Maniac

Review: This movie seemed like a cheap horror which was mostly filmed through the eyes of a serial killer who definitely has some issues. I don't think that Elijah Wood was the perfect choice for this role and I didn't like way that the movie was filmed through the killers eyes. I also found the movie quite boring and the music got on my nerves throughout the film. The ending was a bit over the top, along with the storyline which I found quite uninteresting. You do end up sticking with the movie to see what exactly happens to Elijah Woods character, but as I'm not a big fan of horrors, its not a film that I will be watching again in a hurry. Boring! Round-Up: What ever did happen to Elijah Woods career? After being the main star in The Lord Of The Rings franchise, he hasn't really come out with anything to reboot his career. The director of this film must have a warped mind, judging by some of the gory scenes in this film. As for the other characters, they all seemed very Z class, but I don't think that it would have made a big difference to the movie if they were any better. There is a very seedy feel to the film which I didn't like from the beginning and there are quite a few question marks with the storyline. I recommend this movie to people who are into there thriller/horror movie, but don't expect anything amazing. 2/10

This is a very gory and bloody film and unless you don't mind watching these types of films you won't like it. I've not seen the original so I can't compare the two. Elijah Wood is an actor I like and he is excellent in this as the serial killing maniac. I found it hard to get into the film but this is one film that gradually improves as it goes along rather than fades away. Along with the bloody horror there are a number of really tense scenes. It is the most unsettling film I've seen in a while. Maniac is well filmed and uses some very interesting filming techniques. I can't say I enjoyed watching it too much was a bit too sadistic for my taste. However for it's type this is a very good effort.

Now this movie isn't for the weak of heart or for people that have weak stomachs. The kills in this movie is realistic and very gruesome looking. Although it lacks tension, it's better than a lot of the redundant slasher movies that go straight to DVD. What is unique about this movie is that it put you in the view point of the killer and for the most part goes in a first person view direction. And just with that this movie can get difficult to watch at points. Watching this movie was liked watching a slasher version of "Enter the Void" except instead of a wandering spirit, it's in the view point of the killer. Elijah Wood is really good at playing this obsessive, creepy or mentally unstable psycho killer roles. And he really nails it in this one as well. Although it lacks in tension it makes up for it with the visuals and the psychological aspect of things. Now I haven't seen the original and while this is a remake, I think it's a stand alone film. It's a disturbing film from start to finish and will have most people's attention that can handle it, all the way through. Psycho slasher movie fans will most definitely enjoy this one. 7.6/10

The restorer Frank (Elijah Wood) is the owner of a mannequin store that belonged to his mother. Frank was abused by his mother when he was a child and now he is a psychopath serial-killer with a * for scalps. When he meets the French photographer Anna (Nora Arnezeder), she loves his work of restoration of mannequins and they become friends. Anna borrows mannequins to an exhibition that she is promoting and Frank helps her. Franks goes to the opening night and stalks and kills Anna's agent Rita (Jan Broberg). Anna calls Frank to tell what happened to Rita and he goes to her apartment. Soon she suspects that Frank might be a serial-killer, but he is in her apartment. "Maniac" is a terrible movie and remake of the 1980 "Maniac". The flawed story uses the stupid cliché of the victim running to a desert area. Los Angeles seems to be a ghost town. One woman in the subway flees to an empty parking area. Anna cries, there are fights in her apartment but the noise does not disturb the neighbors that do not take any attitude. The camera is also awful. The best part is the totally unexpected first death of a woman in the front door of her apartment. My vote is three. Title (Brazil): "Maníaco" ("Maniac")

Came across this film after searching for some horror/thrillers to watch on IMDb and after reading some reviews on here thought i would give it a try. I did not know it was a remake so had nothing to compare it to. As with most horrors i started to watch with an open mind, not really expecting too much, but really didn't enjoy this at all. A lot of the film is shot from the main characters eyes (P.O.V) and i found this really off putting. I found the story to be completely ridiculous and had trouble finding anything enjoyable about it in the first 30 minutes. Its pretty gory, but much of the same type of thing all the way through, so once once you have seen one sequence of gore its pretty much all the same. After about 50 minutes i had lost all interest and found myself laughing at the stupidness of it and turned it off. Really didn't like this film and its 50 minutes of my life i will never get back, I'm not too picky when it comes to films but i found everything about this really poor. AVOID!!!

