2001 MANIACS: FIELD OF SCREAMS

The cannibalistic, racist zombies of Pleasant Valley, having lost the sheriff's protection, realize that no travelers have passed through to satisfy their thirst for revenge and human flesh. So, led by Mayor Bukman, our "heroes" decide to move Pleasant Valley to a kind of itinerant festival in search of new victims. Buckman and friends encounter some young people who are filming a reality show on the road, heading to Georgia. The party is about to begin! For his debut film, Tim Sullivan paid homage to the "godfather of gore" Hershell Gordon Lewis with "2001 Maniacs," a sort of sequel/remake of his famous "Two Thousand Maniacs." Sullivan crafted a low-budget slasher that was quite mediocre but had the merit of not taking itself seriously and bringing to the stage, in a fun and entertaining way, a series of ideas that combined sex & gore; with decent inventiveness and functionality. "2001 Maniacs" received a certain underground success that convinced Sullivan to work on a sequel, which had the working title "2001 Maniacs: Beverly Hellbillies." The genesis was perhaps more complex than expected, but in the end, this sequel saw the light of day in 2011, with the final title of "2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams." The recipe is almost the same as the previous chapter with irony, sex, and blood in the foreground, but the soup tastes reheated from the start, and the result is predictably inferior to the previous one. Not that "2001 Maniacs" was a masterpiece, as we said, but this second installment mainly highlights the flaws that were at its base. It starts in a rather suggestive way from the drawings that take up the graphic novel inspired by "2001 Maniacs," thus making one hope for a playful spirit that then fails to materialize. The poverty of the product is immediately noticeable, absolutely not cared for in terms of photography, sets, and costumes, everything so approximate as to make the film visually squalid. The idea behind "2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams" is not very convincing, and the apparent desire not to repeat the same formula as the previous film by adopting the saying "if the mountain won't come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain" is just an excuse to repeat the exact structure of the other film. Some dumb kids who are even dumber find themselves in the clutches of the racist maniacs of Pleasant Valley and one by one meet a bad end, as per the slasher rule. The film lacks imagination, the special effects are mediocre, and boredom soon takes over. Appreciable is the irony with which the two starlets of the reality show at the center of the film are characterized, one of those MTV-style reality shows where rich spoiled blondes give life maxims and get picked up by muscular young men. The two "coches," with a stuffed dog in tow, are clearly built in the manner of Paris Hilton, and the evolution of the story in relation to the two characters is not banal...until the last scene, unfortunately. Sullivan focuses a lot on the sexy aspect of the story, bringing to the stage a series of gratuitous female nudity and osé situations capable of surely catching the attention of the male audience. Robert Englund, who played Mayor Buckman in the previous film, is replaced here by Bill Moseley, who plays the same role with professional charisma. The cast also includes Lin Shaye ("Snakes on a Plane"; "Insidious") and the playmate Christa Campbell ("Mosquitoman"; "Professione assassino"). "2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams" is a bad film, shot on an obvious budget and lacking in ideas. The plot already seemed worn out in the first chapter; here, it definitely smells of mold. Watchable only for hardcore fans of homemade splatter. If you like the basic idea, you might as well rewatch Hershell Gordon Lewis's film.