Maniac

2012 Directed by Franck Khalfoun

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.

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

Alternative Titles

Maniac 2012, Manijak, Маньяк, Maniac Uncut

horror

89 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Siegel™ ★★★★½ 16

original review
possibly the best slasher film of the 21st century so far
Review by Hollie Horror ★★★★ 20

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

I was quite excited to finally get my grimy hands on a blu-ray release of Maniac but I must say, I still approached Maniac with slight apprehension. There were only two things that caused misgivings and they were the possible use of too much CGI and the sweet, lovable Elijah Wood. Thankfully, both proved to be premature prejudice against a remake of the slimy original with the same name.
Ten years ago I spent a lot of whiny, internet-time complaining about remakes in the horror genre. Ten years later and the remake pods have completely taken over and I am a willing participant in viewing them now and then, and even enjoying them occasionally. There is a certain formula a…
Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★★ 18

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.
Review by Ian West ★★★★½ 5

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...
Review by Siegel™ ★★★★½ 9

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…
Review by Tony the Terror😼🏳️‍🌈 👻 ★★★★½ 9

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!
Review by Evan ★★★★ 7

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!
Review by strongboy ★★★★★ 5

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.
Review by Cameron ★★★★ 11

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…
Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★★

the perfect psychological horror film.
Review by Adam Cook ★★½ 9

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…
Review by Matt Winfield ★★★★ 5

🌞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…

Recent reviews

Review by Johnny Antonini ★★★

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

This movie had a cool concept but they kinda bitched out on it. It's all from the maniacs POV, but they found EVERY opportunity to make him look at a reflection. A few times just pulling out of the POV because why not? Wouldn't want anyone to forget that you are watching Elija Wood now, would we?
They also set up a sort of split personality where maybe there is a good version inside of him that doesn't want to kill. That was never explored at all. That probably would have been interesting.
Review by TOMZOMG ★★★½

Very enjoyable update of the classic, shot in 80s killer POV style which is handled surprisingly well. It never feels like a gimmick and except for one or two scenes where the dialogue becomes very detached, this form is totally in line with the vibe of the original Maniac. This version also does a slightly better job fleshing out (ha!) the mannequin/mommy issues and those annoying flies are a nice addition. It misses a gruesome headshot though.
Hooptober VII Chapter 12: Déjà Viewing Party
Review by Rue Lumbroso ★★

I had technically seen this before, when it came out, but it freaked me out so much that I skipped through the end and couldn't finish it.
It wasn't the gore or brutal POV kills, but the panic attacks and people staring at you through the screen that got to me.
This time around nothing about Maniac scared me, I just found it distasteful and pointless.
Review by WizardOfMovies ★★½

Hooptober 7 (23/36)
Six decades. (5/6) (2010s)
From a narrative standpoint this is a creative spin on the original but the point of view gimmick wore me out very on. Maybe this was the seed that planted Elijah Wood's idea to make his VR game Transference?
The gore is very realistic (I'm sure living up to Tom Savini's legandary work on the original was a focus) the nods to the original are pretty cool and no one can leave out a comment about the great score but overall this wasn't really my thing. It's almost impossible to not at least entertain a comparison of the two so I feel like I have to. This movie is very disturbing visually but…
Review by warrenamos01 ★★★★

31 Days Of Horror 2020 #28
This is a tough watch. A serial killer stalking women whilst viewed POV-style for much of the film. It's pretty grisly and unsettling, which is, i suppose, the aim.
Review by William Wilson ★★★★

Shocktober 2020: My mission is to watch all of the remakes of classic horror films I've missed over the last 20 years. I am not a smart man.
REMAKE ACHE #14: MANIAC (2012)
When I started this insane horror remake journey, I was hoping to find at least one retread that surprised me. Something where the filmmakers took the source material and made it their own. I was 0 for 13 and starting to feel like General Zod shouting, “Is there no one on this planet to even challenge me?” Well, leave it to the French to finally deliver. The remake of William Lustig’s classic slasher MANIAC (1980) by Franck Khalfoun is a great remake and a great film. I can’t even believe I typed those words. Not only did the filmmakers make it their own, but in some ways it surpasses the original. That is all. Now fight amongst yourselves.
Review by belle ★★★

i don't want anyone to say that i'm beautiful again
Review by Jack ★★★½

What's scarier, hyper-gory, POV murders in gristly detail or two dudes podcasting about it
Review by Seanery ★★★

Better than I expected. Like the original, it does a good job of putting you inside the killer's head, this time in a very literal sense, as 90% of the film is shot from his POV. All the killing does get to be a bit much after a while, but perhaps I only feel that way because it made me more invested than most slashers.
Review by Eggpants ★★★★

Now, don't be jealous
his new lady friend gets him
she'll lend him a hand.
Review by brianlovehorror ★★★½

As a remake, it is doomed to be compared to its original. While it is a nice update, it missed a few marks because it wants to be different than its 1980 original cult classic. I must say that the original sets the bar very high though.
The POV of the antagonist as the storytelling device for the movie has stripped away its potential to have the kind of tension to keep you on the edge of your seat like its original predecessor. The extra backstory seems unnecessary as it does not make the antagonist more sympathetic even though that seems like the intention of the backstory. Unlike Joe Spinell in the original (pardon me for another comparison), Elijah Wood lacks the menacing aura to look like a serial killer in this movie.
You may enjoy this movie more if you have not watched the original. If you watched the original, you may enjoy this better with a lower expectation.
Review by dgrunert ★★★★

This is one of my favorite remakes because it's as brutal, disturbing and sleazy as the original, but the 1st person POV is so effective and actually elevates the film. The score is an all-timer, too. Oh, and those mannequins are freakin' creepy.