Day 25: 2000 Maniacs

I remember reading about this movie a long, long time ago but had never seen a frame of it until I moved to Boston. The first concert I went to in Boston was The Flaming Lips with an opening act called Enon. As a background for their set, Enon had scenes playing from a movie where it looks like some regular people are accosted by hillbillies and killed one by one. Somehow, through Jungian shared memory, I knew that movie was 2000 Maniacs. Later that year, I sought it out and I was right.

The movie was made in 1964 which somehow lends it a snuff movie authenticity that slick new horror doesn't have. The plot is that a group of kids out for some fun take a wrong turn and end up in a town that shouldn't exist. The townsfolk (including the mayor) come out to welcome them and ask them to stay for their anniversary celebration. Oddly, everyone in town is white and speaks like Colonel Sanders. Soon, the kids realize that they aren't the guests of honor but rather prey for a series of horrific blood sports (one kid is sealed into a barrel with nails driven inside and rolled down a hill). The story of the town is kind of original and creepy so i don't want to spoil it here. Let's just say, this is some early gore worth checking out. I can't speak for the remake.