As an ode to the "Godfather of Gore" Herschell Gordon Lewis, 2005's 2001 Maniacs was a love letter from writer-director Tim Sullivan that benefited from a droll sense of humour, some over-the-top gore, and the presence of genre favourite Robert Englund and memorable character actress Lin Shaye. Here we are five years later and Sullivan has decided to re-visit the murderous, cannibalistic Southerners of Pleasant Valley and, despite bringing back a good portion of the cast, the results are mostly disastrous with almost all of the attempts at humour feeling forced, the death scenes lacking the creative nastiness of the original, and the entire production looking a lot more lower-budget and cheaper than the first.

Opening with narration from the one-eyed Mayor Buckman (Bill Moseley, replacing Englund) over comic book panels we soon learn that the dastardly kinfolk of Pleasant Valley are having trouble luring new victims as well as no longer being tolerated by the local sheriff. This inspires the mayor to gather everyone up and set out on a cross America road trip to find more victims and bring the South to the North. Around the same time the cast and crew of the reality television show "Road Rascals" are heading to their next destination. An obvious parody of "The Simple Life" and its talentless co-stars Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie; the show features two spoiled, rich sisters who travel the country doing things usually left to the poor/normal folk.

Upon breaking down in the middle of Iowa, the reality crew soon crosses paths with Buckman and his gaggle who put up the façade of having a travelling jamboree. Looking to capitalize on this chance meeting, the show's producer decides to film everything little realizing their seemingly charming Southern guests are not only looney tunes but also out to eat them after they've murdered them in various bloody ways.

Considering the past enjoyment I've gotten out of campy gorefests similar to this it was pretty surprising when my patience with 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams ran out around the half-way point. The original film actually had a lot of fun tipping its hat at Lewis' Two-Thousand Maniacs and sported much of the same manic, drive-in flavoured tone while getting a lot of fuel out of its cast and bloody set pieces. As far as the sequel goes, it still gets some mileage from a few of the returning cast members and there is a pleasingly outrageous death involving a spiked chastity belt-like device but the rest of the kills are dull at best making the use of a table saw and the spiked barrel from Lewis' 1963 flick (of which I sadly missed in Sullivan's original) sadly uninspired. In fact, most of my time spent with this was wondering why they bothered making a sequel in the first place and why it was such a step backwards.

I'm beginning to think I might be one of the only genre fans on the planet that doesn't quite understand Moseley's cult status. Sure, the character of "Chop Top" was good for a few chuckles in the mostly disappointing Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 but it seems every time I see any mention of Moseley it's attached to that role - it just feels he's been riding that wave for way too long despite getting a comfortable career appearing in various horror flicks of differing quality. He can't quite take up the mantle from Englund here either. Shaye supplies the most enjoyable moments of the flick as she hams it up even more in her second go around as Granny getting an amusing chicken chopping sequence and even a Flashdance inspired song and dance number. Ryan Fleming, returning as Hucklebilly, also tends to steal most of his scenes but it's not too hard considering most of the actors around him are wooden at best.

It's a shame 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams couldn't have been better because I really believe Sullivan had good intentions going in and is a big fan of Lewis' work - it's unfortunate that the only thing I got out of this films' 84 minutes was the desire to watch the crudely made, but infinitely more entertaining, efforts that inspired this. (Chris Hartley, 7/31/10)

Directed By: Tim Sullivan.
Written By: Tim Sullivan, Chris Kobin, Christopher Tuffin.

Starring: Bill Moseley, Lin Shaye, Christa Campbell, Kevin Ogilvie.