The Wizard of Gore

source: The Wizard of Gore

The title of this movie alone is a good enough reason to see it; the fact that it features buckets of the Godfather of Gore's trademark red stuff is another one! It has to be said that this isn't a good movie by any stretch of the imagination, but there's plenty of fun to be had with it, and anyone who digs HG Lewis is bound to enjoy themselves. The plot is more than obviously an excuse for HG to get his bucket of red paint out, as the simple plot follows an illusionist who makes his audience believe that he's brutally murdering young women from the audience as a part of his act. The scenes on the stage make up most of the film, and Lewis delights in showing us every speck of blood from the horrific sequences. Seriously, this guy earned himself the nickname 'The Godfather of Gore' for a reason! Anyway, the plot thickens (just a little) when the girls he 'murders' on stage begin turning up dead in the same fashion as his illusions - a TV presenter and her boyfriend soon get on the case, but as the bodies start to pile up...the show is allowed to go on, just so HG can think up even more gore scenes! The effects are really quite silly, and look like they cost the director little more than a few pence. However, you do get the impression that HG Lewis really put his heart into this film, and that makes up for the crappy effects...even if they do make you laugh more often than they make you cringe. I'm sure that Lewis would have loved to have Vincent Price star in this film, but he had to make do with regular collaborator, Ray Sager instead. Sager's role is silly anyway, but his performance makes it even more camp than it should be. The rest of the acting is terrible as well; but, to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way. The plot revolves entirely around the stage show, which takes place in a tiny, dingy, little arena with about ten seats in it. Really, the film just hops from one gore scene to another; and Lewis doesn't seem to know what to do with himself when there aren't any guts on the screen, as the 'filler' scenes are really quite boring. It all boils down to a really stupid finale...but it's one that makes it obvious that HG Lewis made this film a smile on his face, and I've got to say that I really enjoyed it!

"The Wizard of Gore" is not a movie.It's a piece of tool designed to insult a horror fan's intelligence.For me to describe this film is like describing what human fecal matter would look like after being thrown against a wall.A big mess of a movie,this film gets only one star because it had that midnight drive-in theater appeal going right along with it.I remember the days of going to those drive-ins and watching those gory blood and guts movies that had an effect on me 'til this very day.The difference between those films and "The Wizard of Gore" is that those films,even though they were silly,had a sense of unease because of the gore.They seemed real.As for "The Wizard of Gore",it was not even shocking.It was way too fake looking.I know this was back in the early 1970s and the technology for blood and gore effects weren't all that good.But,I have seen films(although,I can't remember which)also released in that time that seemed more realistic in terms of gore.I will admit that the gore in this film can be a little stomach churning.It's just the idea that I was expecting a better reaction from this film.Herschell Gordon Lewis is basically the kind of filmmaker that reminds me of one of those cult filmmakers like John Waters."The Wizard of Gore" is a cult classic to the fans who watch his films.I don't get all excited whenever his films come to DVD or VHS because there is no point in doing that.When I was eight,I have seen a lot of gory blood splattered films.Even though now they are considered to me as senseless,they had that "Ooh,wow.Look at that!".Or,it would have me cringing a bit because of the gore."The Wizard of Gore" made me want to laugh.I was uncovinced because the gore was uncovincing.Watching "The Wizard of Gore" is so bad,it makes me want to beat my head in for watching this film.

