Movie Reviews for Maniac

Maniac

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Movie Reviews of Maniac

Movie Review: Quite good
Summary: 4 Stars

Maniac is a stange slasher movie as it is all from the view-point of the killer. I found this a bit dissapointing at first as the killer isnt exactly likeable and we just seem to see scenes of him killing women (mostly women) and nothing else. But part way through, he befriends a women who becoms another protagonist and I found the movie more interesting from here.

There is quite a decent body-count in Maniac and the deaths that there are are quite bloody and a couple were very suspecful (especially the girl in the subway). The excellent gore effects were done by Tom Savini who also did the gore effects for the origional Dawn of the Dead and another slasher movie called Rosemary's Killer (AKA The Prowler).

The DVD claims to be "uncut" but is infact cut by 54 seconds, so I would reccommend buying the American Region 1 DVD if you want the movie fully uncut. As far as I know, the majority of this cut is made up in the infamous "scalping scene" near the start of the movie.

Above average slasher which is generally creepy in parts and has a genuinly disturbing ending.

Movie Review: Arrested Development...
Summary: 4 Stars

Frank Zito (Joe Spinell) is a MANIAC. How do we know this? Is it because he lives w/ a collection of female mannequins? Or because these plastic "women" wear the bloody scalps of Frank's victims on their heads? Because he hears voices and answers them? Nope, we know Mr. Zito is a MANIAC by looking into his eyes! These bulging peepers are a definite tip-off that this guy has scrambled eggs in his skull! His eyes scream, "Stay away, or I'll murder you!". Spinell is the perfect MANIAC. He's just plain scary / crazy-looking! Tom Savini did a great job on the gore fx, and even gets to "die" in the movie's classic "exploding head" scene! Well worth repeat viewings...

Movie Review: Ed Gein moves from Wisconsin to New York!
Summary: 4 Stars

In the midst of the junk-laden slasher movie craze of the late '70s/early '80s came one of those rare exceptions: "Maniac." Anchored by the brilliantly creepy performance of Joe Spinell and an atmosphere awash in grungy and claustrophobia-inducing locations, "Maniac" succeeds where the vast majority of its contemporaries failed: it's genuinely disturbing. Yes, the slasher-movie conventions are all here (except for the standard teenage morons, thankfully), but the execution is superb. I could've lived without the dopey final shot, but that's a minor quibble. Throw your "Friday the 13th" DVDs in the wastebasket and replace them with the real thing.

Movie Review: Slightly disturbing slasher film
Summary: 4 Stars

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!