The Wizard of Gore

An existentialist Gorn movie by Herschell Gordon Lewis, previously known for A Taste of Blood and The Gruesome Twosome, The Wizard of Gore follows Sherry Carson, a TV Show host, and her fiance, Jack, as they try to unravel the mystery of Montag the Magnificent, a stage magician whose volunteers wind up dead after the show in a fashion identical to their on-stage "death".

The special effects were horrifically bloody for their time but have not aged well. The acting is amateurish. The movie delights in Shocking Swerve after Shocking Swerve. But overall, it is not an experience to be missed.

In 2007, a remake was made with Crispin Glover in the role of Montag the Magnificent.

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Tropes used in The Wizard of Gore include:

• All Just a Dream: Implied to be the case. Until, of course, the credits ask, Or Was It a Dream??
• Dissonant Serenity: During the on-stage murders, the scene periodically cuts back to what the audience is seeing, which is a perfectly mundane magic trick punctuated by almost complete silence.
• Gorn: One woman gets cut up with a chainsaw. One gets a railroad spike through the head. Another is perforated with a punch press. All scenes include huge gouts of blood and shots of Montag gleefully yanking out handfuls of brains and guts.
• Hypnotic Eyes: Implied to be Montag's power complete with long closeups of the actor's face, staring fiercely at the camera. Very long closeups...
• Kill It with Fire: Montag is shoved into mysterious flames by Jack, apparently ending his reign of terror.
• Lampshade Hanging: After the death of Montag, two characters are shown discussing how his death made no sense at all.
• Mass Hypnosis: Implied to be how Montag prevents his audience from realizing he's murdering people onstage. His final plot is to hypnotize the entire audience of the TV show and... do something.
• Narm:
  • Montag utterly fails to be intimidating and he looks like someone's Uncle Ned.
  • Honorable mention to Jack's scene as he walks around saying flatly, "Your hand is bleeding. Your hand is bleeding. Wake up. Wake up. Your hand is bleeding". He does pick up a bit when he reaches Frank, but then he takes on the silliest possible accent.
• Psychic Nosebleed: The morgue attendant when Montag freezes him with a gesture. Later revealed to have died.
• Red Filter of Doom: Used during the inexplicable mausoleum scenes.
• Soundtrack Dissonance: When Montag is ripping apart his victims, cheery jazz tunes play.
• You Bastard: During his final stage show in the movie, Montag discusses how much humans are fascinated with violence. He stares directly at the camera as he says, "You want this to happen."