 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 1980 horror classic Maniac. Yes, this is available for streaming on Shutter on the Shutter streaming service when I'm recording this video I don't actually know when I'm putting this review out, but you know, so I sat down I'm just give you a backstory on why I chose maniac at the moment I sat down and I was like, oh what movie do I want to review today? And I had some in mind, but I turned on shutter and every time I turn on shutter I like to see what they're running on their channels their live channels So it just happens that maniac was on and I was just like, oh, it's maniac And then I found myself not being able to leave it and I just watched like I don't know 10 minutes of it And then I just there's just like snap out of it get out of the film I was like, I'm just gonna review this because I already started like have ideas pop up in my head And I'm like I'm doing maniac then so it just kind of happened. So thank you shudder So anyway, let's talk maniac Written by and starring Joe Spinnell now this individual you would probably know from Godfather one and Godfather two He had a bigger role in Godfather two. He's CC But he's in Godfather one as well He's kind of more like in the background, but you may also know him from taxi driver now I've seen the first two Godfather films. I have not seen taxi driver I know there's some people right now with a lot of things I say like that It would be like, oh my god, you haven't seen taxi driver. It's on my list. Don't worry I'll get to it at some point, but I go hard on the horror. So but it was also written by CA Rosenberg so Spinnell and Rosenberg work together on the script and story Directed by William Lustig who also ended up doing the maniac cop series there were three of those that was after maniac and Prior to that William Lustig actually was a porn director and so yeah I guess he used proceeds from his porn film hot, honey To film maniac so very good and to that and to that the budget actually was a very low $350,000 but get this how much it made in the box office 10 million dollars on a $350,000 budget that's awesome That's huge and it's really interesting considering that they never like initially they didn't submit it for Rating to the MPAA so it was just an unrated film. It just immediately gets like an NC 17 adults only They're ended up being other cuts of it that were distributed after that at an R rating But I don't even know they'd have to cut a decent amount of stuff out to get it down to an R in my opinion But I thought it was interesting. They decided like this is so raw It's so like disturbing and gruesome that we're just not even gonna get it rated at first and just put it out But they made 10 million in the box office. So that's crazy And this was in 1980 the film was not listed as one of the video nasties in the UK But it actually ended up being seized by police in a few areas of the country just because of the Reputation of the film because you know reputations of films like that kind of make it Overseas so Lustig already said that the lust just lustig uses proceeds from that porn The film was shot gorilla style because they actually could not afford Filming permits for New York City. And yes, that's where it's shot is New York City So if you if you watch this film just think whenever they're out on the street doing things No permits. So that's a dicey situation because you can get some very hefty fines if you get caught I know one film director in particular who's very famous for like always doing pretty much a gorilla film making is John Waters who you know, I'm from the Baltimore-ish area. So he's a hometown hero here. Nice guy So, yeah, all gorilla style done because it was such a low budget now That takes us to one of the most risky scenes to do gorilla style Which is the shotgun blast to the head of the boyfriend in the car scene where they're getting it on and then Frank Zito Joe Spinole's character comes up and just like steps up on the top on the hood and just With the shotgun just blows his head open Which that's a crazy scene in the film like it's in amazingly gory It's really well done. It looks good and one of the main reasons being that Tom Savini did it We all know Tom Savini. He's wonderful and actually I'm just gonna plug this real quick I did a review video for the new time the Tom Savini Documentary which is also streaming on shutter called. I think it's smoke and mirrors the life of Tom Savini Check out that review and check out the documentary so because Tom Savini obviously we know is amazing with his practical effects So he already happened to have a a mold of his head a reproduction of his own head So they use that and he just played the boyfriend in that role So that's Tom Savini and then they did a shotgun a real shotgun blast through the windshield To blow up the head and they filled it with a bunch of fake blood and like leftover food is what I read I was like, okay random, but it you know it works so Very effective, but this is the thing without having a filming permit That's really really dicey and they knew that going into it So basically how they did it is when they were gonna shoot the scene of the actual shotgun blast happening They had a friend's truck next to them So they shoot the scene with the shotgun blast that immediately throw the shotgun in the bed of the truck and that Truck takes off so that there's no gun in the vicinity in case the cops show up fast so smart thinking but Man, is it risky to do something like that? but it's also just in general risky to shoot a serial killer film without a permit because You could be mistaken for an actual serial killer like they're doing creepy things