The Wizard of Gore (2007)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Jeremy Kasten

Writer:

Zach Chassler (writer)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

What are you afraid of?

Plot:

Montag the Magnificent (Glover) is a master illusionist who performs at underground venues, selecting female volunteers from his rave-like audiences...

Plot Keywords:

Stage | Disembowelment | Nudity | Female Nudity | Magician

Cast

Kip Pardue	...	Edmund Bigelow
Bijou Phillips	...	Maggie
Crispin Glover	...	Montag the Magnificent
Jeffrey Combs	...	The Geek
Brad Dourif	...	Dr. Chong
Joshua John Miller	...	Jinky (as Joshua Miller)
Garz Chan	...	Annie
Tim Chiou	...	Chinese Mickey
Evan Seinfeld	...	Frank
Flux Suicide	...	Dell
Amina Munster	...	Cecelia
Cricket Suicide	...	Cayenne (as Cricket DeManuel)
Nixon Suicide	...	Rexina
Kenneth Moskow	...	Detective Packard
Shannon Hart Cleary	...	News Reporter (as Shannon Egem)

MPAA:

Rated R for bloody violence, sexuality/nudity and language.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | UK:18 | Singapore:M18 | Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Open Sky Entertainment

Quotes:

Montag the Magnificent: Just look at you. Just look at her, folks. In her armor, her shell. Just look at yourselves. Ridiculous. To hide is useless, my little crabs. It is an exercise in futility. What you all are is pulp, when the rind is split wide open.

Movie Connections:

References The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)

NOT your usual type of uninspired remake!

What a totally crazy (yet highly admirable) ambition to remake a Herschell Gordon Lewis film and actually add story depth, detailed character drawings, mystery and an atmosphere of morbidity! But it works. At least, … partially it works. Horror fanatics familiar with Lewis' oeuvre know that his films are entertaining and sensationally gross, but they always severely lacked in the plotting department. Of all Lewis' splatter films, "The Wizard of Gore", released in 1970, was definitely the one with the greatest potential and it's actually most unfortunate that the basic concept ideas weren't properly elaborated. Director Jeremy Kasten and writer Zach Chassler obviously must have felt the same way, as their remake cuts down on the gore (but luckily not to much) and attempts to give meaning and background to the whole idea of a maniacal magician. "The Wizard of Gore" is actually quite a unique oddity in the area of horror cinema nowadays! People always complain about the overload of needless remakes and modern directors' lack of own creativity (and they're right, too) but here's finally one remake that doesn't aspire to just bluntly copy the original, but to complete and perhaps even "improve" it. The result may not be entirely successful, but it's definitely a courageous approach and an overall enjoyable and recommended experience.

This new version largely maintains the same plot as Lewis' original film. Montag the Magnificent is a thoroughly uncanny magician/illusionist who, along with his hermit assistant, tours around with a quite unique and nightmarish act. He butchers seemingly random girls from the audience live on stage, yet when the audience panics and tries to flee, the light go on and the victims are standing there back in one piece again. A young reporter quickly discovers that the girls turn up dead the next day after all and their corpses are damaged exactly like they appeared to be on stage. Severely against the will of his girlfriend, he becomes obsessed with Montag's show and becomes entangled into a web of surreal nightmares, primitive drugs, physical agony and mental deterioration. "The Wizard of Gore" is still a pretty incoherent mess in which a lot of twists make absolutely no sense and a lot of vital questions remain unanswered, but at least you get the impression that Kasten and Chassler put thought and effort into providing an explanation for the events, and that is already an accomplishment to itself. Especially given the entirely illogical mishmash of half-decent ideas Herschell Gordon Lewis left behind. Moreover, this 2007 version benefices from a supremely macabre atmosphere and all the decors and set pieces look very grim. The gore and splatter effects clearly can't hold a candle to those of the original (at least, when it comes of outrageousness), but still there's some excellent carnage on display. Gore, nudity, atmosphere and immensely creepy carnival music … These are all great elements that allow you to overlook the occasionally senseless subject matter. Another thing which makes "The Wizard of Gore" a must-see for horror fanatics is the presence of no less than three phenomenal genre veterans, namely Crispin Glover, Brad Dourif and Jeffrey Combs.