[click on photos |  | The Gruesome Twosome (1967) was the last full-fledged gore film from
Herschell Gordon Lewis for several years. While the director's trademark
bloodletting made occasional appearances in such films as She-Devils on
Wheels and A Taste of Blood, Lewis applied himself to a variety of
relatively "dry" projects, as well--ranging from adult dramas to
children's films. The Wizard of Gore marked his full-fledged return to
the arena subtly suggested by the title...
Montag the Magnificent (Ray Sager) is a stage magician whose actual powers
go completely unsuspected by his audiences. After an impressive opening act
in which he beheads himself via guillotine, his subsequent illusions seem
ridiculously simple by comparison--until he announces the old standby of
"sawing a woman in half." Even magicians have become modernized, according
to Montag--hence, the trick will be performed with a state-of-the-art
chainsaw... and in full view of the audience. With his volunteer secured to
a table, Montag gleefully performs the bisection. But while he (and the
viewer of the film) sees the ghastly details in loving closeup, Montag's
audience sees a bloodless "miracle"--indeed, the subject (now in a trance)
rises from the table in one piece and retakes her seat to a round of
applause. Reality doesn't catch up until well after she's left the
theater--upon arrival at a restaurant, she suddenly falls apart in full view
of everyone! Night after night, Montag finds new ways to dispatch his
hapless volunteers: there's the iron spike, a variation on sword swallowing,
and most outrageously of all, the "punch press of doom." Always clean and
safe to Montag's audience, always horrendously gory to the film viewer, and
always fatal outside the confines of the theater.
Talk show host Sherry Carson (Judy Cler), intrigued by Montag's act but
unaware of its true nature, invites Montag to appear on her show (perhaps
under his hypnotic influence), paving the way for Montag to plan the
ultimate trick on an untold number of television viewers...
The surrealism of the storyline is bolstered with reality-challenging
elements from beginning to end. Montag's introductory speech challenges the
audience (including the viewers of this very film) to prove that they're
actually watching the show and not merely dreaming themselves in the
theater. No explanation whatsoever is given for the origins of Montag's
powers; his goals and motivations are similarly obscure. Montag is seen
performing a nightly ritual in which the bodies of his victims are spirited
off to a secret location inside a cemetery; no rationale is ever offered.
And while many mystery-thrillers have offered a "nothing is what it seems"
finale, it's never been done in quite the way Lewis does it here.
Why? According to Lewis, there IS no answer, and he's surprised anybody
would ever try to make sense out of it. He simply wanted to make an "unreal"
film with plenty of eye-popping gore. And yet it is this very element of
surrealism that makes this movie of Lewis's best-regarded films (though the
director himself confesses little affection for it).
Something Weird's DVD features an audio commentary between Lewis and Mike
Vraney. The expected behind-the-scenes anecdotes are all there: we hear how
editor Ray Sager (real name Ray Szegho) found himself with the lead role at
the last minute, how the crew reacted to the various gore effects, etc. But
a good deal of the commentary will be of particular interest to fans of the
director, as it also covers much of his most obscure work, including his own
experiment in live theatre (the short-lived Blood Shed in Chicago) and
such lost films as Miss Nymphet's Zap-In and the political comedy-drama
Year of the Yahoo (one of Lewis's personal favorites). While there's
extreme gore to spare on the screen, there's far more under discussion here,
making this commentary track one of the best in this series.
The theatrical trailer is also included, as is a new "Gallery of Exploitation
Art" showcasing Lewis's solo films. The Wizard of Gore was the director's
penultimate gore film. While it seems that all possible stops were pulled
out here, we're warned (on the commentary track) that we haven't seen
anything yet... and sure enough, the most extreme and disturbing was yet to
come!
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