The Wizard of Gore (1970)

Written by Happywax   June 2011

Rating 7 out of 10

Director - Herschell Gordon Lewis

Cast

Ray Sager - Montag the Magnificent
Judy Cler - Sherry Carson
Wayne Ratay - Jack

Phil Laurenson - Greg

Jim Rau - Steve 

Hey all you Gore Hounds , your old pal Happys got a great flick for you tonight, this was one of the first movies I ever rented when I was old enough to get my very own Jumbo video rental card , Ohhhh the memories I have of spending hours in that back room looking at horror movies, oohh wait those weren't horror movies in that room, aww well still great memories anyways , actually the were magnificent and Montag the Magnificent (Ray Sager) is just that: Magnificent. Right in front of his audience's eyes, Montag chainsaws, spikes, decapitates, and performs a whole array of other mutilating acts. But, with a wave of his hands and a bit of hypnotism, he repairs them with a snap. Unfortunately for his 'willing volunteers,' as soon as their hypnotism lifts, they literally fall apart at the seams. Now, it's up to a talk-show host (Judy Cler) and her fiancé (Wayne Ratay) to uncover the mysteries that lie beneath the illusionist surface of Montag the Magnificent.

Obviously this is not the perfect film. . . like many of the splatterfests/gore features of the 60s & 70s, it's a very low-budget affair ($60,000 in 1970 would be less than $350,000 today) that is quite apparently more concerned with shock & gore than, you know, great writing, direction, and sound quality. But, that's what you're supposed to expect when you watch a film like this. Therefore, it's better to judge it as a splatter film rather than some type of masterpiece of film-making. And, as a splatter film, it's solid gold, Montag is a fascinating subject and his work is extremely shocking. The story works well from the 'hypnotism' and 'double deaths' for Montag's victims to the 'heroes' who must investigate him. . . it all worked.

 While the sound & video quality were obviously not superb, a better DVD with more care for remastering could solve that. The acting wasn't unbearable, especially for a grindhouse splatter film. But, what's most important: The gore. While it was obviously not believable in some parts (parts where it probably wasn't supposed to be (like Montag's decapitation at the very beginning)), it was still utterly grotesque and real enough for me. Fans of HGL and similar splatter-makers will not be disappointed in this one. And as always your old pal as a treat for you, after hours and hours of searching, ok ok I only spent a couple of minutes, but non the less I was able to find the Entire movie "The Wizard of Gore" on line and Ive posted on here for all you Gore Hounds to Enjoy!!!!!!