OK Where to start with this one? When are these directors going to learn that if you want to earn some money by "piggybacking" off of a previously proved successful film such as Herschell Gordon Lewis' "Two Thousand Maniacs" that's fine but don't insult the fans by using only a handful of the original character names yet creating an entirely different movie! This movie definitely does not skimp in the gore department, it has some very good acting, and Robert England cast in the lead to boot makes for a potentially good film but true fans of the original film, which let's face it is what the majority of the audience who will attend a film with such a title will consist of, will be sorely disappointed at the blatant disregard for the original storyline! Instead of being promoted as a re-make, films like this should be promoted as sequels,that is if the director is so void of original ideas that he or she feels that they must rip-off someone else's original idea instead of coming up with one of their own. The "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Black Christmas" remakes are also guilty of this offense...this is why these remakes flop. I have yet to see a "remake" that truly does justice to the original product outside of 80's remakes like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" or "The Blob"...save yourselves the embarrassment and degradation and the snubbing of the fans and just call it a sequel instead of trying to create your own franchise. The other aspect of this film that I did not care for was the director's inexplicable need to add certain elements to the story in a tacky, crude and downright politically incorrect attempt to 'modernize' the story. I personally do not find it humorous to hear tacky "Watermellon" jokes applied to African Americans and I found the addition of the gay character and his subsequent death to be in EXTREMELY poor taste!
Review of 2001 Maniacs
