The Wizard of Gore (2007/Dimension Extreme DVD)
Picture:
C- Sound: C+ Extras: B- Feature: C-
In any
genre of film there are dues to be paid to the great filmmakers of the past who
helped to make cinema what it is today. The Wizard of Gore is an attempt to
make a dent in those dues by tipping its hat to the great Herschell Gordon
Lewis. Lewis is the father of
exploitation cinema. He was reportedly
the first person to put gore on celluloid and he is the man who brought you
such classics as Two Thousand Maniacs!,
Blood Feast, Monster A Go-Go, and the original Wizard of Gore. This remake
has steeped itself in the soul of exploitation cinema while bringing in a more
modern counter-culture vibe by casting the Suicide Girls as the inevitably nude
victims of inevitably gruesome murders.
Featuring
Crispin Glover as the dazzling, murdering magician Montag the Magnificent, this
film has a plot that is both simple and complex at the same time. While it is fairly easy to figure out what is
going on, at least on one level, the filmmakers manage to keep you guessing
trying to figure out where they’re going with it. The one major shortcoming this film faces is
its attempt to be a classic noir. The
plot and execution were noir enough that the message would have gotten across
to someone who was paying attention; they didn’t have to put a fedora on the
main character, played by Kip Pardue. He
got lost in the suit they made him wear and the brim of his hat eliminated any
acting ability he may or may not have started with. But Kip Pardue is not why you watch this
movie. You watch it for either the
Suicide Girls, a love of exploitation cinema, Crispin Glover, or some
combination of the three.
Now once
you’ve gotten through the movie and figured out the plot, there are actually
some pretty decent extras on the disc.
Besides the standard commentary track, making-of featurette, photo
galleries, and possibly the worst outtake reel I have yet seen, the rest of the
extras are surprisingly good. The
deleted scenes reel stands out because the director explains before each scene
its background and why it was cut and the feature on the special effects is
pleasantly educational to those who are interested. Amusingly, the Suicide Girls have their own
featurette and it is the longest of them all.
There is also a storyboard comparison that is a testament to the
generally well-executed aesthetic of the film.
The
picture, in widescreen, has some noise issues.
The color is also oversaturated but if it was not done on purpose then
it’s a happy accident as it fits in nicely with the world of excess and
delusion in which the plot takes place.
The sound, in Dolby Digital 5.1, is well recorded, but the score is
unfortunately pretty bad.
For
people into horror, exploitation cinema, or just looking for “something weird”
this title comes well recommended. It
succeeds in all the places where you would expect it to fail and manages to
rise above the restraints of exploitation cinema while wholeheartedly embracing
its soul and history. But, and I can’t
stress this enough, this movie is not for everyone. This film is full of violence, boobs and all
the connotations that come with mixing the two.
- Matthew Carrick
