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Maniac (1980)
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by Starz / Anchor Bay
Sales Rank: 23801
Price: $9.99
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Despite being a cult classic Maniac is a movie that is far too overlooked in the horror genre as nothing more than a sleazy exploitation flick with no merits at all except the gore, which was done by Tom Savini. But I have to heavily disagree; Maniac has a lot more going for it than one might think. Upon its release in 1980 Maniac was attacked for its graphic violence, which most of the victims were women. Many deemed this nothing more than vile trash and looked upon as nothing more than 1 step above porn (but barley at that). Maniac was heavily censored and even banned in many places as well. <br /> <br />The funny thing is at the time of the release there were other movies just as shocking if not more so than Maniac, but yet this is the one that people attacked and probably helped gain the movie more attention over the years. As I stated before there is a lot more going for Maniac than simply gore and sleaze. <br /> <br />The screenplay by C.A. Rosenberg & Joe Spinell was fairly solid nothing here really stands out, but overall it's well written for the genre that it is in. Frank Zito played by Joe Spinell is the typical serial killer with mother problems. If you look at most serial killers many of them had some kind of psychical and or mental abuse from their mothers at a young age. Rosenberg and Spinell never really stray from that and offer anything different, but what they have works well and is an interesting character study of a man trying to at times fight his urges. <br /> <br />Maniac marked the feature film debut for William Lustig (unless you wanna count the porn flicks he made prior under the name Billy Bagg). Lustig is an often overlooked filmmaker who did some solid work, but never really got the attention he deserved. He got his start at the time when filmmakers like John Carpenter, Dario Argento and George Romero were at the peak of their career. Lustig though has built up a following, but he never really reached the success like other filmmakers from his era. <br /> <br />William Lustig is a big fan of 70s exploitation and it clearly shows with Maniac; Lustig manages to create a really gritty and uneasy feel through out the picture and always keeps the pace moving along even when there is no action. The murder scenes are quite graphic and bloody, but while the gore is great the highlight is the murders are very mean spirited. Starting around the mid 80s and you can even make a case for the early 80s as well, too many movies would have kill scenes that were sort of fun, which is cool, but I prefer movies like this where the deaths give you an uneasy feel. <br /> <br />Like I said Maniac has a lot more going for it than people might realize. The shotgun blast to the head easily rates as one of the greatest murders this genre has ever seen. I'd even go as far to say possibly the best death scene in the genre, but there is far more here than just shocking murder scenes. The scene in which, Frank stalks a young nurse (Kelly Piper) leaving the hospital all the way to the subway and than in the subway is a classic example of suspense and tension; the whole set up is excellent and downright chilling. <br /> <br />And the scene when Frank attacks Rita played by Abigail Clayton (under the name Gail Lawrence) was another prime example of a scene filled with suspense and tension. William Lustig again is able to make more than just sleazy exploitation flick and delivers a movie that is quite disturbing and even chilling in many areas. William Lustig in his day was an excellent filmmaker who never really hit the big time despite being very deserving of it. <br /> <br />The acting was mostly good and Joe Spinell probably best known as Gazzo from Rocky and Rocky II gives the best performance of his career. Frank Zito is a classic character and far scarier than most horror movie villains since people like Frank are out there. He isn't the boogeyman who can survive multiple gunshots, stabbings and being set on fire. He's as human as his victims and Spinell is downright chilling in the role, which is a lot more complex than some might realize. <br /> <br />Maniac is a nice piece of 80s exploitation cinema with plenty of sleaze and violence, but again has a lot more to offer than just that. The only problem with Maniac is the final act, while isn't bad or anything, but does fall a bit flat. But besides that Maniac was excellent and a must see for horror fans.
Viewer Reviews
i got this movie becasue of the high praise it got on amazon.some of it was well deserved,like the praise for tom savini's sfx.but the story of the movie was kind of boring at times when hes not killing anyone.i eman its an ok movie that any horror fan should watch at least once,rent maybe unless you LOVE gore and blood then i say you should buy it.there are plenty of special features on the disc which is good and its directed by wiwlliam lustig(maniac cop,uncle sam)so if your a fan of his run and get this movie.aside from the few laggin story parts the movie was good and the end was a shocker that you have to see to belive.your either gonna love,hate or fall somewhere in between with this movie.not for anyone who dosent enjoy horror,blood or guts.
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Maniac (1980)
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