Line #48 Film/TwoThousandManiacs


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10	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1146_7.JPG]]
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12	''Two Thousand Maniacs!'' is a 1964 American SplatterHorror film written and directed by Creator/HerschellGordonLewis. The second entry in his informal "Blood Trilogy" ThematicSeries, following ''Film/BloodFeast'' and followed by ''Film/ColorMeBloodRed'', it is known for its scenes of full-color gore and torture, which – along with its BMovie quality direction and acting – have earned the movie a cult following.
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14	Six Yankee tourists are lured into the quaint Southern town of [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Pleasant Valley]], where they're selected as the "guests of honor" for the town's [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Civil War]] centennial. They quickly discover, however, that the festivities are nothing like they expected, as they are forced to take part in a series of extremely violent and gory games.
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16	''Two Thousand Maniacs!'' was [[TheRemake remade]] by writer-director Tim Sullivan in 2005 as ''2001 Maniacs'', starring Creator/RobertEnglund and Creator/LinShaye, with Creator/PeterStormare appearing in a minor role. A direct-to-video sequel, entitled ''2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams'' (and [[TheOtherDarrin replacing]] Englund with Creator/BillMoseley), was released in 2010. It had the townspeople going on a road trip – due to the fact that there weren't enough fresh Yankees coming into town for them to kill – and coincidentally running into the cast of a {{reality show}}, centered around [[RichBitch wealthy socialites]] [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Rome and Tina Sheraton]].
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18	The name of the alternative rock band Music/TenThousandManiacs is a ShoutOut to this film, as is the title of Creator/JohnWaters' film ''Film/MultipleManiacs''.
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21	!! This film and its remake contain examples of:
22	* AnArmAndALeg: Bea is killed when a few townsfolk hold her down on a desk and one of them chops her arm off with an axe. The rest of her limbs are chopped off off-screen and her torso is seen being roasted on a spit.
23	* AnachronismStew:
24	** Georgia was a state in the Confederacy, and that's about the only historically accurate part of this movie. In spite of being [[spoiler:Civil War-era ghosts]], the townspeople all dress in modern (1960s) clothing and hairstyles and have no issue acclimating to modern technology. They even use the wrong flag for the Confederacy, and call themselves "Southerners" as opposed to the period-correct "Southerons". Amusingly, the town where the film was shot (St. Cloud, Florida) was founded in 1909, more than four decades after the Civil War -- and what's more, it was originally developed as a retirement community for ''Union'' war veterans.
25	** Averted in the remake, in which everything is almost painstakingly period-accurate, save for Mayor Buckman's Confederate flag eye-patch. The crew borrowed all the buildings, clothing and props from Westville, Georgia (a town built explicitly as a Civil War historical tourist attraction à la Colonial Williamsburg). Some of the items featured in the movie are actual Civil War artifacts!
26	* AntagonistTitle: The two thousand maniacs refers to the population of the town which terrorize Tom and his friends.
27	* AnswerCut: A rather odd version. After the "guests of honor" have been checked in to their hotel rooms, two of them make comments that are answered by a pair of locals, despite the latter being outside on the street and seemingly unable to hear the former. [[spoiler:[[FridgeLogic Then again, they are ghosts.]]]]
28	-->'''Beverly''': Such a ''strange'' little affair. It's almost like Halloween.\
29	''cut''\
30	'''Betsy''': ''[laughing]'' This is ''better'' than Halloween!\
31	'''Bea''': It's like John C. Calhoun's version of trick-or-treat.\
32	''cut''\
33	'''Harper''': Why, dear – we're gonna provide the tricks, and them folks up there, they're gonna provide the treats. ''[laughs uproariously with Betsy]''
34	* AxCrazy: The entire town seems to be completely and dangerously out of their minds.
35	* BMovie: Filmed with a budget of $65,000.
36	* TheBadGuyWins: At the remake's end, all the tourists diverted into the town have been killed.
37	* BehindTheBlack: In the remake, the remaining protagonists sit down in a saloon to discuss their options once they begin to realize something's up. No sooner do they formulate a plan than they notice everyone in the bar and then some has managed to silently crowd around in front of their table.
38	* BestialityIsDepraved: Lester in the remake. His "darlin'" Jessabelle is a sheep.
39	* BigBad: Mayor Joseph Buckman leads the festivities.
40	* BondOneLiner: In both the remake and its sequel, Huck says this after killing [[spoiler:the last two survivors]]:
41	-->"Damn Yankees."
42	* BuryYourGays:
43	** In the remake, [[spoiler:the gay character dies [[CruelAndUnusualDeath in a cruel and sadistic manner]], but not without a hint of dark irony. He's bent over a table and has a [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice giant skewer]] [[AssShove shoved up his rear]] until it comes out of his mouth. The old woman tasting the blood is bad enough, but if you look closely [[{{Squick}} you can see bits of corn on the tip of the skewer.]] He had just been having a picnic minutes ago.]]
44	** In the remake's sequel, [[spoiler:a gay guy [[ShoutOut has his]] [[Film/BrokebackMountain back broken.]] The lesbian producer has her face shoved into another woman's "pootch box" which proceeds to rip her face off]].
45	* ColdHam: Creator/PeterStormare as a hardass college professor, who manages to devour the scenery without raising his voice.
