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Title: Maniac (2007) Starring: Gail Lawrence, Sharon Mitchell, Caroline Munro, Frank Pesce, and Kelly Piper Director: Not available Rating: Unrated Runtime: 88 minutes Avg. Score: 4 Submit Comment Hits: 14

Review of Maniac

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Comments for Maniac

• Posted on 2008-07-06
  A pure 80s grindhouse flick, but with depth, complexity, and emotion to boot
  
  Excluding Anthony Perkins' genius portrayal of Norman Bates in the film 'Psycho' and its subsequent 80s sequel franchise, Joe Spinell's portrayal of an abused, homicidal momma's-boy serial killer can't be beat. 'Maniac' is a beast of a movie, oozing with that fuzzy charm that can only come from an early-80s grindhouse b-movie.
  
  Spinell portrays the baggage-addled Frank Zito (in, once again, an absolutely brilliant performance) who had the misfortune of being repeatedly locked in a closet by his prostitute mother as a child for being a "bad boy". As a grown man living in a scuzzy hole-in-the-wall apartment and working as a custodian by day, he spends his nights murdering pretty young women in vengeance for his mother's crimes (he, like Bates, also has a crazy schizophrenia that displays itself throughout the film in the form of dual conversations with him and his "mother", like 'Psycho). His apartment is covered with blood-splattered mannequins which have the scalps of his victims (which he cuts off with gusto, for some reason) nailed to their foreheads. Later in the film, Zito attempts to forge a love interest and that's where things start to get interesting, as we see that Zito has more to him than just being a murderous killer.
  
  I would've loved this flick (and scuzzy, grimy films like this should always lovingly be referred to as 'flicks') whether it had depth or no depth, but luckily it has depth as well. That comes in the form of a variety of scenes demonstrating Zito nearly breaking down emotionally after some kills, where it becomes clear that Zito almost doesn't want to kill, but he is compelled regardless even though he wishes to be free of his burden. One other person I heard talking about the film also likened Zito to almost a sort of Frankenstein in that regard, even if the comparison is somewhat exaggerated this comparison can still be understood.
  
  The direction of Robert Lustig ('Vigilante') is superb: he perfectly brings out the dark, oozy vibe of late 70s/early 80s low-rent NYC, but special mention goes out to composer Jay Chattaway for creating a simple outstanding score that features a variety of styles and moods ranging from the evil nursery rhyme vibe of the main titles to the crushingly sad "Cry for Mother" piece that is played near the end of the graveyard scene, as well as the typical bleeps, bloops, and GRRRRRYRRAAANNNGSSS of 80s analog synth soundtracks. Again, purely awesome.
  
  In short, I cannot give a higher recommendation to this flick. An essential for anyone interested in 80s movies, grindhouse movies, b-movies, horror movies, etc. Hopefully all of the above, like me. I'll also mention that Spinell started filming 'Maniac 2: Mr. Robbie' in 1989, but sadly died of a heart attack during production. Besides the obviously sad death of the great actor Spinell, it really stinks here because there is footage of 'Maniac 2' on the 'Maniac' DVD and the movie looked like it would have been absolutely killer. But anyways, this movie is highly recommended, as mentioned before.
  Score: 5
• Posted on 2008-02-20
  Excellent serial killer flick!
  
  My being a fan of Henry: Portrait of a Seral Killer ultimately led me to this notorious serial killer flick that surprisingly predated Henry, Maniac. While I don't feel that Maniac has aged as well as Henry, it certainly is another great exploration in horror that is more based on real life killers.
  
  Here we witness the story of Joe Zito. Joe is a victim of an abusive mother who carries out his frustrations as an adult by sexually abusing, murdering, and often scalping women. He resides in a scummy apartment filled with mannequins that he dresses with the scalps of his victims. He spends his days in solitude, emerging at night to claim victims at random. Eventually he meets an attractive photographer and forms somewhat of a relationship with her, but even she eventually discovers the menace that Joe is. Truthfully that's about it for this movie. Not much of a real story, just an account of Joe Zito and his horrific crimes particularly against women, as well as his disturbing past haunting him and driving him further into madness.
  
  Overall, the film will prove to be a great watch if you like this sort of thing, my only complaint is that it runs a little too short and wasn't very conclusive. Tom Savini's gore effects are sort of hit and miss. The shotgun scene being some of his most convincing work, while the finale of the movie offering some less than credible prosthetics, but for the year it was made his work is quite good. Though perhaps a tad bit dated, Maniac will certainly shock and disgust any who aren't accustomed to graphic violence and gore, or feminists. I recommend this one to hardcore horror fans.
  Score: 4
• Posted on 2008-02-11
  Slightly disturbing slasher film
  
  Maniac has the ability to disturb, sicken, and frighten all at the same time. This one will punch you right in the gut from the opening scene and it just gets better.
  Joe Spinell should have won numerous awards for his role in this film. In fact, his character is so convincing that one might wonder if he should be allowed to wonder around without close supervision. His character is dead on. I don't know anyone who has watched this film and not been shocked by the content. This is why I love it. Once again, horror films from the 70's & 80's always [...]. Great movie!
  Score: 4
• Posted on 2008-01-13
  A landmark of the slasher genre
  
  Maniac is the aptly titled horror/slasher grindhouse nightmare that stars the late Joe Spinell (who also co-wrote and co-exectutively produced the film, and has been in everything from the first two Godfather films to the original Rocky to Taxi Driver) as Frank Zito: a supremely disturbed man who goes on a bloody rampage through New York. His victims are women, and he dispatches them in the grisliest of fashion with no end of his deeds in sight. Directed with a suspenseful flair by William Lustig, Maniac is a landmark of the horror/slasher genre thanks to the brilliant gore effects of the legendary Tom Savini, who also appears in the film as the unlucky "disco boy", and has a demise that is one of the most memorable you'll see in the film. Spinell himself is suitably creeply (and even more suitably believable) in Maniac, which sadly starts to lose steam when Zito meets a woman (Caroline Munro) whom he hits it off with. It should also be noted that Maniac can be a hard film to watch, even for die hard gorehounds, because of the film's misogynistic approach. This is original, grindhouse cinema all the way, and Maniac makes no apologies or pulls no punches about it either. Despite the few flaws with Maniac, the film remains a landmark of the horror/slasher genre, and Savini's makeup and effects work are reason enough to see it alone if you've never seen the film.
  Score: 4
• Posted on 2007-12-27
  Maniac Prevails!
  
  Since it's debut in 1980 Maniac has held up very nicley. It is an excellent slasher flick that features the master effects of Tom Savini (Dawn Of The Dead, Deathdream, The Burning, Friday The 13th etc) who said himself that that "The Effects Were Too Realistic". Maniac is a fairly violent horror film but is mild compared to some others, The film is about a man that is steadily going insane with a woman hating compulsion. He violenty murders women to collect their scalps for his own enjoyment, The film is directed by cult director William Lustig. The owner of the very succesful cult DVD company "Blue Underground", The film gives a very moody feel about it and is very enjoyable that gets better with more viewings. When released it was considered a "Women Hating Piece Of Filth" and was protested and attempted to be banned. In my opinion this was blown into something more than it should have been.
  
  For anyone interested in the horror gems of the 80's will love this flick. This cannot be missed.
  
  Buy this film!
  
  
  Note: The Anchor Bay Version is not any diffrent than the Blue Underground DVD.
  Score: 5