Maniac (1980)

Maniac (1980)

Even this film had horror fans complaining that things had gone too far and after 30 years you can still see why! William Lustig, a then unknown 22 year old director produced one of the most disturbing films of the era. It was relentless, graphic, outrageously gory and its misogyny earned it a place on the DPP’s list very quickly. It’s a fairly well made serial killer movie with over the top effects by Tom Savini and featured one of the tensest scenes ever seen in a horror film. It is available in a cut version in the UK but most of the scenes are intact, only a scene where sexual violence was implied during a murder scene. The film has a documentary/ Verite look at times, partly due to being shot on 16mm (who needs digital, eh?) which all adds to the atmosphere of the movie.

 

Plot: Frank, a mentally unstable loner (played by Joe Spinell) is also a serial killer. His preying ground is the seedy underbelly of New York City where he stalks, murders and scalps lone women. He has issues regarding his mother who abused and neglected him as a child which are manifested as a homicidal psychosis.

We are introduced to a couple sleeping on a beach who are both dispatched swiftly from where we cut back to Frank’s squalid apartment (room). The room is decorated with shop mannequins, Frank's attempt at his own family, to which are nailed the scalps of the women Frank has murdered. Driven by what he believes is his mother's disapproval of women Frank embarks on another murder where he picks up a hooker from the streets of NY, only to throttle her to death and proceed to remove her scalp (graphically, on screen, all courtesy of Splatter Sultan, Tom Savini). 

The television news is warning citizens of NY of said serial killer as Frank embarks on yet another murder spree. In one of the film’s most notorious scenes, Frank follows a couple from a disco out to the boondocks where he watches them in their car. The driver (played by a pre nose job Tom Savini himself) and his partner are stalked by Frank who appears with a shotgun out of the mist to remove the entirety of the guy’s head with a single shot! Savini excelled himself on this special effect shot as his head explodes in a shower of gore, splattering his girlfriend who doesn’t even have time to clean up before she too is expired with the second barrel.

I mean, just how perfect was Caroline Munro?

Frank begins to show a less murderous side to his character when he befriends a female photographer in Central Park. It’s not an entirely innocent meeting though as he manipulates the situation by rooting through her bag and taking her address while she is working, only to turn up at her door step later on. See, a serial killer is always thinking ahead. The photographer is played by the English goddess Caroline Munro who was the fantasy of many a teenager in the 1980’s. She had previously starred in a Sinbad movie, was a Bond girl and even more famously as host alongside Dusty Bin in the cheapo ITV game show 3-2-1.

Whilst courting Anna (Munro), Frank embarks on yet another killing spree; cue one of the tensest scenes in any horror movie, ever. He stalks a young nurse who has finished her shift and who heads home alone via the NYC subway system.  After realising she is being followed the nurse tries to escape by hiding in the cubicle of a dingy underground toilet. The actress looks genuinely terrified and it’s hard not to breathe (or not breathe) in sync as she hides while Frank checks each and every cubicle. At the last moment and before he reaches her cubicle Frank abandons his stalking much to the victim’s relief. The nurse begins to compose herself in the mirror only for Frank to sidle up behind and impale her on a bayonet, leaving her to die in the grubby bathroom.

Frank goes on to kill one of Anna’s model friends, all unbeknownst to Anna who has no inkling he is the NY serial killer on the loose. Everything reaches a climax when inviting Anna to his mother’s grave on her Birthday when Frank has an episode and mistaking Anna for his mother chases her with the intention of ridding himself of his demons once and for all. In a surprise scene, Frank returns to the graveside from which his dead mother emerges, rotten and zombified to being throttling him.

Back in Frank’s charnel house of an apartment he is resting on his bed as the shop dummies begin to awaken. He is surrounded by his victims who proceed to literally tear Frank apart. He is repeatedly stabbed and eventually has his head ripped from his neck in a bloody and gory finale.

Frank indulging in tonsorial teasing.

The film still hasn’t had a fully uncut release in the UK and even the video cover was censored with a sticker covering a knife. It’s a sleazy and gory movie all courtesy of Tom Savini’s SFX who seems to crop up on lots of films that ended up on the banned list. You can’t argue that he was at the time The Sultan of Splatter and this film was one of his best. I think Savini excelled himself on Romero’s Day of the Dead but Maniac is a fans favourite.

Overall, it’s an unpleasant film and much more gruesome than the new remake with Elijah Wood which I found tame in comparison. The first person perspective is the reason why the remake is so controversial and there is criticism that it is almost video game like. Anyone disturbed by the remake shouldn't bother with the original, it's far more graphic.

If you want an example of 80’s horror then I recommend this one but be prepared to be grossed out. You’ve been warned!