August 13th, 2009- Cult film veteran Bill Moseley (“House of 1,000 Corpses”) has just completed filming his role as Mayor Buckman in director Tim Sullivan’s latest installment of the horror/comedy franchise “2001 Maniacs”. The film, titled “2001 Maniacs:Beverly Hellbillys”, was shot entirely on location in Iowa.
According to Sullivan and producer Christopher Tuffin, it is as much a wild re-imagining of the preceding films as a sequel to them. Their intention was to raise the stakes beyond the ordinary glut of by-the-numbers horror releases to create a smart, genre-defying feature that pushes every limit to the extreme. Tuffin compares “Maniacs” to an episode of “South Park” or “The Simpsons” in the sense that “Maniacs” is nothing less than a carnival house mirror held up to American culture.
“Over the years I was approached many times to write and direct a sequel, but I waited until we not only had a storyline that served as a worthy successor to “2001 Maniacs”, but also the creative freedom to push the envelope open even further in a smart and funny way”, says Sullivan. “Then on the eve of the election of Barack Obama as the nation’s first African-American president, I saw the opportunity to once again use the residents of Pleasant Valley as vehicle to expose the deep rooted prejudices of all segments of our society in a way that would hopefully make everyone realize the absurdity of their biases, while also sneaking in a few laughs in at the same time.’
Moseley heads an ensemble cast that includes Lin Shaye (“Snakes on a Plane”), Nivek Ogre (“Repo! The Genetic Opera”) Christa Campbell (“Day of the Dead”), Ahmed Best (“Star Wars: The Phantom Menace”), Trevor Wright (“Shelter”) and telenovela vixen Andrea Leon (“Hood of Horror”).
The film is being financed in part by Tax Credit Finance and Iowa based Southern Discomfort, LLC. The film is being produced by BloodWorks’ Christopher Tuffin (who also produced the previous installment), as well as Martin Shore and Mike Greene. Anthony Gudas, Matthew Chausse, David F. Friedman and Patrick Wabl serve as executive producers.
The film is being repped internationally by IM Global Home Entertainment, who have already secured distribution deals in the UK (Anchor Bay UK), Germany (Tiberius), Eastern Europe (SPI), Australia (Beyond), Middle East (Falcon), Turkey (D-Productions), Singapore (Golden V) and Taiwan (SSG).
“For horror fans internationally this is a great package – an established franchise, a cult director, a horror veteran like Bill Moseley surrounded by a hot young cast. We are very excited,” says Catherine Quantschnigg, head of sales for IM Global Home Entertainment.
The finished film will be unveiled at this year’s American Film Market in November.
