Rating: 
Summary: CULT MOVIES 23
Review: 23. MANIAC (horror, 1980) A killer stalks the streets of New York City. He brutally kills women and takes their scalps (along with other articles) as souvenirs. The Maniac (Joe Spinell) uses the scalps to put on mannequins he has all over his dingy, claustrophobic apartment. His fixation with these lifeless puppets is the only real link between him and the outside world. He nonetheless meets, on a friendly basis, a beautiful photographer (Caroline Munro). Just when you think he has reformed, the maniac turns against her in a psychotic rage. Critique: A truly gruesome, sick picture makes other of its kind pale in comparison. The film creates a terribly real, decadent look of what evil beings are really up to. The locales of rubbish infected alleyways, deserted parks, stations and so on is truly nerve-wracking. This study into the mind of a serial killer is given 'weight' by Joe Spinell's considerable performance. His sweaty, sex-obsessed pervert can't help himself from committing such horrid murders (after each kill he laments and moans for not being able to sedate his sick urges). Like others of his ilk, he suffers constant mental disillusions and schizophrenic flashbacks. Film is very disturbing even when it's trying to be natural, and definitely not for the faint minded.
Rating: 
Summary: A truly disturbing serial killer movie.
Review: It is not easy to defend Maniac, it is so dark and ugly, so violent and vile, that eyebrows are raised whenever I say just how much I love and admire the movie. Why? Because, even after numerous viewings, it still makes my skin crawl and chills scamper up and down my spine. In my book that makes it a truly great horror film. Being a no budget movie it certainly has its fair share of flaws, uneven acting, scatter shot production values, and, because they shot the movie whenever they could instead of on a set production schedule, a story that skips and staggers and appears to go nowhere. But there are several great set pieces during the running time and Joe Spinell expertly nails the complex behaviour of the title character. The amount of research he put into creating a realistic serial killer and not just some masked buffon shows. This movie may not be for everyone, but it stays with you, chilling you even on the hottest of summer days.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm warning you! Watch this film!
Review: If you're into "mainstream" horror (??) (e.g. Nightmare On Elm Street, Child's Play, today's Mummy, and/or the Ring), then Maniac is not for you! Yes, like the original Silent Night, Deadly Night, conservative/religious group were riled up by this film. In other words, yes, Maniac is a "horror" rarity! I loved it!
Rating:
Summary: Pivotal slasher flick
Review: Maniac is more than a decent movie. If you're looking for gore, there is really only one good scene: special effects icon Tom Savini (playing a sleezey guy trying to score in his car) has the "maniac" blow his head off. Ok, so Tom Savini exploding his own head makes this movie worth seeing. (It is definitely a quality head explosion, for those keeping score.) If that's not your cup a tea, though, another good reason that cult fans would want to see this is that it was the first slasher movie to tell the story from the point of the killer. (Hence "Pivotal slasher flick.") It's a historical piece, if nothing else. If you're not interested in any of these elements and just want to see a creepy movie, it is also pretty creepy. As a slasher movie, it definitely towers over the Nightmare series and the Friday series. The character is very realistic, somewhere between an ugly Ted Bundy, David Berkowitz and Ed Gein. Also reminescent of Psycho's Norman Bates, the maniac (named Frank Zito) has a sort of guilt complex stemming from his childhood with his mother. It somehow has turned him into a perverted, compulsive sex offender and murderer as well as a delusional schizophrenic. He spontanteously decides to attack ordinary women and prostitutes, rapes/kills them and takes their scalps (and sometimes other articles) as souveniers which he uses to decorate manequins in his cramped, dingy apartment. This all takes place in 1980's New York City where dank, rubbish filled alleys and subway stations add to the chilling atmosphere. I'd defintiely recommend it to you fans of the typical horror over people looking for gore, but it's a good movie, regardless.
Rating:
Summary: one of my personal favorite!
Review: one of the greatest film from the '80s! Joe Spinell's performance is truly remarkable... must be seen to believe. i think the greatest thing about the movie is that you're focused completly on Joe Spinell(our maniac), it isn't the usual serial killer story about a cop trying to solve a murder case kinda thing... the story gets very deep into the world of this very disturbed individual. this film has scenes which you wont see in no other films, not even in Henry: portrait of a serial killer... a highly recommended film for all fans of psychological thriller and ofcourse gore fans(the film sfx were made by none other than tom savini). but there's more to it than just gore.
Rating:
Summary: a strange movie
Review: Joe Spinell plays a psychotic fruitcake that still hopelessly clings to the memory of his dead mother,a memory that compells him to murder women and remove their scalps,which he then uses to decorate mannequins.Spinell`s ugly scarred face lends itself well to this role.A sequel to this film had been planned before Joe Spinell`s untimely death.
Rating:
Summary: This Scalper is no Indian
Review: This serial killer movie may not be appreciated by most for its amateur film-school type production. The film was shot on 16mm and presented as a 35mm blow-up making the quality somewhere close to what you have seen in The Blair Witch Project. However if you can get past the look and low production values then you will find it is much better than most for its type. Probably the most astonishing thing about this low-budget production is the quality of the visual gore effects brought to life by Tom Savini who even has his very own bloody cameo in this movie. There is a scene at the start of this film involving a shotgun that has to be one the best in the business.