46	* DeepSouth: The film is set in a Southern U.S. town and the townspeople exhibit many of the stereotypes. Rednecks, moonshiners, backwoods and swamps as far as the eye can see.
47	* DepravedHomosexual: Rufus in the remake is hinted to be homosexual, and he's one of the murderous townspeople.
48	* EvenEvilHasStandards:
49	** PlayedForLaughs in the remake; Mayor Buckman has no problem slaughtering and cannibalizing Yankees, but he's definitely more than a bit concerned about his son Lester's "relationship" with Jessabelle... [[BestialityIsDepraved who happens to be a sheep]].
50	** [[spoiler: Curiously, in the remake the townsfolk express no prejudice towards their fellow ghosts who are Black, not only treating them like equals, but even celebrating the birth of a mixed-race child (to a white woman and her former slave, no less). This is actually explained in ''Field of Screams'': Crow mentions that when the Union troops destroyed the town they killed everyone, even the slaves. This collective trauma caused a new identity to emerge among the townspeople, one that overpowered the previous racial and social order. Now, Black Americans who are ''not'' their fellow ghosts...]]
51	* EvilPlan: The people of Pleasant Valley seek to kill Northerners in retaliation for [[spoiler:being massacred during the Civil War]].
52	* ExploitationFilm: The film is largely an excuse to introduce tons of guts and gore.
53	* EyeScream: In the remake, it's explained that Mayor Buckman lost an eye in the massacre of the town. He now wears an EyepatchOfPower.
54	* FauxAffablyEvil: Pretty much all of the townspeople, particularly Mayor Buckman.
55	* AFeteWorseThanDeath: The protagonists are ostensibly the guests of honor for the town's centennial festival. [[spoiler:Which turns out to be the centennial of the townspeople being massacred by renegade Union soldiers at the end of UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar.]]
56	* {{Fingore}}: Harper lures Bea out to the woods and cuts her thumb off before dragging her to the mayor's office, the medical fees quite literally costing her AnArmAndALeg.
57	%% * FinalGirl: [[spoiler: Joey]] in the remake. [[spoiler: Rome & Tina]] in ''Field of Screams''. [[spoiler: Not that anyone survives.]]
58	* FreudianExcuse: In ''Field of Screams'', after Val says that her mother was a prison guard (when explaining how she knows how to handle a gun), Black Cherry says that [[LipstickLesbian that explains a lot]].
59	* {{Gorn}}: People getting drawn and quartered, getting [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe sliced in half]], getting their faces ripped off, getting a [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice skewer]] [[AssShove up the ass]]... yessir, there is gore here and then some!
60	* IAmAHumanitarian: In the original film, it is implied that the townspeople (and possibly also the unwitting Northerners who are still alive) consume portions of [[spoiler:Bea's limbs, since they are shown being roasted on a spit during the barbeque]].
61	* LargeHam: In the 2010 remake, Robert Englund really hams it up in every scene he has as Mayor Buckman., laughing, yelling, swinging a sword, and jumping up onto a table in front of flames to declare vengeance on the main characters.
62	%% * LipstickLesbian: TV producer Val Turner in ''Field of Screams''. She indulges in filming scenes of [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Rome and Tina]] wrestling in bikinis, and her death involves her getting seduced by one of the town's women.
63	* PetTheDog: [[spoiler: Played with in the remakes as Mayor Buckman doesn't want to kill Anderson. Primarily as Anderson is also a Southerner and thus "one of them." But also as a Southerner he won't count towards the total. The sequel actually states only people from the Northern United States count, Americans from anywhere else, even once who immigrated there, don't count.]]
64	%% * PoliticallyIncorrectVillains: Considering the antagonists are not only white American Southerners, but Civil War-era white American Southerners, this trope is milked for all it's worth.
65	* RoadSignReversal: The people of Pleasant Valley lure tourists to their town by flipping an arrow sign to make it direct to their town.
66	* TheSavageSouth: It's about a town in the U.S. South whose inhabitants kill tourists.
67	* ShoutOut: At one point Harper is shown perusing an issue of Creator/{{DC\|Comics}}'s romance comic ''Heart Throbs''.
68	* StillFightingTheCivilWar
69	* SoundtrackDissonance: The original's main theme is a sprightly bluegrass number, not exactly the theme to be expected for one of the early examples of a {{Gorn}} film.
70	* TeamTitle: The "Two Thousand Maniacs" of the title refers to the population of Pleasant Valley, who as a whole are the antagonists of the film.
71	%% * TooDumbToLive: Rome and Tina in ''Field of Screams''. Strangely, they're the {{Final Girl}}s. [[spoiler:Or not — they get splattered by Huck's truck at the end.]]
72	* TownWithADarkSecret: Pleasant Valley slaughters Yankees every year for its town festival.
73	%% * TransparentCloset: Falcon from ''Field of Screams''.
74	* VanishingVillage: [[spoiler:The twist in the original is that Pleasant Valley is actually one of these; when the few survivors call the police and return to the town, they discover it gone, and the police tell them that Pleasant Valley was never rebuilt after being destroyed during the Civil War, complete with finding a marker about the event, the heavy implication being that the townspeople seen through the film were actually vengeful ghosts.]]
75	* WarReenactors: The framework for setting up the deaths is that the protagonists are supposedly participating in a war re-enactment.

Context Film / TwoThousandManiacs