Review of The Wizard of Gore (1970) by Jessi T — 21 Aug 2008

Here is a film where the title leaves nothing to the imagination and delivers in abundance. "The Wizard Of Gore" is an unabashed celebration of all things voyeuristic and wrong (or right if you consider yourself a gorehound).

Like most HG Lewis films, the concept is so bizarre that it's pure genius and the acting is so brutal that it can't be anything but entertaining. Ray Sagar plays Montag The Magnificent, an illusionist who prides himself on giving the audience exactly what their sick minds desire by torturing his female volunteers in the most hilariously gruesome manners ever conceived.

Each gag is more ridiculous and violent than the last, all completed with no shame or concern towards realism in the least. Rather than try to seduce the audience with story or plot development, "The Wiz" cuts out all the fat and goes straight for the jugular, figuratively dousing the audience with blood and guts by the truckload.

Mixed in are some moments that actually do attempt to create a sense of horror and usually, it works well enough to balance out the death sequences. For all its low budget glory, "The Wizard Of Gore" is a very unique piece of cinema history that has stood the test of exploitive time.