging technician
Joseph R. Fitzgerald	....	additional camera utility
Matthew Kistenmacher	....	electrician
Cameron Lee Michael	....	electrician
Seth Orozco	....	second assistant camera
Rich Paisley	....	gaffer
Aaron Schulte	....	best boy electric
Alex Scott	....	second assistant camera
Steve Tacon	....	digital imaging technician
Daniel E. Teaze	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Kevin Wilt	....	electrician

Casting Department
Lana Ford	....	casting assistant
Randy McKenney	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Samuel Bowling	....	costume supervisor
Chantal Filson	....	costumer
Raquel L. Jaffe	....	set costumer

Editorial Department
Joe Faissal	....	colorist
Rebecca Gebhard	....	post-production coordinator
Vivek 'Vic' Sharma	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Dean Menta	....	music editor

Other crew
Stephen Andrzejewski	....	location manager
Birnbaum Arthur	....	set production assistant
Steve Barker	....	set production assistant
Adrian Casas	....	production coordinator
Minnie Duerr	....	production accountant
Elisa Forni	....	script supervisor
Emil Gallardo	....	set production assistant
Rebecca Gebhard	....	assistant to producers
Laura Irvine	....	location manager
Brandon King	....	production assistant
Nicole Kreuzer	....	stand-in: Bijou Phillips
Joe Megna	....	production assistant
Shane Moran	....	location assistant
Derek Potts	....	production assistant
Adam Pray	....	production secretary
Matthew Roseman	....	production assistant
Clenet Verdi-Rose	....	production assistant
Chris Whitaker	....	key set medic
David Williams	....	assistant location manager

Thanks
Michelle Ary	....	thanks
Elijah Drenner	....	special thanks
Andrew Kasch	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Open Sky Entertainment
• Sick-A-Scope

Distributors

• Dimension Extreme (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Elephant Films (2010) (France) (all media)
• Genius Products
• Media 8 Entertainment (2007) (non-USA) (all media)
• Reel DVD (2010) (Australia) (DVD)
• Revolver Entertainment (2007) (UK) (all media)
• VVS Films (2008) (Canada) (all media)

Special Effects

• Autonomous FX

Other Companies

• Batpack Talent/Randy McKenney  extras casting agency
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  cranes and dollies

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for bloody violence, sexuality/nudity and language

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | UK:18 | Singapore:M18 | Germany:18 | Australia:MA (2009) | New Zealand:R18 | Portugal:M/18

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Open Sky Entertainment

Quotes:

Edmund Bigelow:We met at church.
Maggie:That was a joke that I made up on the spot, remember? It's like our lives started that night. And before that, you were just a whore, and I was a bad man. And our lives now are just an illusion.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in American Grindhouse (2010)

Weak psychothriller marketed as horror movie

The movie starts with the main character Ed, who writes a zine, stumbling all covered in blood into an Asian massage parlor to drop of copies of his zine to his friend Chong. He will tell us how he got to this point.

He and his girlfriend played by the lovely Bijou Phillips go to some party. There he's given an ad for a magic show. Out of boredom they decide to go. The magic show features an introductory act by an unrecognizable Jeffrey Combs doing something repulsive. The main act is Montag who'll have a girl from the audience (a Suicide Girl) come on stage. There he kills them brutally and gorily while delivering some social criticism to the audience. Once the audience is utterly horrified and disgusted, lights go on and the girl is intact.

Ed, who is bored by society in general and his subculture of different people, is mesmerized by the show. He keeps going again and again, which gives us a chance to see Suicide Girls torn to pieces. But he also investigates what is going on. He notices that the girls and audience are hypnotized or under the influence. From Chong he finds out about a drug that can cause those effects, the same drug used to turn people into zombies in Haiti. He also notices that Montag makes sure to shake the hand of every audience member as they arrive to the show.

Ed becomes more and more obsessed with the magician and his act. Eventually he finds out through a friend that the stage girls do actually end up dying at some point in ways similar to Montag's act. But Ed is also getting ill, he sweats, his bones crack, he's constantly breathing into a paper bag to calm him, but his friends think there's something else in the bag.

From here the story is somewhat predictable, as Ed descends into madness and reality and fantasy are combined, or rather, try to separate from his mind. The story here though is rather convoluted, even though you know what's coming.

This movie failed to engage me. It has a couple of good things going for it: plenty of story, some good acting, good gore, some nudity, all of which should add up to a pretty decent horror flick. There's an interesting sense of time, or rather lack of it. It has a noir vibe while also being contemporary. Ed is an interesting character, at first. Well dressed, well-spoken, sophisticated. Brad Dourif as Chong is excellent as always.

And yet it doesn't work out. I don't like the look of the movie or the camera work. Everything looks dreamy, not sharp, everything is filmed at a distance and the camera often is not straight but at an angle. One can't identify or empathize with any character. It's very odd that Montag is not featured more prominently. This is a horror movie without a villain. And Montag while acted idiosyncratically, is not convincing. His monologues are delivered as speeches to himself not an audience. Ultimately the story is more convoluted than it needs to be, giving you nothing to look forward to. This is another instance of a horror movie degenerating into a weak psychothriller.