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Herschell Gordon Lewis's 1970 gore-exploitation film was entertaining in a way that only an exploitation film could be. The movie would be quite disturbing if only the special effects were more convincing. However, with the era of this film in mind,I would have to admit that it was pretty bold. I would say that the acting was descent, in a very 70's, Last House on the Left sort of way. The dialogue of Montag the Great was the best in the film. I enjoyed his speeches, even though most of them were nearly identical to the last. The look on his face, however, when he performed his grisly "illusions" indicated his own amusement in glorifying the acts of "Human Butchery", which was a great touch.I would say that The Wizard of Gore is a great flick to watch in a crowd, or just with a friend, because I assure you that it's entertaining,(especially if you're like me and you find gore and dismemberment to be the cornerstone of any good horror movie). I can't say that it will leave you in awe, but I will say that any hardcore horror fan should see it. And even though I like Crispin Glover as an actor, do yourself a favor and cross the 2007 remake of The Wizard of Gore off your "to see" list, unless you like the feeling of having wasted your time. Check the 1970 version out. It might be cheesy, but hey, that shouldn't stop someone with a love for horror.
Posted By: Meat Cleaver at 2:44pm, October 11, 2009
I'm a little surprised by the comments. This movie was great ! Sure, the acting was bad, But the gore was amazing. The end is just a total mindfuck... Better than the remake, That's for sure.
Meh. I was hoping for more but it's better than the remake.
The over the top acting is fun most of the time and the effects are laughable. Particularly the sword swallowing scene.
The crazy ending was a bit off putting, but it fit with the all the other cheese leading up to it so it's acceptable.
Nothing great, but I do have this to say to Juno: HOW DARE YOU SAY THIS MOVIE IS BETTER THAN SUSPIRIA! ESPECIALLY AFTER ONLY WATCHING A HALF HOUR OF IT!
* Just to get this out of the way: Just because I give this a low score does NOT mean it isn’t an enjoyable movie. It simply means it’s inferior to other movies.
1970s horror cinema seemed to be in conflict with itself. It’s obvious that a lot of horror directors of the time wanted to make serious, mature, realistic, truly terrifying pieces— Straw Dogs, Alien, The Exorcist. It’s also obvious that a lot of horror directors of the time wanted to make immature, cheesy, ridicules pieces—Suspiria, The Omen, The Wizard of Gore. It’s almost impossible to believe the two polar opposites could come out of the same decade. But I guess every generation has filmmakers who grow up and those that don’t. With all of that said, The Wizard of Gore is the only movie in the latter group that I can actually find pretty cool. It’s no masterpiece. I’m not even sure it’s even worth a watch, but if you do watch it, it’s not that bad.
The plot is very creative for a 70s movie, and that threw me off guard. I was planning on typing this section of the review ranting about how unoriginal the movie was, but I can’t do that, for which I’m grateful. The first 20 minutes are an absolute blast. However, sadly, after that point the plot takes a predictable average-man-turned-detective turn strait into a pit of boredom. The scenes that were initially pretty cool just turned repetitious and even a little annoying as they replayed over and over again throughout the movie. By the end of the movie, you’ll easily start to see that you’ve just watched a predictable episode of The Twilight Zone, complete with cheesy reversal-of-expectations ending. The acting is laughable, as you probably expected. It’s really saddening how such a great premise received such terrible execution.
Speaking of executions—how was the gore? Well, first and foremost, the gore effects are some of the worst I’ve ever personally seen in a 70s movie. People are replaced by obvious mannequins. The blood looks more like ultra-red clown paint than realistic plasma. Guts are represented by what appears to be red and black wads of paper and look about as much like real organs as jelly doughnuts do. The actually amount and intensity of the gore isn’t even that special. This is an exploitation film, so, obviously there is going to be a decent amount, but it’s nothing compared to today’s standards whatsoever. The pretentious losers who call this the goriest movie of all time, or even one of them, really need to watch popular movies. Just because a movie is obscure like this one does not mean it’s gory. Just because a movie is popular doesn’t mean it’s made by weak pansies. In this case, that generalization I just made proves true.
But regardless of all that, this is still a decently fun movie. It isn’t going to make you throw up, but it will make you laugh, and there’s nothing wrong with that. If you’re a hardcore horror fan that must see any and all horror films, this isn’t going to be the worst you see. If you’re just a casual viewer, there is no reason for you to even waste your time here. Go watch a Takashi Miike movie—like Gozu—and you’ll get the same experience, but with a much better story and much better production value. If you want over-the-top gore in similar style, check out Brain Dead. There is just no reason to watch this movie unless you absolutely are forcing yourself to do so.
Overall, The Wizard of Gore is fun, but not fun enough. It’s gory, but not gory enough. The story is creative, but quickly falls into clichés. I give it credit for trying, and I’m glad I viewed it, but it’s no classic. Then again, neither are most of the movies that are labeled such.
Posted By: Bloodymuffins at 1:50am, November 17, 2008
I found this movie to be very amusing. The acting was absolutely terrible and the gore was complete cheese but it all had a certain charm to about it that made the film enjoyable. It was definitely worth a watch.
when a remake is done, you get a 50/50 shot @ it will be good. i DID like this one! i enjoyed crispin glover, he play the wiz like a tv evalgelist, heavy on the camp. gore was good, too. if you take the movie for what it is, (mindless exploitation,) you may be pleasantly surprised!!
Posted By: Anthropophagus at 11:23pm, September 10, 2008
One of the most dreadfully-acted, lazily-made and written pieces of utter filth I've ever seen. Absolutely appalling excuse for entertainment, and a just as awful excuse for trash cinema.
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