The Wizard of Gore
Encyclopedia
The Wizard of Gore is a 1970
film directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis
. It stars Ray Sager and Judy Cler. According to crew member Daniel Krogh in his book The Amazing Herschell Gordon Lewis (1983), the film was shot in Chicago, Illinois and a number of surrounding suburbs during the early summer of 1970.
This film was remade
in 2007
starring Crispin Glover
as Montag The Magnificent.
Montag agrees to appear on Sherry's show to perform a fire trick; when the cameras roll, he hypnotizes not only everyone in the studio, but also the viewing audience at home. With a wave of his hand, Montag starts a blaze and is guiding Sherry and two plainclothes cops toward it when Jack intervenes and pushes Montag into the fire instead. Screaming, the magician dies.
Back at home, Sherry and Jack have a drink as they discuss their strange experience. Suddenly, Jack laughs and begins peeling his own skin from his face to reveal that he is actually Montag. "What makes you think you know what reality is?" he asks Sherry before disemboweling her with his bare hands. However, still alive, she tells the baffled Montag that none of what has happened was real, and that even he is part of her illusion. "You are no longer even here," she informs Montag. "You'll have to start your little charade all over again."
"But I...I am Montag!" the magician stammers helplessly. Then he is back onstage, dazed, reciting the same speech that he delivered to his audience at the beginning of the film: "What is real? How do you know that at this second you aren't asleep in your beds, dreaming that you are here in this theater?" And in the audience an unimpressed Sherry turns to Jack, muttering, "You know what I think? I think he's a phony."
. Krogh also describes how the chainsaw sequence was filmed: two women, one whose upper body was exposed and another whose legs were exposed, played the single victim. A fake midsection filled with animal organs, mortician's wax and condoms full of stage blood were placed between the two women.
1970 in film
The year 1970 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 9 - Larry Fine, the second member of The Three Stooges, suffers a massive stroke, therefore ending his career....
film directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis
Herschell Gordon Lewis
Herschell Gordon Lewis is an American filmmaker, best known for creating the "splatter film" subgenre of horror...
. It stars Ray Sager and Judy Cler. According to crew member Daniel Krogh in his book The Amazing Herschell Gordon Lewis (1983), the film was shot in Chicago, Illinois and a number of surrounding suburbs during the early summer of 1970.
This film was remade
The Wizard of Gore (2007 film)
The Wizard of Gore is a 2007 splatter/noir film directed by Jeremy Kasten. It stars Crispin Glover as Montag the Magnificent, Kip Pardue as Ed Bigelow, Bijou Phillips as Ed's girlfriend Maggie, and the Suicide Girls as Montag's victims...
in 2007
2007 in film
This is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007...
starring Crispin Glover
Crispin Glover
Crispin Hellion Glover is an American film actor, director and screenwriter, recording artist, publisher, and author. Glover is known for portraying eccentric people on screen such as George McFly in Back to the Future, Layne in River's Edge, unfriendly recluse Rubin Farr in Rubin and Ed, the...
as Montag The Magnificent.
Plot
The film is about a magician called Montag the Magnificent (Ray Sager) who delivers hectoring speeches about the nature of reality to his audience and then performs mutilation tricks on female "volunteers". The women appear unharmed immediately afterward but later collapse, dead, in public or at home—mutilated in the same grisly fashion suggested by Montag's stage tricks (cut in half with a chainsaw, drilled through with a punch press, etc.). Audience member Sherry Carson (Judy Cler), a local TV talk show hostess, and her boyfriend Jack (Wayne Ratay) begin to suspect that Montag is somehow involved in the murders. He and fellow reporter Greg (Phil Laurenson) attempt to research the case but are unable to come up with any solid evidence.Montag agrees to appear on Sherry's show to perform a fire trick; when the cameras roll, he hypnotizes not only everyone in the studio, but also the viewing audience at home. With a wave of his hand, Montag starts a blaze and is guiding Sherry and two plainclothes cops toward it when Jack intervenes and pushes Montag into the fire instead. Screaming, the magician dies.
Back at home, Sherry and Jack have a drink as they discuss their strange experience. Suddenly, Jack laughs and begins peeling his own skin from his face to reveal that he is actually Montag. "What makes you think you know what reality is?" he asks Sherry before disemboweling her with his bare hands. However, still alive, she tells the baffled Montag that none of what has happened was real, and that even he is part of her illusion. "You are no longer even here," she informs Montag. "You'll have to start your little charade all over again."