Essentially this is a film that follows a serial killer, Frank Zito (Joe Spinell) around New York as he performs a number of grisly murders and plenty of female stalking. Much of these sequences are over-the-top as heads explode and people are literally ripped apart. However others can be quite flat and not as violent as you would have expected given all the hype about this slaughterhouse motion picture. Where the film nearly fails is in the actual performance of the lead killer because he does the age old routine of talking to himself, rocking himself and generally overplaying the nut, but after awhile he does manage to improve by simply taking his weirdness to a few other levels. It is hard to imagine that his current condition would allow him to go unnoticed as he piles up the body count but yet again this is New York we are talking about here so the custom of minding your own business may allow for it. At one stage in this movie he manages to actually break out of his shell doing an art-critic routine and you actually feel that there may be some hope left for this urban monster. It is sort of funny that you want to see him become "well again" even though he is a violent sexual murderer. Another thing that the viewer should know is that the actual poster for this movie does nothing for what the killer looks like as his face and physique are somewhat obscured. When you see this film you will be completely taken aback by what kind of a character is actually behind this movie which was banned in several countries. It is hard to really pin point what makes Maniac so disturbing. You can not really indicate any one part of it and say "that is one that makes this so brutal" or "this is why it got banned". Even if you where to edit the violent and gory parts together you will find that it is quite limited by today's standards. This film is really as grisly, gory and violent as what you have imagined it to be but why this film should have been axed when various zombie movies have done much more gore in ten minutes is something to consider. You will certainly find much more gory films out there but maybe not as many crazy ones. This movie is pretty messed up in the head in more ways than one and this is really why it got the banning treatment. When you view the film as a whole you can then see why so many countries refused to release it. You could not just cut one scene and say - "There, now it is tamed." That would not really restrain it all. There is something more psychological about it. Our serial killer alludes to the fact that he was sexually abused and tortured as a child. His mother plays as a dominant figure in his mind. It is the childlike characteristics of this movie that make it distressing. If the killer was ten years of age then by God this film would be very controversial indeed... and this is really why it does upset most who watch it because behind the face of Frank Zito is a child in a man's body. A child who is doing those terrible things to women. This film is also a real jumper and at times you will be hard pressed not to fall out of your chair as our protagonist scares the willies out of a lot of his victims before he does away with them. One film that is very similar in nature and feel to this movie is Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. In short, Maniac is everything you can expect it to be and then some more. It is not really as ultra-gory from start to finish as you would expect but when the blood flows it gushes deep red. This is a cult classic that should not be overlooked for its low production values.
Rating:
Summary: Pivotal slasher flick
Review: Maniac is more than a decent movie. If you're looking for gore, there is really only one good scene: special effects icon Tom Savini (playing a sleezey guy trying to score in his car) has the "maniac" blow his head off. Ok, so Tom Savini exploding his own head makes this movie worth seeing. (It is definitely a quality head explosion, for those keeping score.) If that's not your cup a tea, though, another good reason that cult fans would want to see this is that it was the first slasher movie to tell the story from the point of the killer. (Hence "Pivotal slasher flick.") It's a historical piece, if nothing else. If you're not interested in any of these elements and just want to see a creepy movie, it is also pretty creepy. As a slasher movie, it definitely towers over the Nightmare series and the Friday series. The character is very realistic, somewhere between an ugly Ted Bundy, David Berkowitz and Ed Gein. Also reminescent of Psycho's Norman Bates, the maniac (named Frank Zito) has a sort of guilt complex stemming from his childhood with his mother. It somehow has turned him into a perverted, compulsive sex offender and murderer as well as a delusional schizophrenic. He spontanteously decides to attack ordinary women and prostitutes, rapes/kills them and takes their scalps (and sometimes other articles) as souveniers which he uses to decorate manequins in his cramped, dingy apartment. This all takes place in 1980's New York City where dank, rubbish filled alleys and subway stations add to the chilling atmosphere. I'd defintiely recommend it to you fans of the typical horror over people looking for gore, but it's a good movie, regardless.
Rating:
Summary: the most UNDERRATED!!!horror MASTERPIECE!!! EVER!!!!!!!!
Review: THIS MOVIE SHOULD BE REMEMBERED AND LOOKED AT AS A LANDMARK FILM JUST LIKE "TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE" THIS IS NOT!!!!! YOUR NORMAL EVERYDAY SLASHER FLICK THIS IS A SCARY/SICK/TWISTED/VERY CREATIVE/VERY ACURATE/ LEAP INTO THE MIND & LIFE OF A VERY REALISTIC SERIAL KILLER( just like "son of sam/zodiac/night stalker" ya know what i mean!!) ANYWAY THE DVD COMES OUT LOOKING & SOUNDING GREAT NO COMPLAINTS HERE!! IF YOU LOVE TRULY SCARY AND REALISTIC HORROR MOVIES & OR A BIG FAN OF THE HORROR GENRE IN GENERAL THEN AFTER YOU WATCH THIS FLICK YOU WILL KNOW WHY IT SHOULD BE LOOKED AT AS A LANDMARK FILM. I REPEAT!!!! THIS IS NOT A NORMAL SLASHER FLICK LIKE "HALOWEEN" OR "FRIDAY THE 13" THIS MOVIE IS WAY MORE LIKE A DOCUMENTARY!!!!!!!!!the most UNDERRATED!!! horror MASTERPIECE!!! EVER!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Sickening!
Review: This is one of the most shocking horror films ever made. I've seen quite a few of this genre, but there is something very upsetting and crude about "Maniac". It's gory of course, with a lot of blood and repulsive scenes. But there is something about the dark, diabolic eyes of the killer (Joe Spinell), not to mention the constant moaning, which makes him a very creepy character. I agree with the comments from other customers: this is not your typical horror movie... If you have a weak hart, don't watch it!
|
