Post by stefancrosscoe on Jul 13, 2017 14:08:00 GMT
"I told you not to go out tonight, didn't I? Every time you go out, this kind of thing happens."
Haunted by a tragic past, the now grown up Frank Zito (Joe Spinell) is a lonely and disturbed figure who spends most of his time during the night, where he stalks and murders random young women in the dark hours of the Big Apple.
One of my favorite films to come out in the early 80s, along with gruesome special effects done by Tom Savini, a chilling/moody soundtrack made by Jay Chattaway, a very nasty, sleazy and atmospheric New York late 70s/early 80s vibe and of course the talented Joe Spinell in the main role as one of the most disturbing but somehow yet likeable maniacs that came out of the horror genre of that time, seen here as Frank Zito, also starring is beautiful british horror screaming lady/icon, Caroline Munro.
Maniac is my pick for not only William Lustig's finest hour, but one of the best and most memorable slasher/horror releases of the 1980s, as Spinell has both the look and sounds of a real menacing figure, as witnessed by only hearing his heavy/disturbing breathing that for me along with the soundtrack is very effective and well done, to help create a unsettling tone that few slasher films has come close of recreating.
Maniac features several classic scenes such as the romantic disco scene where Frank decides to play the part as the party pooper, or my favorite, which is the subway scene, now that one is pure horror and of course the scenes where Frank is all alone with his "ladies" talking to himself and fighting the inner demons of the past.
Joe and Caroline did make another film together, called The Last Horror Film (1982), which I thought was pretty good, but not Maniac good, still I enjoyed seeing the unlikely duo pair up together, once again.
A remake was made back in 2012, starring Frodo (Elijah Wood) trying to locate his inner Gollum, and while it did bring along some neat scenes, I thought it was a very poor film overall, as the CGI effects looked incredible cheap and lousy compared to the brutal stuff that Savini did back in 1980.
And I guess the reason why we mostly saw the film through the eyes of Frank in the remake, was that I guess the producer/director knew that a guy like Elijah would not look very menacing, at least not when compared to someone like Spinell.