"But I...I am Montag!" the magician stammers helplessly. Then he is back onstage, dazed, reciting the same speech that he delivered to his audience at the beginning of the film: "What is real? How do you know that at this second you aren't asleep in your beds, dreaming that you are here in this theater?" And in the audience an unimpressed Sherry turns to Jack, muttering, "You know what I think? I think he's a phony."
Cast
- Ray Sager as Montag the Magnificent
- Judy Cler as Sherry Carson
- Wayne Ratay as Jack
- Phil Laurenson as Greg
- Karin Alexana as Stage Girl #1
- Corinne Kirkin as Stage Girl #2
- Sheldon Reis as Audience Member
Special effects
In The Amazing Herschell Gordon Lewis, Daniel Krogh notes that the film's graphic gore effects were accomplished with two sheep carcasses. The carcasses, which had to be carried around for more than two weeks while the film was being shot, were soaked in Pine-SolPine-Sol
Pine-Sol is a registered trade name of Clorox for a line of household cleaning products. Although the original Pine-Sol formulation is pine oil based, all other cleaners sold under the Pine-Sol brand do not contain pine oil at all...
. Krogh also describes how the chainsaw sequence was filmed: two women, one whose upper body was exposed and another whose legs were exposed, played the single victim. A fake midsection filled with animal organs, mortician's wax and condoms full of stage blood were placed between the two women.
Legacy
- The film is cited as one of the most influential "gore pornSplatter filmA splatter film or gore film is a subgenre of horror film that deliberately focuses on graphic portrayals of gore and graphic violence. These films, through the use of special effects and excessive blood and guts, tend to display an overt interest in the vulnerability of the human body and the...
" movies in cinematic history. Its notoriety among cult horror fans inspired a remakeRemakeA remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
in 2007 of the same name produced by Jeremy KastenJeremy KastenJeremy Craig Kasten is an American filmmaker, known for his work in the field of independent horror as well as an editor.- Career :Kasten attended Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts and soon after moved to Los Angeles, California working various roles in film crews until learning the craft of...
and starring Crispin GloverCrispin GloverCrispin Hellion Glover is an American film actor, director and screenwriter, recording artist, publisher, and author. Glover is known for portraying eccentric people on screen such as George McFly in Back to the Future, Layne in River's Edge, unfriendly recluse Rubin Farr in Rubin and Ed, the...
. - Several bands have taken inspiration from the film. MetalHeavy metal musicHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
bands Rigor MortisRigor MortisRigor mortis is one of the recognizable signs of death.It may also refer to:*Rigor Mortis , a song by Cameo*Rigor Mortis , the thrash metal band*Rigor Mortis , the BBC Radio 4 comedy series...
, Electric WizardElectric WizardElectric Wizard are a stoner metal band from Dorset, England that formed in 1993. The band have since recorded seven albums, at least three of which are now considered to be landmarks of their genre: their self-title debut, Electric Wizard, Come My Fanatics..., and Dopethrone...
, ImpetigoImpetigo (band)Impetigo was an Illinois-based hardcore punk, grindcore, and death metal band. They were among the first bands to use clips from films and other media as intros for their songs...
, and The Martichora each have songs titled "Wizard of Gore" (the latter three containing samples from the film). Also, a film segment was sampled by electronicaElectronicaElectronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
outfit CoilCoil (band)Coil were an English cross-genre, experimental music group formed in 1982 by John Balance—later credited as "Jhonn Balance"—and his partner Peter Christopherson, aka "Sleazy". The duo worked together on a series of releases before Balance chose the name Coil, which he claimed to be...
on the album Stolen and Contaminated Songs. Similarly, the son of co-star Phil Laurenson (Andrew Laurenson) fronts the melodic death metalMelodic death metalMelodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...
band Common Dead and has also referenced the film. - The film is referenced and a scene is shown in the 2007 film JunoJuno (film)Juno is a 2007 comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody. Ellen Page stars as the title character, an independent-minded teenager confronting an unplanned pregnancy and the subsequent events that put pressures of adult life onto her. Michael Cera, Olivia Thirlby, J. K....
, when the main character finds a VHSVHSThe Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
copy of the film in the living room of the adoptive father. The two watch the film together after Juno shows interest, who then praises the "insanity" of the gore sequences. - A similar plot line was used in an episode of the CWThe CW Television NetworkThe CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
series ReaperReaper (TV series)Reaper is an American television series that focuses on Sam Oliver, a "reaper" who works for the Devil by retrieving souls that have escaped from Hell.The series originally ran on the CW from September 25, 2007 to May 26, 2009....
.