New Blood for New Maniacs

By Jon Condit
May 11th, 2007

I'd read some early stuff about Tim Sullivan’s follow-up to his ultra-gory debut, 2001 Maniacs, but it seems like a lot has changed since those days, all for the good.

The director recently chatted with Fangoria about the sequel, 2001 Maniacs: Beverly Hellbillys, and revealed that both Tony Todd and Bill Moseley have joined the cast of the sequel, which he hopes to have in the can and out the door by January or February of 2008.

We’ll also learn a lot more backstory on the maniacs this time around. "You will find out that Granny Boone [once again played by Lin Shaye] is definitely an item with Mayor Buckman [Robert Englund], which we only hinted at in the first film. You’ll also discover how Buckman got his eyepatch and how the people of Pleasant Valley got cursed."

Sullivan is doing right by the horror gods by keeping the Godfather of Gore himself, H. G. Lewis, close to the production of the film, which is a sequel to the remake of Lewis’ original Two Thousand Maniacs, as I’m sure you know. "It’s Russ Meyer with blood and guts — this is not meant to be a horror movie in the style of the Hills Have Eyes or Texas Chainsaw Massacre remakes. It is meant to be Monty Python, but with gore," Sullivan promised. Personally I can’t wait for it!

- Johnny Butane