"Don't judge a book by its cover." We've all heard that old adage and from a young age, we are told to not pre-judge things. But, it can be very hard not to, especially when there's a good reason to. For example, sequels to remakes don't have a very good track record. The Grudge 2, The Ring Two, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning were all disappointments which didn't live up to their predecessors, much less the original film. So, don't scorn me for not getting my hopes up about 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams.

2005's 2001 Maniacs was a remake of "Godfather of Gore" Herschell Gordon Lewis' 1964 movie Two Thousand Maniacs. The original film was like a warped version of "Brigadoon". During the Civil War, the town of Pleasant Valley was destroyed by Union troops and the citizens massacred. 100 years later, the citizens of the town reappear in order to lure "Yankees" to their doom. Tim Sullivan's remake kept the central premise and simply upped the ante on the gore and sex. 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams shows that the ghostly (?) Southerners are still up to these antics, lead by Mayor Buckman (Bill Moseley, taking over the role from Robert Englund) and Granny Boone (Lin Shaye). The murderous group has been having trouble luring Yankees into town, so they decide to head North. Buckman rounds up a few of the townsfolk and they take a school bus (?) to Iowa. (Is that the North?) There, they run into Rome and Tina Sheraton (Katy Marie Johnson and Asa Hope), rich sisters who are the stars of the show "Road Rascals", and their crew. As the program wants to show the spoiled girls interacting with Southerners, Producer Val (Andrea Leon) decides that it will be fun to hang out with the people from Pleasant Valley. Of course, Buckman and his group only have murder on their mind, and carnage soon ensues.

Apparently, I've seen 2001 Maniacs, but I can't remember a thing about it. Not only have I seen it, but I reviewed it and according to my review, I liked it. The same can't be said for 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams, which save for one joke, may be the worst movie ever made.

Despite the fact that the word "maniacs" is in the title and the DVD box cover features a bloody buzzsaw blade, 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams is not a horror film. Director Tim Sullivan states in the featurette included on the DVD that he wanted to make a comedy, and that's what he's attempted to do. The problem is that again, save for one joke, this movie is not funny. It tries way too hard and the jokes fall flat left and right. Most of the jokes are of the corny/punny variety or deal with sex and they are so sophomoric that even 12 year old boys would dismiss them. Speaking of sex, while Sullivan wanted to make a comedy, he's come much closer to making a soft-core porn movie, as the film contains an inordinate amount of T&A -- so much so that we wish that the participants would put there clothes back on and try to find a script.

Speaking of the script, I don't go into a movie called 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams looking for realism and continuity, but nothing here makes any sense. From the outset, the basic premise simply doesn't work. The idea of the Southern town rising from the grave seeking revenge is actually a good one. The idea of a group of the ghosts...are they ghosts?...getting on a school bus and driving to Iowa in order to find victims is just plain dumb. And spoofing The Simple Life, now that would have been a great idea seven years ago when the show was relevant. Once the main idea is presented, the movie devolves into a series of mind-numbing dialogue scenes which eventually lead to uninspired murders. Anyone who knows about the original film knows that it was all about the gross murders. The killings here aren't very impressive and the gore effects are surprisingly dull.

While Bill Moseley is certainly game, the movie really misses the presence of Robert Englund, who brought a certainly level of respectability and quiet menace to the movie. Nobody plays unhinged like Moseley, but that can only go so far. Speaking of miscasting, why is there an Asian woman amongst the Southerners? Is there any sort of historical accuracy to this? I guess that Lin Shaye is simply biding her time until The Farrelly Brothers make another movie. The movie is also held back by its budget at times. This is very evident in the fact that only a few of the "maniacs" make the trip.

I'm not above a good horror comedy, even one which is crude and rude. (Dead/Alive certainly comes to mind as a great example of this.) However, 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams is really scraping the bottom of the barrel. The jokes aren't funny, the sets are limited, and there's a Civil War era Southern man wearing eye-liner. Avoid this one at all costs.

2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams offers one good joke on DVD courtesy of First Look Studios. The film has been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the transfer is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The image is sharp and clear, showing no distracting grain and no defects from the source material. The colors look very good, most notably the bright blues and reds. The image does show some slight blurring and pixellation. The DVD carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. The dialogue sounds somewhat tinny and canned at times, almost as if all of it was dubbed. The in-film music sounds fine, and the musical cues provide some noticeable surround sound.

The 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams DVD contains only a few extras. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Director Tim Sullivan. "Behind the Screams: The Making of 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams" (18 minutes) is a detailed look at the film's production which is essentially narrated by an enthusiastic and frank Tim Sullivan. There's not much behind-the-scenes footage here, but Sullivan takes us through the cast, characters, and low-budget challenges. The "Slideshow" is a still gallery.