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Now, before I have an angry mob of pitchfork wielding horror fans trying to chase me out of town, it is important to say that I love the 1970 version that Lewis (The Godfather of Gore) put together, but let’s be honest, shall we? Lewis did not make great films; in fact, he made downright awful films that were designed to shock, surprise, and gross out, but never were they designed to be good cinema! This, of course, is exactly why we love them so…because they were atrociously bad, over-the-top exercises in…well, excess; so bad that often they defy any descriptions other than trash cinema, schlock and sleaze. So while I understand why someone doesn’t want a remake of Black Christmas, because that film was fantastic when it was first made and the remake was far inferior and utterly worthless; but when it comes to remaking a horrible (albeit amusingly adored) movie and doing something better with it…I say go for it. Much to my surprise, Kasten and Chassler DID go for it…in a big way. Given the lowbrow and gutter-level aim of the original, there were not a lot of expectations for the remake. These guys could have sat back, taken it easy, played it safe and delivered what they knew would be a campy (and easy) reimagining, complete with horrible acting, worse dialog and tons of crap gore effects. Instead, what they achieved is a full-fledged and genuine horror flick, that is nowhere near perfect, but pretty damn enjoyable all the same. With a forward moving talent for good filmmaking, and an eye on the past classics of sleaze and exploitation guiding them, I predict great things from these two in the future…but for now, let’s take a look at The Wizard of Gore. Edmund Bigelow is a trust fund kid. With money and time enough for the idle hands activities of his choice, he has decided to immerse himself into the post-punk underworld of Los Angeles, covering the parties, events and characters of this society in his self-published newsprint rag. Strutting through the ranks of strippers, fire dancers, musicians and drug dealers with his invented persona of a 1940s tabloid journalist, Edmund has become not only a recognizable character, but a welcomed addition to any scene. But having seen it all, and filtered it though the skeptical and cynical eyes of the “media”, it is getting harder and harder for him to stay entertained. What he wants is something new, something fresh. What he wants, he finds in Montag the Magnificent. Drawn in by a cryptic flyer and a inquisitiveness driven by boredom, Edmund discovers Montag’s act to be just the wake up call his dull senses have been waiting for. Montag is a showman…a blowhard…a man with a lot to say that most wouldn’t be interested in hearing. He spouts platitudes of morality, points fingers into the depravity of the human condition, and waxes philosophic about the failings of the soul; and does all this with a haughty arrogance that would turn away most audiences. However, his shows are packed with spectators, his act totally unavoidable. Montag has a hook. Through the motions of modern stage magic, Montag draws a “volunteer” from the crowd, places them in a grand-illusion contraption, and then proceeds to murder, disembowel, dissect, mutilate, and otherwise destroy the unknowing person right before the eyes of a stunned, horrified and fearful crowd. As panic ensues and the scene begins to get out of hand, Montag reveals the poor victim alive and well…the show is complete and the message delivered. But there is something more happening here than stage magic… The Wizard of Gore is just as much about one man’s decent into insanity and coming face to face with his own personal demons as it is about the man called Montag and his murderous magic show. Crispin Glover (Willard, River’s Edge) gets the movie poster and top billing as Montag, but in truth he is supporting cast (and doesn’t live up to his own hype here either)…a tool used to prod Kip Pardue’s character of Edmund through a startling metamorphosis. Edmund, always detached, always the viewer and never the participant, is about to be thrust directly into involvement…with what, he is not so sure. Murder, madness, rage, psychosis…all secrets that lie within the real Edmund, tucked tightly away under his protective persona of voyeur…all about to be laid bare. In remarkable ways, The Wizard of Gore plays very closely to Jacob’s Ladder, and while I wouldn’t dare place this film on that same level, I certainly see similarities. The themes of mind control, drug fueled insanity, and an ever downward spiraling journey ending ultimately at a dirty and uncomfortable truth are certainly well used in both instances. But before I begin to portray this film too far off its true course, let’s get back to the gore. If you’ve come for the gross, you’ve come to the right place. There is plenty of nasty carnage to go around in this film, and frankly it couldn’t be any other way with a heritage and title like this one. Unfortunately, this film employs the most heinous and offensive of all modern horror additions…that of CGI blood. Seriously people, there cannot be an easier or less budget effecting addition to a film than practical effect blood. Sure you might have to spend a half-hour on the internet learning to make your own blood pumps for spray, and you may even have to waste a few hours playing with the coloring and consistency mix, but for the love of God the blood needs to be tangible. While there is still gobs and gobs of the “real” flowing red stuff, it is totally detracted from when torrential geysers of grue spray across the screen and promptly disappear mid air. Computer generated gore effects steal the very soul from a horror film…a genre which was built and founded on the very skills that these stupid computers are now destroying. The Wizard of Gore manages to overcome this misstep through the use of great sound editing, fighting fire with fire I suppose. The audio cues of rib-splitting, limb-severing and flesh-melting are so deliciously disgusting it is still hard to get through the scenes without flinching a little. For those of us who have seen it all, I think that this is a welcomed addition and a much needed attack on senses that have not been so desensitized. But if my eyes were looking for stimulation, then The Wizard of Gore still manages to deliver yet again. In a film about post-punk deviancy in which girls get stripped and slaughtered, it is a no-brainer in retrospect that the Suicide Girls were the go-to. The rise of these tattooed punk and goth girls whose adult website has clawed to the top in a world where blond bimbo has reigned supreme for decades is remarkable. The fact that the Suicide Girl phenomena has moved outside the computer screen and into traveling variety show, printed media, charitable events, television series’ and appearances and now film, is even more impressive. Their role in this movie was fairly cut and dry…show up, get naked (a lot) and get brutally killed. While this blunt admission may seem to detract from the lofty reach of this film I’ve spoken of already, let’s not forget that this is an H.G. Lewis remake…a man whose entire career was built on blood and boobs. As if you could want even more, Dimension Extreme has put together a great bevy of extra material for the DVD release. Outtakes, deleted scenes, commentary, a making-of and behind-the-scenes, a Suicide Girl featurette, and galleries filled with all the gross stuff make this one well rounded release. But speaking of releases, be aware that there is a Rated version of this film swimming around the big-box stores and you DON’T want that version. Buying this disc in edited form flies in the face of everything it was made to be…so steer clear and look for the Unrated tag on the cover. So while Crispin Glover manages to barely hit his mark, and Bijou Phillips’ character should have been recast as…well, anyone else really, the real stars here are the filmmakers. A pretty darn good flick combined with a great DVD release, combined with freaking Jeffrey Combs AND Brad Dourif (two of my favs) means this one will be getting tossed in the player fairly regularly. If horror nuts could get past the hype of “remake”, haters could move beyond fact that the Suicide Girls are more popular than they are, and folks like me can get beyond the fact that Crispin Glover is probably always going to be seen as a good actor…well, then I think we could ALL enjoy this movie. I’ve done my part…you’re up! -aaron-
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