Wizard of Gore (2007) 5/10

When I found out that H.G. Lewis' The Wizard of Gore was being remade with Crispin Glover playing the role of Montag the Magnificent, I knew I had to check it out.

The film's script is based on the original film but doesn't copy it exactly. An underground newspaper writer who specializes in the seedy fetish scene in Los Angeles gets invited to witness a special performance of Montag The Magnificent, an extreme magician who's show involves the brutal killing of a volunteer only to have them re-appear unharmed. The volunteers are found the next day after the performance dead from wounds that mirror the illusion created by Montag. Who's killing these girls is such a grisly manner and why does the writer keep having nightmares that mimic the killings?

The original film was loaded with gore but crudely assembled with terrible acting and shoddy camera work. The remake tries to rectify this by heaping on the style and taking the original simple script and making it more complex. A wide color palette is used here that takes its ques from early Italian Gialli but with less skill. Many of the shots are so dimly lit that the HD video looks grainy and the subject is almost impossible to see. This effect comes off as accidental rather then intentional and honestly makes the film hard to watch, when the viewer can't even see what's going on in the damn scene! Most of the acting here is pretty good, except the main character. Why the director would invest money in small characters being played by competent actors but skimping on the guy we follow throughout the whole movie, i'll never know. Crispin Glover's performance is pretty damn good but don't expect a confident powerful character as found in the original. No, Crispin delivers a psychotic performance thats more akin to Willard then the original Montag. Oddly enough the gore isn't as plentiful as in the original. I don't know why you would re-make a film with Gore in the title and not try to out-do the original. Sure there's gore but for the most part it's shot from afar lessening it's gruesome impact. The close-up gore effects is part of what made the original so legendary and it's sorely missed here. The biggest problem with the film is the convoluted and confusing script. I really enjoy bizarre films, especially David Lynch's special brand of weird. His films give the impression that theres so much more going on just below the surface and if you look closely you'll figure it out. This film tries to explore our perceptions of reality and how they can be affected but instead just becomes confusing, and not in a fun way as in Lynch films. Here it just comes off as irritating and pretentious. In fact thats a pretty good description of the film.

Somehow the director took a simple schlocky film and turned it into pseudo noir that oozes pretension and disdain for the horror genre. It's almost as if the director felt he was above making a horror film and wanted to make something special but lacked the imagination and skill to do so.

Nudity-mild/medium

Gore - medium

Overall - 5/10