when they're filming. It's weird So out of yeah, that stuff's rough. I feel like in those instances you should just Try to find the money to get those permits, especially in a place like New York City Very crowded city even back then so I mean obviously it's more so today, but so Do-do-do-do there was a maniac to that ended up coming out in 1986 Interesting thing 1986 was also the year that Henry portrait every serial killer came out Which I feel like took a lot of inspiration from maniac But spinel actually ended up directing maniac to I have not seen maniac to I probably will at some point Because I have a lot of respect for Joe spinel especially after I've seen maniac and this viewing when I watched it today This was not the first time I'd seen it. I saw it a few years ago so Then there was a remake in 2012 that was done by Alexander Aja and that starred Elijah Wood I've heard very good things about that remake. I just haven't gotten to it yet. Once again. It's one of those films It's on the list. It's on my list to watch I will get there eventually and I'll probably do a review of it when I get there So let's get in the actual film the opening scene sets a very disturbing and very important Stage for the film to give you an idea of what type of film it is You do find out that that's you know a dream or a nightmare kind of that that Frank Zito was having But you start immediately with this kind of like voyeuristic view of him using those it's like those touristy Binocular things you can pay for I don't think they have those anymore except like on the tops of tall buildings and in big cities but so he's like looking through that so it looks like binoculars basically and the heavy like the Disturbing heavy breathing is very effective because it tells you there's something not right about this person And that's like an immediate thing to let you know Hey the this voyeuristic gaze that you're seeing the person who's watching is Messed up in some way and you're gonna find out how and you obviously you do with very gory effect And like that kill scene is actually very crazy and disturbing how he's like lifted up and you see his feet and they're like shaking It's a very raw Disturbing film and I see why it you know got the reputation it did when it came out I mean rightfully so with the way that it was done But you know for nowadays people really look back and appreciate how it was done because it's very realistic You see how unhinged Frank is immediately with his dream and then because he wakes up from the dream He's all sweaty which that's kind of a theme is like Frank Zito is always sweaty in this film Which I feel like adds an extra level of like disturbing and grit to the film and like rawness It's just like it's gross You know like how often in films they intentionally show the actors like sweaty not very often So it gives this kind of raw authentic feel to the film. It's a small thing, but it works So when he wakes up from his dream like you then I mean first of all you had that crazy dream But then also you're seeing his room where he's got like all the dolls the mannequins All these pictures and if you'll notice some of the pictures have like the private parts kind of Scratched out of the women and that kind of goes back to his whole psychosis Well his his whole disturbing behavior that spawns from his mother and the sexuality that he saw on his mother Basically as they allude to it being like a prostitute when he was a kid. So Very very very interesting. So they have a lot of those kind of cues there Where where they give you some hints as to what's going on with his backstory But then they eventually over the course of the film actually break it down Which is one of the things I really like about this film, especially for how early it was in 1980 to go that in depth on the pathology of a serial killer like this I Feel like I was pretty groundbreaking I mean you did see some of that in the in the Hitchcock film psycho But I feel like this took it deeper and closer because it's focusing on that main character of the serial killer It's like you're inside his head basically which helps to make the film more disturbing and more uncomfortable for people So therefore more effective Frank goes out to kill the hooker because his dream kind of signified that he was like Jonesing for a kill, you know, it's part of him waking up all sweaty as he was kind of like it's like a Junkie, you know, like when they wake up and they've got the sweats and just like I just need a fix I need a fix Frank Zito just needed a kill fix and that's why he then goes out gets the hooker and does his thing Which you know, that's his that's that's his thing So the scalping scene I thought was actually pretty nasty for 1980. So you pair that up with the head explosion and some of the stabbing stuff The one with the the stabbing through the back with the bayonet And then him stabbing the girl with his switchblade and then him stabbing himself Like all those scenes very very gory very gruesome. So The inner monologue is actually a little bit weird But the line delivery and it's really good and you know that mainly just being that joe spinnell Did an excellent job in this role and it's a tough role. It's a very very tough role But he didn't in an outstanding job But yeah, like there's he's got the inner monologue going on after he killed that first hooker And he and he brings her scalp back and he's putting the mannequin together and everything. I don't feel like The inner monologue works. It's very weird He could have just been talking out loud and it would have made more sense Because that's the only time the inner monologue really happens and then they just like drop it So when you do