Synopsis
I Warned You Not to Go Out Tonight.
As he helps a young artist with her upcoming exhibition, the owner of a mannequin shop's deadly, suppressed desires come to the surface.
2012 Directed by Franck Khalfoun
As he helps a young artist with her upcoming exhibition, the owner of a mannequin shop's deadly, suppressed desires come to the surface.
Elijah Wood America Olivo Nora Arnezeder Zoe Aggeliki Jan Broberg Joshua De La Garza Dan Hunter Genevieve Alexandra Liane Balaban Megan Duffy Luis Fernandez-Gil Aaron Colom Akbar Kurtha Sal Landi Délé Ogundiran Bryan Lugo Ron Reznik Devra Korwin Steffinnie Phrommany Mike McCarty Brian Ames Patrick Orr Mic Rodgers Sammi Rotibi Rochelle Rudolph Lauren Emily Vaughan Steven James Williams
Maniac 2012, Manijak, Маньяк, Maniac Uncut
I said it once and I'll say it again:
Still the most affecting horror film of the 21st century.
Unquestionably, in my eyes. This is cinematic brilliance.
One of the finest pieces of psychological filmmaking out there.
Khalfoun, Aja, Levasseur, and Wood - you guys are amazing.
Taking such a infamous and highly vaunted early 80’s grindhouse messiah movie from slimy ny sleazefeast to modern day LA serial killer jam works swimmingly for me. I haven’t watched this in a good five years and to be honest, the first time I peeped this I went in with so much apprehension because of my intense Spinell/Lustig appreciation/love, but luckily remakes are never an issue for me like they are for so many fans—especially if it’s a different take on the subject matter.
Well, I loved it then and that still rings true in 2019. Lustig and Spinell’s Maniac means the world to me in its articulate take on the subject matter—turns out Khalfoun, Aja/Levasseur, and Wood’s mid 2010’s take does too. Plus, that score is fire and I kinda feel like Disasterpiece owes Rob a great deal for their It Follows soundtrack...
Maniac is an astoundingly affecting psychological horror film. It fully places us in the exact same position as the psycho. We are in his shoes but not his mind. We are horrified by his actions in the exact same way he is, and his disassociative voice adds to this effect. The camera acts as his eyes, always making us aware of where his focus lies, and we feel uncomfortable as he spies on women in their dressing rooms or sweeps the room in futile attempts looking for just the right girl to maybe be the one he won't murder this time. The score is disturbing and uneven, directly reflecting his tone, intensifying with him and calming down with him. His…
An excellent remake of an excellent film. This one is dark and downbeat as hell and I love it. I also love how it still manages to give NY some of that 80’s sleaziness even though it’s 2012. Good job, Franck. That name is somehow infinitely cooler with a “C” added in. Just noticed that.
Nobody could replace Joe Spinell and I’m glad they didn’t try to do that. Instead, Elijah Wood is perfectly cast as someone who looks so harmless and innocent yet so incredibly creepy at the same time. How hot is that picture of his blood spattered face at the top of this page?? Yeah I know I’m weird.
Gonna have to rewatch the original now obvs.
Edit: it’s not NY in this one it’s LA! Who knew? Not me!
Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) aka Frank is one sick, twisted little bugger! He's a flat out Maniac! (hence the title of the film lol)
The music in this holy crap, it enhanced the movie so much more.
I didn't love the original, but it was really solid. This is probably the best horror remake ever. The first person point of view was just awesome for a movie like this. This movie was so dang creative!
A pretty damn disturbing glimpse into the life of a deranged serial killer. Shot in the first person, we're with this sicko for the duration, as we see him looking for love in all the wrong places, and becoming gradually consumed by his own insanity.
Elijah Wood delivers a fantastic performance as the killer. Though we rarely see him, his presence is always felt as he really captures the anxiety of the character, giving the film a very uncomfortable vibe. Some really great special effects here too by the excellent artists at KNB FX Group.
As a fan of the original MANIAC movie I wasn't expecting much from this remake, but I was surprised by how well it turned out.
Well I suppose there's no better way to summerise this movie, than the title itself...
Frank kills ladies and scalps them, because his mum banged dudes in front of him and abused him, a pretty classic serial killer background. In fact this has the ring of Norman Bates, the dillusions etc surrounding a mother figure, so it's a similar story played on film before. Not that I've seen the original of this though, I really want too now!
This movie is so nasty, ugly, sleazy and just straight up awkward as well! Elijah Woods dialogue is constantly cringe worthy, it's just as bad as the grotesque gore splattered about! The acting from all characters is fine and so is Elijah…
Franck Khalfoun’s remake of William Lustig’s grimy 1980 slasher film relies on its unique point of view conceit to differentiate itself from previous serial killer movies. Khalfoun and writers, Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur, transport the story from sleazy New York to a neon Los Angeles but whilst the setting is new this is still a down and dirty slasher flick as mommy’s boy Frank goes on a killing spree to help decorate his creepy mannequin collection.
