Maniac
There is no doubt that the current younger generation weaned on PG-13 horror movies featuring little girl ghosts popping up and scaring people to death will find it VERY hard to digest this 1980 entry from director William Lustig which features the most notable lead role from the late prolific character actor Joe Spinell (best known as Cicci from the Godfather movies and as Stalloneâs loan shark boss in the first two Rocky movies). Spinell also wrote and produced the film as well, about a pathetic middle-aged landlord in a slum apartment who, haunted by the childhood abuse suffered at the hands of his dead mother, stalks the streets of New York City, killing innocent women, then scalping them and bringing the scalps home to put on his collection of mannequins, which he then has sex with. If this seems too gruesome for words, then yes, your instincts are correct, and given that Spinell takes a page out of Taxi Driver and lets us be privy to the sickoâs inner thoughts through monologues one should just accept that this will not be a fun ride. This ainât Anthony Hopkinsâ Hannibal Lecter, which was a fun cartoon-type character whom you could almost relate to in that cool movie character-type way: This is a frighteningly deranged bastard whoâs probably more akin to the real life Son Of Sams, Jeffrey Dahmers, and John Wayne Gacyâs of the world (indeed, before being executed, Gacy had said that he would have liked Spinell to play him in a movie about his life). Thus, the real question becomes, does this movie have any merit? The answer would be, if youâre a psych major or a criminology expert and you want to see how an actual homicidal mind works, then probably, yes. However, if you prefer a cinematic escapist fantasy where the killer is witty or âcoolâ like Lecter or Freddy Krueger, then probably not, and is certainly not a film for those under 18 or women with sensitive dispositions, as the kills and attitude are as misogynistic as anything you will ever see, given that most of the females are actually rather friendly and likable and donât seem to deserve their horrifyingly graphic fates. On that note, the film employs legendary makeup FX artist Tom Savini to do some of his most gruesome work ever, with the gory highlight being when the psycho jumps on the hood of a car and blows one girlâs boyfriendâs head apart with a shotgun which, unlike Scanners, is shown is lovingly disgusting slow motion. The film slows down considerably after the first four or five kills and introduces the subplot of the killer actually managing to find a girlfriend, a fashion photographer played by the gorgeous British 70s pinup babe Caroline Munro. Here the credibility starts to wane: The viewer finds it VERY hard to accept that such a hot girl would even give the time of day to such a fat, unattractive schlub of a man, even as Munro gamefully tries to make her feelings for him seem believable. Of course, in no way does her love actually come close to âredeemingâ him, as he just takes a little longer to plan his eventual attempt to murder her. In the end, if youâre interested in seeing the inner workings of a sick, criminal mind, or if youâre a gorehound that wants to see something TRULY gruesome, check it out, but all others bewareâŚ
7/10