Herschell Gordon Lewis Month continues with Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)

Now, THIS film I have no qualms about giving a recommended grade. Beacuse it's DAMN cool. Many of the flaws evident in Blood Feast have been corrected with this second outing for Lewis -- the acting, for one, is better all around. Even Connie Mason improves (that isn't saying much, mind you). A super-duper-special hugs-n-kisses go out to Jeffery Allen, who plays the Mayor with so much gregarious malevolance that you have to like the guy even when he's holding down a screaming woman so her arm can be hacked off. The budget is higher, so the film actually looks pretty polished and professional. The music this time around is fun, too -- just TRY getting that theme song out of your head. (Lewis not only wrote it, he SANG it -- told you he was a multitasker...) And the best thing? Many of the laughs this time around are wholly intentional! It's a comedy, a good-natured gore flick that realizes its own absurdity and has fun with that. It still isn't perfect (no sympathetic characters here, and the "love" plotline still feels forced and arbitrary)... plus, it's still essentially crap. But as crap goes, it's a hell of a whoopin' good time.

Grade: B