Fango recently caught up with 2001 MANIACS director/co-writer Tim Sullivan, who gave us the skinny on his upcoming sequel 2001 MANIACS: BEVERLY HELLBILLYS. “I’ve been able to obtain the rights to the franchise,” Sullivan tells Fango, “and the sequel will truly be the vision that my writing partner Chris Kobin and myself always had for this series. 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. It will probably come out January or February 2008, and we’re aiming for a theatrical on this one—never say never.”
Fans might be most excited to find out about two genre veterans who have been added to the sequel’s cast. “Tony Todd is playing a character called Jim Crow, who is the archetype of the slavery element of Pleasant Valley,” reveals Sullivan. “He has a very strong presence in the sequel. Bill Moseley will also be on board as a character called Doc Tickles,” teases the director, who states that the sequel will also answer many of the questions posed by the original movie. “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.”
Working closely with Sullivan on BEVERLY HELLBILLYS is the Godfather of Gore himself, Herschell Gordon Lewis, who originated the Pleasant Valley mythology with his 1964 drive-in classic TWO THOUSAND MANIACS! “Herschell and I have been talking quite frequently, and let’s just say that the Godfather of Gore is serving as a godfather on this project,” Sullivan says. “And let me also say that we might be doing some more projects of his in the future—and you can include [TWO THOUSAND producer] David Friedman in that as well. In fact, you won’t believe which one of his pictures we might remake.” Fango is happy to provide a clue: It isn’t the much-rumored SHE FREAK!
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