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…

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…

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…

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.…