There are certain memories that define your childhood. One of those key moments for me happened as I was leafing through a stack of comic books at a local store. Quite out of the blue, I unearthed a glossy EC Comics reprint entitled "Tales From The Crypt" - the cover of which sold me alone; with its lurid bursts of colour, vintage typeset and eerie frontispiece. There was a wonderful nostalgia to it somehow - of some innocence lost. Needless to say these tales didn't disappoint, written as they were with real care, gallows humour and, (best of all) rich ladles of gore. Which brings me to the subject of "2001 Maniacs". A film that echoes this same sentiment - with its fairground approach to blood and mayhem. The film was directed by Tim Sullivan and involves various industry names of old and new - one of which, Eli Roth, even has a brief cameo at the beginning of the feature. Such obvious mugging aside, the film is quick to get down to business. The usual group of frisky college kids are just one lecture away from hitting the road and the inevitable beach party that awaits. Clearly time is of the essence here, as the lecture is bought to a premature close - a projector reel of Civil War images sabotaged, (the significance of which wisely ignored at this stage) and replaced with photos of high-octane partying. Savvy "Scream" teens these are not. Indeed the cast of males and females that share the screen time here are clearly of the "Gap" generation - fresh faces, toned bods and an urge to procreate so strong its as though "Halloween" never happened. As if to point this very fact out to us, the kids encounter a girl early on who shows all the behavioural signs we've come to expect from the genre. Sure enough, it isn't very long before sultry smiles and knowing looks give way to the inevitable. From a very early stage then, such hackneyed scenarios ensure empathy for the teen players is kept to a minimum. The emphasis on "flesh" though, is high on Sullivan's agenda, (as it also seems to be in producer Eli Roth's work) and once firmly ticked (no doubt so as to put smiles on the crucial "frat boy" demographic) he then sets about the task of dispatching his crew of pretty faces. The sex and gore quota here largely takes place in "Pleasant Valley" - a truly bizarre locale stumbled upon by the group after they, (rather predictably) get lost. It's here that we meet those "2001" of the film's title and here that the film really springs to life. (albeit for a short time) Assumed by the kids to be a military recreation, (of like...some war or something) the place oozes deep south hospitality - complete with giggling twins, Tom Sawyeresque juveniles, a banjo playing duo (who provide a lot of the film's humour - strumming inane blue grass ditties throughout) and Robert Englund's good ol'Mayor Buckman, replete with a confederate flag eyepatch to match his crackerjack looks. Time and place are all wonderfully recreated here - a sign of the film's impressive production values. In keeping with this, the on screen slaughter is as rich as the banquet laid on for the newcomers. The opening kill sees a young girl torn four ways by a pack of horses. Its an act so wildly over the top, amongst all the whacky stereotypes and kitsch acting, that we cannot possibly find it shocking. It's all just a little too over the top to be taken seriously and as a result of this, the film succeeds for a short time as a serviceable horror comedy. Generic blending of this kind makes it tempting to compare with the "Evil Dead" series, of which Scott Spiegel (here a producer) was involved, but sadly the film cannot find further material to fuel its last act. In what must be one of the most anti-climatic endings to a horror film, (no setpiece for England's character here - he merely has his eyepatch removed...scary stuff!)the two survivors leap onto a motorbike - leaving the "2001" to mull over the possibilities of a sequel. There is a slight twist to the proceedings, but nothing that redeems the events that have gone on before. Essentially, "2001 Maniacs" runs out of steam at its finale, not knowing whether to play up its comic elements or to try for something less hokey. In the end, it fails at both, which is a crying shame because there are moments in this film that remind you how much fun watching horror films really can be.
Review of 2001 Maniacs
