Out of everything in William Lustig's short but impressive filmography as an exploitation director, Maniac might just be the most popular (it's probably between that and Maniac Cop. My vote might have to go to the underrated Vigilante). The tale of a schizophrenic man who can't get over his mother's death distinguishes itself over conventional slashers by taking place in the seedy New York City of yore, and by having the lead played by one of cinemas all-time great sleazebags in Joe Spinell.When a remake was announced it was tough to really give a shit. So many of these remakes--whether Horror or not-- are just garbage that are totally devoid or what made the originals beloved in the first place. The fact that we have to keep bringing up The Fly and The Thing as remakes that turned out better than the original is proof of how so many of them miss the mark.
But when Elijah Wood took up the part of Frank it changed things. He had a pretty good turn as a creep in Sin City, and it's not like Wood takes any old slop that comes down the pike. Things just got interesting.
This new version of Maniac doesn't reach the heights of what John Carpenter was able to do with The Thing From Another World, but it's better than all the cookie-cutter dreck that has been shoved down our throats for the past decade (I'm look at you Platinum Dunes).
What Maniac does that gets the most talk is film from a mostly POV perspective. 90% of the movie is seen through the eyes of Wood's Frank as he repairs antique mannequins by day, and murders women by night. Doing it this way could have so easily become a bad gimmick, but it works. Director Franck Khalfoun literally puts you inside the mind of a crazy fuck as he stalks his prey. When Frank stares at his next victim before following her, you feel like a creep.
The plot is pretty much the same as Lustig's version. Frank scalps women for his mannequins before meeting a beautiful foreign photographer (B-movie sexpot Caroline Munro in the '80 version. Nora Arnezeder in the update) who he desperately tries to be normal for. Using the POV perspective makes it feel fresh and not just a cheap cash-in. The only thing missing I really would've liked to have seen lifted directly is the amazing headshot on Tom Savini; second best only to the cranial explosion in Scanners. It's nowhere to be found unfortunately.Maniac does what most Horror movies don't anymore, it tries. In this lifeless, corporate, appealing-to-the-masses world we live in when it comes to movies, that's become more than enough to make something worth watching.
7.0 out of 10
