[Film Review] Two Thousand Maniacs (1964)

Two Thousand Maniacs follows a group of six strangers who are forced to take a detour through the small, seemingly friendly town of Pleasant Valley. They have arrived just at the right time, as the town is gearing up to celebrate its centennial.

Quite what this event celebrates, or why these strangers have been chosen as guests of honour isn’t immediately clear. But with the promise of a dash of that famous southern hospitality, the group agrees to stay. As the festivities commence, the group finds out that their role requires a little bloodshed and that the town of Pleasant Valley is anything but hospitable.

This is the second film in Herschell Gordon Lewis and David Friedman’s ‘blood trilogy’, bookended by Blood Feast (1963) and Color Me Blood Red (1965). Lewis’ splattery style is evident throughout in increasingly fun and gory ways. Buckets of blood, screaming women, barrels of nails and hysterical townspeople all add to the campy, schlocky fun. As with Lewis’ other offerings, the quality of the practical effects for the time are ridiculously good. The grisly ways in which the group of ‘Yankees’ is dispatched is ambitious, given the effects available at the time, and refreshingly whimsical. It cannot be said that Lewis ever lets plot get in the way of gore, and at times the plot does feel gossamer thin, but that only adds to the charm.  

This film is the ultimate proto-slasher, and it’s unclear why we don’t hear more about it when discussing the development of the genre. The formula for the Southern gore movie is here; a group of Northern strangers are ambushed by sinister locals promising southern hospitality before being picked off one by one in increasingly elaborate ways. The influence of this film on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is clear and it has been noted as an early example of grindhouse hicksploitation, a contentious and not clearly defined subgenre. There is an abundance of stereotypes here about Southern communities, and the tensions between the North and South in America but a critical eye on Two Thousand Maniacs reveals that Lewis’ intentions, as in his earlier offering Blood Feast, are often to highlight these stereotypes, and to shed light on apathy, and acceptance of violence. This film acknowledges the violent legacy of the Confederacy, and the South’s brutal and bloody history. This is particularly significant as the film was released during the Civil Rights Movement. Some critics have suggested that the film tapped into the anxiety the region provoked in the rest of the United States during a time of unrest. However, others have suggested that the film’s ironic parody of southern hospitality instead highlights the performative nature of this hospitality. It is a cruel joke, and the townspeople use this stereotype to their advantage to lure unsuspecting victims into their trap. 

Two Thousand Maniacs also reminds us of a time when horror was campy and fun, concerned with who could splatter the most fake blood and organs around the place. It is an ambitious and inventive slasher that utilises impressive effects and creative camera work to its advantage. As with Blood Feast its legacy in the horror canon is evident, yet often minimised in discourse about the genre. This is the archetypal slasher, all killer, no filler, and it is a wild ride.  

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