1864, April 22. I remember that day like it was yesterday. A renegade troop of northern soldiers fighting the so called “Civil War” raped our women, murdered our children, even took out my God damn eye. I can still hear granny’s cries as they burned Pleasant Valley to the ground. They killed us all, doomed us to a life in limbo. Nothing more than ghosts seeking revenge. Guess that’s the way the good Lord wants it; eye for eye, tooth for tooth, as the Old Testament says. One thing’s for certain, our souls ain’t ever gonna find rest 'til all 2001 are avenged.
In 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams it’s time again to celebrate the Civil War massacre of the inhabitants of Pleasant Valley, the Guts and Glory Jamboree. Reprising their roles from 2001 Maniacs is Lin Shaye (Snakes on a Plane, Wolf Moon) as Granny Boone, Christa Campbell (Day of the Dead, Revamped) as Milk Maiden, and Ryan Fleming (Time) as Hucklebilly. Replacing Robert Englund as Mayor Buckman is Bill Mosley (House of 1000 Corpses, The Graves), and Harper Alexander is now played by Nivek Ogre (Repo, The Genetic Opera, singer for Skinny Puppy). Along with the town mainstays there's a myriad of townsfolk to help in the Guts and Glory Jamboree. Joining this year’s festivities are the cast and crew of a reality show looking for a location in which to shoot a pilot episode and make fun of some locals. Imagine the fun when these northerners decide that the inhabitants of Pleasant Valley would be perfect for their brand of humor.
The cast consists of Rome Sheridan (Katie Marie Johnson – Nightfall), Tina Sheridan (Asa Hope – film debut) and boy toys K-Jay (Jordan Yale Levin – producer, film debut) and Falcon (Trevor Wright – Vacancy 2: First Cut). The crew is Val (Andrea Leon – Hood of Horror), Jesus (Alex Lauria – Don’t Mess With the Zohan), Black Cherry (Larayia Gaston – film debut), Jerry Schmit (Miles Dougal – Detroit Rock City), and Bristol Bush (Alana Curry – Revamped).
The citizens of Pleasant Valley didn’t really need an excuse to take their frustrations out on our travelers. The only way for the maniacs to find peace is to kill one northerner for every massacred inhabitant, all 2001 of them. Nothing says they can’t be creative doing it though.
Special Features include:
The Making Of 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams
DVD Commentary With Writer/Director Tim Sullivan And Select Crew
Slideshow
2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams is a pretty good sequel to the original. A good mix of gore, tension and humor make this franchise interesting, not to mention the southern belles. Losing Robert Englund concerned me at first, but Bill Mosley did an excellent job as George W. Buckman and while originals like Miss Peaches are missing, the new residents more than make up for their loss. Notably is Scarlet Red (Nicole Rae – film debut), China Rose (Kathryn Le – Valentine’s Day) and Crow (Ahmed Best – Star Wars: Episodes I – III) – don’t forget Lester (Adam Robitel – Return to Sender) and Jezebel the sheep. The only problem I have with this offering is that the humor, at times, seemed forced and slapstick. After all is said and done, if you are fan of the original this will not disappoint. This franchise may not be for everyone, but it’s for me.
ComicsOnline.com gives 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams 3 ½ suck my Dixie’s out of 5
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