I have to admit, I was a bit worried about the POV (hadn't read about it, but it gets obvious pretty fast, how it was shot), but I have to admit it worked very good. Of course there are scenes that change perspective, but I need a second view to fully understand if there was more going on than met the eye. Elijah Wood definitely put everything he has into the role. A role that was made famous in the 80s or rather infamous. And Elijah does live up to the mad reputation (his performance that is). This is not an easy movie to watch, but the title should have given you the first clue. Don't be fooled by the inclusion of Elijah that his might be "Hollywood", because it isn't! You can argue about whether you like the content or not, but you can't argue about the artistic way it was shot. I reckon the movie will not reach German shores in its uncut g(l)ory version, but I can promise you, you won't forget it, if you watch it

This movie is disturbing and disgusting but if you're watching it that's the point. It had a lot of points that made me feel -- for lack of a better word -- plain icky. Elijah Wood does a great job dialing up the creep factor -- he is incredibly believable as an unadulterated psychopath. Maniac recently got banned in some locales because of its content, so that alone says that it does well in the horror genre. It's unsettling, creepy, gross. It does what it sets out to do pretty well. The direction is good in this film as is the cinematography; for a remake it was exceptional!

I had the pleasure of catching this at Horrorhound Weekend in March. The viewing room was a packed house for this one, so I along, with everyone else was also curious of how IFC would take Maniac and make a new movie. Normally with IFC I give it hit (Dead Snow, Stake Land, Tormented) or miss (Human Centipede, ATM, etc.) I have to say the IFC did it right this time with Maniac. First off, I've got to make point that hearing Elijah Wood was gonna be stepping in to the socially awkward, and mentally disturbing shoes of Joe Spinell, I was immediately worried, but it is with great pleasure I can say that Elijah Wood embodies MANIAC through the movie. The movie begins establishing how unsettling this movies going to be by showing us the killer's (Wood) P.O.V. which is how 90% of the movie is shot. Making the next 90 minutes more haunting than the original as you get the sensation that you the viewer are now the killer. Following the kills, you can be sure that IFC isn't gonna short you on the gore and by God they don't not even 10 minutes in you are treated to a brutal bloody, disturbing scalp removal of a beautiful young woman, which is one of many in the film. The violence is infrequent but when it's present it's brutal, haunting, disturbing, and BLOODY, much like the original. In fact, there are very few things different from the original in this well shot remake. Frank (Wood) is a mannequin rest-orator, who takes pride in his work. So much so that he surrounds himself with them all the time. Frank's childhood, shown through flashbacks, gives the insight of his * mother always bringing a guy(s) home and performing sexual activities on them, while poor Frank was forced to watch. As a result, mentally disturbed Frank now goes out and kills young woman, by removing their scalps then putting them on his mannequins to keep the spirit alive and keep them forever. Standing out in this nightmare of a film stands Wood, who really does convince you that he is indeed a MANIAC. Whether it's the constant disillusioned images he forces on himself, scrubbing his hands with tin foil after a fresh kill, or sharing a bed with a mannequin surrounded by flies due to the rotting scalp stapled to its head, this is not the Wood we know. The various shots, edits, and sequences make MANIAC luckily out to be a good remake that will not disappoint fans of the infamous original classic at all.

This is a particularly nasty film that revels in shocking the audience with as much gratuitous violence as it can squeeze in. If you enjoy watching realistic scenes of women being tortured, mutilated and scalped you will almost certainly enjoy this. If, on the other hand, you are looking for a film that tries to explain or understand the psychology of the characters you are looking in the wrong place. The film tries to be clever by viewing the action through the eyes of the main character, presumably to personalise the violence. It really makes no difference. Gratuatous violence is gratuitous violence regardless of perspective. I have always been against censorship, but films like this do make me question my belief in anti-censorship.

Well I suppose its a hundred times better than the original ... Visually amazing ... Well acted by all ... And completely lacking in story and character ... There is no tension ... There is no atmosphere at all ... Its just there and SAYING NOTHING ... Vacuous ... Pointless ... Such a waste of such talent ... I suppose the director and cameraman were glad of the work and will certainly go on to better things ... Elijah Wood was well crazy to do this ... All credit to him ... He does what he can with it ... And the very thought of America Olivio as his mum is an outrageous idea :)) ... But the original was just the same ... Man kills girl, then another, then another etc, then dies at the end ... Quite frankly that isn't even a storyline ... It was bad all those years ago and we just watched it cos it was gory ... And thats what people will do with this ... Watch it once and then think what a wasted opportunity with that cast and crew ... If only there was a writer onboard