2001 Maniacs : Field of Screams

 

 

 

Two Thousand Maniacs franchise

Holy crap this looks cheap. 2001 maniacs Field of screams was recommended on my Tubi list right after I finished 2001 maniacs. I didn’t even know that this was a thing! But I saw Bill Mosley and Lin Shaye in it and thought “OK fine”. But wow does this look cheap. 2001 maniacs Had a budget behind it… And quite frankly, they understood the source material. They got that this was a ghost story even if it went in some weirdly modern directions…

Field of screams feels like something else. Admittedly, they open with a familiar detour attempt, but it looks like it’s been failing these last few seasons, and they’re going to have to content themselves with the local sheriff as their victim. The sheriff then gets to be the participant in the “barrel roll“. Again, we’ve got a legitimate call back here to the first film… A very similar style, stuffing somebody into a wooden barrel that’s got nails pounded in all around it… but it’s done far more cheaply. Out in the middle of a woodsy nowhere, with less pomp and circumstance… And vulgarity that is played for laughs. Mayor Buckland, recast with Bill Mosley (though it’s not the only recast here by the way, town hunk and heartthrob Harper has also been recast with Nick Ogre, the former front man from skinny puppy) This time screams to the crowd “roll out the what?“

“Roll out the barrel!“

“I can’t hear you!“ He shots back, riling them up. And a child Young yells back in reply;

“Kill that mother fu…,” (well, you get the picture). 

Yeah, I suppose that’s funny… But it’s not southern. I already feel like somethings gone wrong here.

Even the opening credits… With the conceit that the ghosts are all boarding an old school bus and heading up north since there’s no Yankees coming to town to sacrifice… It’s a montage of photos that look more like frat boy Hijinx on the bus then they do sinister southern ghosts. The entire point of 2000 maniacs is the fish out of water… Northerners heading into southern territory that feels like it should be familiar but enter been almost alien. This group just feels like a bunch of cheap slashers… It’s exactly the sort of thing that Bill Mosley does well, but I don’t know if it’s suited for this particular genre. It’s really strange because it’s still Tim Sullivan. It’s still the same writer Director everything… But it’s way less money… about 400 grand, down from the 1.5 million that 2001 maniacs reportedly had. Literally The production companies literally “Tax Credit Finance@ … It’s bizarre. It’s not helped any either by the fact that Robert Englund couldn’t make it back for this one… Schedules just couldn’t line so they just recast him with Bill Mosely and went on thier way.

So the crew road trips up a little bit until they hit a D list celebrity reality show to crash and find victims at. It’s supposed to be kind of like the simple life with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie (the original pitch was in fact, supposed to be for this to happen in LA… But the budget could never have afforded that, so they just moved everything to Iowa instead) with a couple of dead on lookalikes and a crew of sufficiantly diverse cardboard cutouts to murder.

We get beginning trailers for the reality show and it’s as insipid and vapid as you would expect… Basically, I’m kinda looking forward to watching these girls get sliced and diced . The Reality stars are headed to Georgia, but there bus breaks down in Iowa, but discovers Pleasant Valley crew camped out. Discovering that they’re from Georgia, reality stars decide to mingle and see if they can shoot their show around them…

And we got our set up  done.

This is bad. I mean it’s really bad. It’s almost cartoonish in its execution and lacks a lot of the visceral blood and gore that we got from the last movie. We got a scene of one of the girls tied up in the medical tent and suddenly a buzzer starts coming up between her legs. We know that she’s about to be sawed in half, but they cut away… I don’t just give us the reaction shot of the maniacs killing her and blood spraying on them. Like I said, cheap. Then there is the flash dance music video about the main cannibals… I kid you not. What is Lin Shaye doing here anyhow? She’s embarrassing herself. From the horribly awkward sex scene with the mayor, to the flat out dumb one-liners and aforementioned musical interlude, I just don’t know what to do with her. It’s not the Lindsey that I know, it’s not the dignified actress that can send shivers up your spine in stuff like Insidious.

And then there’s Ahmed Best. Does that name sound familiar? If you’re my age it probably should but you may have a hard time placing  him, especially looking at his face. That’s because we’re not used to looking at his face… Where are used to hearing his voice coming out of the mouth of Jar Jar Binks. And yet, he’s managed to find in this movie a role that lowers and degrade him even further than the pariah of Star Wars. He is the token black dude of Pleasant Valley, and it’s just ugly.

In fact, all of the stereotypes are kind of ugly. Look, I’m really not that kind of guy… I don’t get in an uproar over characters or stereotypes… But it’s played so garishly here… With the Jewish TV Director literally having the curls of hair protruding from his hat, and them having a token Asian hooker among the people of Pleasant Valley with the most egregious accent as she croons “Twenty dolla, make you Holla!“.

I will admit that as we go on, the kills do you get better, and someone there knows how to create busts and props and set dressing. That’s not the same however, as being good at make up and Gore FX… Which is really what is this movie REALLY needed. You don’t have any kind of a real story here. You have director Tim Sullivan drifting from disjointed set piece to unrelated set piece, while poking fun at whatever comes to mind. It might be forgivable if those set pieces were spectacular in their gore, but They’re not, and all he has to offer really is as many topless shots as he can cram into the movie without going strictly pornographic.

You know, I don’t understand what happened here either. It’s weird, because it’ a Tim Sullivan film. He’s the same Director and writer… It’s the same vision. It’s been the same guiding hand from the remake to the comic book to this ill-fated sequel. But this thing is so bad, easily one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen… And having watched more than a little bit of Neil Breen’s work… That’s not a judgment I pass lightly. This one is a pass. In fact it’s not just a pass, it’s a flee, run, burn it with fire recommendation. If someone offers to give you a copy for free? Slap them in the face and tell them you’re not their friend anymore.

In fact, all of the stereotypes are kind of ugly. I’m really not that kind of guy… I don’t get in an uproar over characters or stereotypes… But it’s played so Gerrish Lee here… With the Jewish TV Director literally having the curls of hair protruding from his hat, and them having a token Asian hooker among the people of Pleasant Valley with the most egregious accent as she croons $20 make you Holla.

I will admit that as we go on, the kills do you get better, and someone there knows how to create busts and props and set dressing. That’s not the same however, as being good at make up and Gora facts… Which is really what is still needed. You don’t have any kind of a real story here. You have the Director drifting from disjointed set piece to unrelated sap piece, while poking fun at whatever comes to mind. It might be forgivable if those set pieces were spectacular in their gore, but They’re not, and all he has to offer really is as many topless shot says he can cram into the movie without going strictly pornographic.

You know, I don’t understand what happened here either. It’s weird, because it’ a Timm Sullivan film. He’s the same Director and writer… It’s the same vision. It’s been the same guiding hand from the remake to the comic book to this ill-fated sequel. But this thing is so bad, easily one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen… And having watched more than a little bit of Neil brains work… That’s not a judgment I pass lightly. This one is a pass. In fact it’s not just a pass, it’s a flea, run, burn it with fire and if someone offers to give you a copy for free? Slap them in the face and tell them you’re not their friend anymore.