Maniac

Supremely sleazy and dingy slasher flick. You'll feel like you need a shower after watching it. It turns the tables, by following the point of view of this nutbar, and it feels like an authentic window into the life of a psycho killer. This movie goes for the jugular.

**This film was ahead of its time. Despite its abrupt ending, it develops Frank's behavior and his compulsion to kill extremely well. The special effects and soundtrack are perfectly done.**

_If you crave more done in a similar vein, definitely check out **Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer**._

A gritty, low-budget slasher, Maniac is a rather pointless film that’s only focused on gore. Lacking in story, the film really just breaks down into a series of random kill scenes. With makeup effects by Tom Savini, the deaths are incredibly gratuitous and bloody. Still, the directing brings an intensity and sense of terror that’s quite effective at setting an atmospheric tone. Yet ultimately Maniac is an unfocused mess that doesn’t have any substance to it.

I wanted to like it simply because it was one of the '80s slashers but sadly, apart from the few kill scenes, there's nothing really to like. There's nothing to DISLIKE, either...and that's the whole problem. It was too easy to just sit completely detached almost through the entire movie, from start to finish. The characters were so extremely shallow and emotionless that you couldn't buy into any of them; the dialogue was ridiculous, and the storyline was weak and overdone (at best).

A complete stranger shows up at your door at night, in NYC, invites himself in because you took a photo of him earlier in the park and he wants to see your photography, and within the hour, you're having dinner with him at some dive across town. Right... That's the feeling of this entire movie. There was no build-up (thank goodness), no backstory, no substance, no NOTHING. This was just essentially another 1980's slasher movie thrown together with a lot of red paint and cheap acting.

I really wanted to like it but the bottom line is, it was just too shallow and stupid. And the ending was just curdled icing on a maggot-infested cake. I'd have to say avoid this one.

I only watched this because of the famous exploding head scene that isn't 'Scanners'. And let me just say that scene didn't disappoint, the rest of the movie, on the other hand, sadly did.

One of those sick for the sake of it movies.