Maniac (1981)

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Maniac does not have much of a plot or even dialogue. The short summary on this site pretty much describes the entire film. What works really well in Maniac is the suspense that does not let go throughout the entire film. The psychotic villain is amazing as well. He is brilliantly portrayed by Joe Spinell. All the effects when it comes to killings and gore still look very good today which is quite an achievement for 1980 and thus Maniac never looks that dated. A few things in the script seem completely unbeliavable especially the relationship between Frank (the maniac) and Caroline Munro's character Anna. Nevertheless Maniac is still an enjoyable classic that will appeal to fans of old-school horror.

Maniac is a gristly, nasty and misogynist horror film. For those such as myself that enjoy this stuff, Maniac is powerful and well done. The film is a collaborative creation between character actor Joe Spinell and director William Lustig. This is a rare opportunity for Joe to act as the lead and he kills it in this film. He totally brings it with a totally intense performance and presence as well as having many layers to this complex and creepy character. Spinell is a brooding loner with some serious issues with his mother, where over the course of the film he runs wild by killing and scalping women in the mean streets of The Rotten Apple. Set in 1980 NYC and taking cues from Taxi Driver, the film is very gritty and sleazy in style and ultra violent in its execution. Plus add gorgeous actress Caroline Monroe ( who had great chemistry with leading man Joe Spinell) and awesome Tom Savini gore and you have one hell of a horror movie. The film has great camera work and an awesome score to boot. This movie when it was released in 1980 was very controversial upon the time of its release and in my opinion is one of the most well made movies of this type. Maniac is a film that lives up to its name and as such is a very disturbing and brutal horror film, absolute classic.

Falling eyes-first into the provocatively dark poster-art for William Lustig's controversial 'Maniac,' one may suspect it's mostly jump-scares and over-the-top gore that will sustain the viewer throughout their experience, and while there are certainly elements of both woven into the picture (well-done in their executions, to the filmmakers' credit), it's the psychological nature of its voyeuristic suspense by way of its troubled antagonist that really sets this movie apart from the worn-down slasher film we have all come to expect with genre favorites such as 'Friday the 13th' and 'Halloween.' This is a story at its core that can easily permeate any one of our realities, and that, in-and-of itself, is sobering; it is only its production that we can admit to being fictitious. Along the way, we are of no mistake in recognizing how this accurate portrayal of evil is as real as any monster we are able to conjure or confront via our own imaginations, and certainly more dangerous.Joe Spinell bravely and aptly conducts an amazing and harrowing performance as Frank Zito, a deeply-disturbed man who cannot conquer his impulses to commit murder or disconnect himself from his poisoned childhood. The character is incredulously tender as he is terrible, and Spinell brings a humanity to the performance I've rarely witnessed in these sorts of films. If director William Lustig, through atmospheric and seedy direction, brings us to the forefront of the frenzied terror of Frank's street-combing atrocities, it is Spinell's performance that reminds us that we are not experiencing a typical slasher film, but one of which is much more deeply rooted somewhere in our subconscious - a place we may feel uneasy in visiting. While certainly diseased, there's a human nature to be found in Frank Zito; he wants to stop, he knows the differences of right and wrong, only he's constantly left ill-fated, along with that of his victims, by his own damaged decisions.This film is not an easy watch, and perhaps it's not for everyone, but if one is willing to take a close glimpse at how deeply tragic life can be on both sides of the scream, I cannot recommend 'Maniac' enough. It's creepy, it's accurate, it's almost surreal in its telling of the monsters who live among us. It's not a perfect film by any means; in fact, my main quibble is in regard to the relationship between Frank and his photographer love interest played by Caroline Munro. Their chemistry, while great, could have stood for a greater dynamic between the two as the film went along. However, it's a rather small loss in contrast to what we do get: a brilliant lead performance, spot-on direction, a terrifically aiding, musical score by synth-based composer, Jay Chattaway, fantastic special effects by the one and only, Tom Savini (Dawn of the Dead), and a resonating remembrance of just how rarely these things all come together to produce such a memorably important Horror film.DVD and Blu-ray distributor, Blue Underground, released the film back in 2010 in a 30th Anniversary Edition, and it's a real treat, featuring commentaries, interviews with the stars, and the excellent 'The Joe Spinell Story,' documenting the late-actor's life and times. It's a must-own for any fan of the genre, or those of us who just love great films despite the labels attached to it.

This is one of a few movies that really made me feel uncomfortable to see (and that doesn't happen often). It is something about the whole atmosphere that is so dark and disturbing. Another thing that also makes it so disturbing is the way we follow the killer's thoughts in the movie. Joe Spinell plays Frank perfectly. The effects are amazing and there's plenty of gore too. The only thing I can complain about is how much the ending reminded me of "Carrie" with the hand coming out of the grave. Otherwise it's great and I definitely recommend it for horror, gore fans.