One Of The Bloodiest Movies Ever Still Shocks Decades Later, Stream Without Netflix Right Now

The film follows a local reporter Sherry Carson and her boyfriend Jack as they begin to investigate a possible serial killer in their city. Women are found horrifically mutilated in alleyways and in their homes, but without a trace of any evidence or suspects. The couple begin to put pieces of the case together when they connect all the women to a magician, Montag the Magnificent.

The Wizard of Gore supposes that Montag is able to take a lady volunteer from his show’s audience and hypnotize the crowd into believing that they are seeing a trick on stage. When the stage performer is cutting someone in two, for example, the audience is tricked into an illusion where they see the volunteer calmly being part of the act, and then leaving on their own accord in one piece. In reality, Montag is actually inflicting these almost indescribable horrors onto the volunteers, who soon die.

The Wizard of Gore pits reporters against a master hypnotist in a cat and mouse game that leaps from one graphic torture and death scene to the next. It’s not an example of master filmmaking, and you’re not going to come away from the movie with an elevated sense of culture.

But audiences don’t tune in to see splatter films for their intricate plotline, complex character story arcs, or intriguing themes. Fans of this horror sub-genre love the creative methods of violence inflicted upon the characters, the over-the-top gore, and the innovative death scenes. In this sense, The Wizard of Gore does not disappoint.

One audience volunteer in The Wizard of Gore is literally sawed in half by Montag the Magnificent, his hands clawing through her entrails while his face is painted with wicked glee. Another has her torso perforated by a giant drill press, her insides spilling all over the stage. Yet another poor woman has Montag hammering a giant chisel into her ear, providing him access so he can fully remove her brain from her skull and use it as a plaything.

For a splatter film, the Wizard of Gore holds up as a solid entry in a genre that most audiences avoid. Otherwise, the film’s only redeeming qualities being semi-believable special effects and Ray Sager’s over-the-top performance as Montag.

The Wizard of Gore has generated a cult following and was remade with a much bigger budget in 2007. The film starred Crispin Glover as Montag, and co-starred Kip Pardue, Bijou Phillips, Jeffrey Combs, and Brad Dourif. The Suicide Girls made cameo appearances as Montag’s victims.

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The Wizard of Gore can be streamed for free on Tubi. You can also view the splatter film with a subscription to Flix Fling and Full Moon.