Elijah Wood plays the murderer and delivers a decent performance in a tough role. Because he is not on screen most of the time and only caught in reflections the performance relies on his voice to convey his emotional state. By and large…
🌞Daily Horror Hunt #24 – June 2020🌞
4. Watch a horror remake.
Gotta be totally honest, I don't know which version of Elijah is creepier. Frank Zito: mannequin worshipping, perverted serial killer on the stalk. Or Norval Greenwood: nerdy hipster, just dying and lying for Daddy's love and affection. Choices, choices... too hard to choose. This month has given me a whole new perspective on young Elijah's career...
Oh yeah, I'm supposed to talk about Maniac! This is a KILLER update to one of my all-time fave slasher flicks! Instead of just replicating the greasy, gritty nature of Joe Spinell's iconic Frank Zito, stalking and slaying all over NYC. This does the smart move of shifting the perspective, almost entirely…
Franck Khalfoun’s Maniac ain't got the unadulterated grit of its antecedent, but I think it's still got some neat things going on.
I've gotta say, the POV gimmick works extremely well for this movie. Frank Zito isn't a murderer by choice; it's impulse that drives him. By giving the audience a front-row seat, a direct gaze through the eyes of a repentant killer, they too are made subject to Frank's demons -- forced to look on as countless lives are taken by his hand, helpless to bring an end to his own deplorable actions. Kinda smart, if you ask me.
Other than that, I also found a few of the kills to be surprisingly shocking (especially the first one), that the…
Damn.
This sleazy, neon-soaked LA reimagining of the early 80s NYC-based classic does almost everything right. And as a result it’s one of the most psychologically terrifying movies of the decade.
Elijah Woods is tremendous as a deeply disturbed man whose mind has him carrying out brutal murders that his heart doesn’t want to. We know this because most of the movie happens in the first person — you ARE Elijah’s Frank. You live through his psychological anguish.
That anguish forces him to commit some brutal acts (the fucking ankle, man, ughgggghh) in service of placating the deep-seated trauma of his childhood.
And circling back on the earlier mention, this happens in a synth-pulsing, seedy nighttime Los Angeles and the atmosphere of it all is awesome.
I hope Elijah Wood, content to ride on his LOTR bank forever, keeps making these weird indie movies because that’s a really fucking good niche for him.
Maniac is a remake of a horror movie with the same name. I haven't seen the original so I don't know what's copied from there, but at least here the whole movie is shot from the first person view of a psychopath who falls in love with a photographer.
Although Khalfoun has improved a lot from what I'd seen from him, he's still not a good director by any means. He does however manage to execute the brilliant idea of a first person slahser pretty decently. The idea gets really rolling when we start seeing what the perpetrator sees instead of what actually happens. Elijah Wood is far from his prime in the lead and his acting ranges from decent to bad, but he doesn't get that much screen time anyway. The influence of Aja is seen in the slasher effects I suppose.
A decent watch. Nothing groundbreaking but not utter trash either.
A psychological horror remake which insists on putting us in the point-of-view of its killer - creating a horribly uncomfortable viewing experience.
“Umm... You know, sometimes I feel like you come from an older era. I love it. It makes you very different.”
Maniac shares many similarities with the 1980 original exploitation film with the same name, even going as far as homaging its famous poster in a reflection of a parked car. This remake opts to take the originals prowling POV shots to an extreme, basing almost the entire film in this style. However, where the original gave us more personal alone time with its principle maniac, which gave much time to get to a sympathetic understanding and (dare…
Can’t knock the gore, but didn’t get much intrigue or suspense. There’s a line to be drawn somewhere regarding “fun” B-movie horror like this...
I really appreciate the radically different approach this remake took in terms of presentation and execution, and I wish more horror remakes were made with this sort of attitude. I thought the overall look was pretty neat, the synth score was fantastic and evoked a lot of the strong '80s throwback vibes throughout the film, the sound design was mainly what immersed you in the POV style of the film, the setting and use of locations was interesting, and the practical make-up effects were simultaneously really great and really over-the-top (in a good way).
That said, while I recognize and appreciate what this remake was going for, and what sort of expectations I needed to subvert when watching this type of…
Also mal ehrlich: William Lustig’s Maniac von 1980 – das ist ein Brett. Das habe ich erst vor kurzem festgestellt. Ich war beeindruckt und auf das 2012er Remake gespannt. Aber Remakes, das ist auch so eine Sache: was erwartet man da? Merzen sie Fehler aus, die das nicht perfekte Original gemacht hat und werden besser? Ziehen sie die Geschichte einfach nur in die aktuelle Zeit, aber kopieren ansonsten? Oder tragen sie einfach nur den selben Titel und visualisieren eine ganz andere Vision mit allerhöchstens dem gleichen Vornamen eines Charakters?
Im Remake ist Frank Zito Restaurator für Schaufensterpuppen, der ein Trauma aus der Kindheit nicht bewältigen kann, und so Frauen skalpiert, die sich in seinen Augen zu hautbetont ihren Mitmenschen zeigen.…
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