When I was a kid, I couldn't get enough of the Horror genre. Renting Horror flicks, on the weekend, from everywhere from Blockbuster to the smaller places like Video Warehouse. It wouldn't take too long to plow right through every Friday The 13th, every Elm Street, and yes, every watered-down Halloween disappointment, among countless others. Eventually, it would come to my attention that there is a whole other universe, an alternate universe, if you will, of Horror. I had discovered the wonderful world of vintage B-Horror. You know, stuff like Basket Case, Messiah Of Evil, and Burial Ground. Needless to say, it didn't take long to discover the ground-breakingly cheesy flicks of good ol' H.G. Lewis. Known mostly for his earlier stuff like Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs, Herschell Lewis would later go on to make a movie that really stood out for me. One of the goriest, and might I add one of the least well-thought-out Exploitation flicks of the 70's. This is The Wizard Of Gore. I sure am glad I like gore, because magicians are kinda lame. And if nothing else, this 1970 gore-epic teaches us this. If you like 'em unrealistic and confusing, then I assure you, you will approve of this lame-brained story, which involves, you guessed it, a magician. Montag The Magnificent. Played by Ray Sager, a man 30 years younger than what the role calls for. No problem. Nothing a little white spray-paint and fake-looking, uneven white eyebrows can't fix. Ridiculous-looking eyebrows are the least of Montag's problems. Because this guy is rude, irritable, kinda loud, and just plain unpleasant. In other words, Montag is a real bummer. This old codger, who is clearly in a bad mood, spends the first 10 minutes of the movie explaining to everyone why his magic doesn't suck. None of that "saw a woman in half" stuff... Well, actually, that's exactly what's gonna happen. Except it's gonna be authentic, and gory as all hell. And basically, it's just gonna be real, except this chick just gets up and walks off unharmed. So, that's basically why Montag's magic doesn't suck. Montag, as a person, on the other hand does suck. because the "magic", or whatever takes hold later on in the evening, and said chick literally falls apart, in all her gory glory. No cgi here, gang. Just excessive, fake-looking gore, complemented by awkward, inept acting along with the usual stupid dialogue. It was beautiful, I tell you. And might I add, the old, grainy VHS that I had originally seen this on was much more suitable for a movie such as this. The cleaned up pristine look of the screen totally ruins it, in my opinion. However, owning a movie you love on DVD is kind of necessary, considering all the cool little extras involved. The commentary being a good example of that. In the audio commentary, Herschell makes mention of his disdain for this film, which is funny considering he's the guy who made How To make A Doll and Blast-off Girls. And now this should be the part where I warn you of the evils of the remake, from a couple years ago. I could present my own separate rant, dedicated to my hatred for this film. Instead, I'm just gonna let you know that I only made it about a half an hour through, and let you make up your own mind. what a shame that Herschell's next film, The Gore Gore Girls would turn out to be his last for 3 decades. Herschell's long-awaited next project, Blood Feast 2 would end up 10, or hell, even 11 times gorier than anything he'd done before. As if things couldn't get any better, I would imagine a DVD release for Herschell's next film is right around the corner. So, if you happen to dig lewis, you may want to keep an eye out for The Uh-Oh Show!, starring Lloyd Kaufman, and the legendary Joel D. Wynkoop. But first things first. If you've seen Blood Feast and/or Two Thousand Maniacs, and you got the Lewis fever, The Wizard would be the next logical step. Passionately recommended to Gorehounds, young and old. 10/10

Although I have read countless accolades for many of the gore films of Hershell Gordon Lewis, I found the "gore" in this film to be incredibly stupid. Sure, there was a lot of fake blood--but the gore?! It often consisted of obviously fake mannequin heads and cow guts that just looked nothing like people guts. Perhaps in 1970 people thought this was realistic, but today with improved technology and an increase in the level of gore in films, this and other gore films of Lewis just seem dumb (despite their receiving a plug in the recent film, JUNO). This isn't to say every one of his films was bad...just all but 2 or perhaps 3. 'Genius' is a word way too casually used for Hershell Gordon Lewis. I prefer to use words like 'schlock-meister' or 'wizard of crap'. In this film, a stage magician specializes in gory tricks. He saws women in half or drives spikes in their heads--and yet they are just fine after the trick is complete. Oddly, hours later, they collapse--dead with injuries sustained from the tricks--as the injuries re-appear. The problem for me is that the guts are just stupid looking and the guy starring as the magician (Ray Sager) is a truly awful actor. Sager yells his lines and annunciates in a strange manner--and sports hair that looks like it was colored white using White-Out! This act comes to the attention of a local TV personality and her reporter boyfriend. She wants to book the magician on her show and later he wants to investigate him because all of his stage volunteers keep coming up dead hours later. It all culminates in a TV appearance where he tries to use his evil psychic powers on everyone in the studio AND at home! And, when it ends, the movie actually isn't quite complete. There are lots of mistakes made due to the little-known fact that Lewis is a lemur--this would explain the sloppy direction. Here are a few examples: the woman who collapses dead at a restaurant is still clearly breathing, the newspaper that you see at the 43 minute mark looks nothing like a real paper (the font and style are all wrong) and you can see the different cut and pasted portions peeling off if you pay attention. There is a tiny germ of a good story here but because the entire production is so sloppy and stupid, I can't recommend it to anyone except bad movie fans or those who actually believe that Lewis could direct. I could also see that many see this movie just as misogynistic as it's a film showing contempt for women as you see them hacked to pieces. But, considering how bad and stupid and poorly acted it all is, most who MIGHT be offended might just instead see the whole thing as a waste of time as opposed to something patently offensive.

This is a real fun one. "The Wizard of Gore" is another movie from the awesome Hershell Gordan Lewis and is filled with ridiculous gore, bad acting, and a storyline so out there you have to wonder what was going on in his head at the time. Ray Sager plays Montag the Magnificent a magician who does more then just pull the old rabbit out of the hat. No, Montag likes performing tricks that involve sawing women in half with a chainsaw, or ramming a metal spike through a woman's head, I think you get the idea. The magic part comes in when he is able to murder these women without the audience knowing. To the audience, it is nothing more then a trick. To us, the viewer, we see the goriness of what is really happening. Apparently, the women being murdered don't even realize they are dead until long after the performance is over when they just drop dead in public places. Will the police figure out what is going on and who is committing these horrible crimes? Ray Sager's performance as Montag is a lot of fun as most of his performance is him yelling and boasting. Obviously Montag has quite an ego. The gore effects are what you can expect from any HG Lewis film, cheesy but extremely gory and bloody, nevertheless. The acting is truly hilarious and is just awful, but this all works to the movies charm and the style. Let's face it, this is no award winning film here. I heard that a remake is in it's post production. I am not sure what to make of this as most remakes just suck. But on rare occasions we get a decent remake. Anyway, "The Wizard of Gore" is a great gore film and should not be missed. 8/10

While its strange, mystical sense of suspense aids it, this movie is pretty mediocre in all other aspects, and yet I still find myself enjoying it. It's got terrible acting, bad picture quality and shaky, flawed transitions between scenes (and even stranger ones when it tries to demonstrate the Wizard's "power"), but it's still enjoyable. I wouldn't call this a horror movie so much as a strange combination of fantasy and gore, but it fits my Halloween bill well enough. The Wizard of Gore doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but then, like Phantasm, it isn't really supposed to. There is a 2007 remake of this around, and I might just be inclined to check it out, to see what modern film-making could do for this little gem...

"The Wizard of Gore" is typical of Herschell Gordon Lewis--the in-your-face eviscerations where innards are strewn about with wild abandon is the signature of his work, yet what comes off as completely unexpected (and quite surprising) is the surrealistic turns this film takes. Granted, Lewis doesn't give us an existential, Bergman-esquire meditation on the meaning of life, but he infuses some clever camera tricks and mystic concepts that put reality into question. The plot centers around a boisterous illusionist/hypnotist named Montag, whose specialty is finding elaborate methods of simulating murder on-stage, only for the female volunteers to later wind up dead via the exact methods (sword-swallowing, head-hammering, chainsaw evisceration, etc.). Granted, Lewis stalls out in fully realizing the tenuous link between fantasy and reality, but at least he tries, which merits "The Wizard of Gore" an extra star in my book.

Utter madness from HGL and probably his most accessible and entertaining film. The central premise is brilliant - someone should remake it - but all the weird subplots and scenes all add to the deranged atmosphere. The gore is pretty nastier and a definite progression from A Taste Of Blood and The Gruesome Twosome. The "eyeball" scene really surprised and shocked me because for once the effects are reasonably convincing. But it's Ray Sager's pompous portrayal of Montag that is the most appealing aspect for fans of kitsch and the ending is a genuine eyebrow raiser. Questions of existentialism and hardcore gore? It's all here. You will, at some points, question your sanity. That is, of course, if we're not all a figment of someone's imagination. Indeed, are you in fact sitting reading this review now? Or are you actually at home, asleep, dreaming that you are here? Aaaaagh!

Anyone who knows my opinions knows exactly what I think of Herschell Lewis's films in general. I would have passed on writing any more reviews of them until I and a few friends spent (and I mean "spent" in the sense of "exhausted", "used up", "wasted") an evening watching "The Wizard of Gore". Naturally, I had seen it before, but my attention was always focused on the extremely inept (yet still revolting) gore effects. Then, one of my friends watching pointed out just how dull the bits in between the gore scene were. Quite true. Even the lead-ins to the supposed shock scenes crept along at a snail's pace, completely dissipating any tension there might have been. It is almost impossible for anyone to pay attention to this film because for most of the film, nothing happens. Then, when the gore scenes come, you haven't been engaged by the film in any way. You really just don't care about what happens next. The Lewis cult people should give it up. Lewis is incompetent as a director and his movies are not innovative - just dull, repulsive little cinematic abortions.