something like that like stick with it and then people kind of get used to it Or don't do it like do it throughout or don't do it at all. So that's one of my small criticisms Then I was watching and I was like with such a low budget. How did they end up getting that? That helicopter shot of the city And I'm wondering if maybe it was like some sort of stock footage They were able to get somewhere Knew someone who had that kind of footage and they they got it. I don't know But I was assumed they would not be With such a low budget They wouldn't be able to like you know rent a helicopter and do that So frank's having relationships with the mannequins, we know But he needs the scalps in order to make them feel real So he can have the relationships with these mannequins Because you see like in his interactions with him He's treating them like real people and mainly his mother He treats all women basically like his mother when he's in that, you know more evil mindset The serial killer mindset because there are kind of two segments to him There's there's a normal a more normal him and a more evil him and the more evil him is Is signified by that kind of heavy breathing in those kind of like guttural noises that he makes like that's a very smart film choice To give that kind of auditory cue to the listeners that oh he's his brain has switched right now And you see that a few times in the film so You see him having these relationships with these mannequins But he needs those scalps because he needs something to make it feel real and I guess for him It's the actual human hair that makes that happen So it becomes apparent that he can't actually coexist with real women Because he has to have a lot of control and as you see with the relationship that he tries to have with Anna the photographer that he he can only maintain what he feels like control for so long Because he has that moment where he gets like super jealous and she's like oh you can come and see me at Uh this film shoot and he's like yeah with a bunch of other guys and she even like points it out like you're getting jealous And he's like oh no But he is like he and that signifies like his need for control over women Because when he was a child he had no control over The main woman in his life that he loved his mother and she was actually super horrible to him obviously So he can really only be in an actual relationship because of this with a Dead woman or a fake woman being the mannequins Uh the subway stalking scene is particularly well done and I feel like very very tense Also, it's a good location choice for the reasons of one It's just more of like a desolate dirty Setting that kind of like ratchets up the horror of it But also the aspect of if you're doing that guerrilla style filmmaking you can Definitely find a time where people aren't really using it as much. So it's a little bit easier to get those shots out in the public Um, so Zito's relationship with the photographer Anna seems a bit fast to me That's one of my other kind of issues Is there there should should have been a little bit more story because he comes and talks to her It's just like oh, I do paintings. I think he says he does paintings And then she's just like, oh, you're you're also a creative person. I like you now. Let's you know go out on a date And it's like that's a little bit fast and weird. It doesn't really make sense It's especially because Let's say it. Joe spinel is not a good-looking guy Therefore frank Zito is not a good-looking guy. So He is charismatic in the film when he's acting normal, but He's not a good-looking guy You get the idea frank's mom was a hooker based on the apartment break-in scene That's before you get like the confirmation that that that's what was going on And you also understand that she was putting cigarettes out on him when her johns came over So that's a very very revealing scene and therefore it's a very very important scene It's not just another one of those kills and that's the thing is a lot of the times they're using The scenes in this film not just as here's shock value. Here's something interesting They're using it to actually push the story forward and give you more of zito's back story So you understand what's really going on how he got to where he is And I feel like the writing of the script is very very good for that reason Frank tried his hardest to keep it together in front of ana But it's really hard to do that when his biggest trigger in life Is right there his his mother's headstone like I knew The first time I watched this film I knew when he was like, oh, let's go to the cemetery and see my mom. I was just like, oh, he's he is going to lose it because That's his biggest trigger and to be like in her presence Obviously just sends him over the edge and even further because you don't even you don't see him like hallucinating Until that moment until he's closest to his the biggest trigger in his life Uh, and then he's hallucinating and obviously she like jumps out of the ground and Is like I guess kind of trying to strangle him or something abuse him from beyond the grave once again so Uh, you get the idea that frank's inability to reconcile his normal side With his evil side is what kind of drives him in the end to hallucinate and then eventually kill himself At first, you don't really know what's going on You're like Did we just become like supernatural and like the ghosts of his victims are actually killing him or is this all in his head Or what's going on I expected the first time I watched it that he was um, just kind of hallucinating that and then he would You know still be fine But then you see when the police showed up that he actually stabbed himself with the bayonet But then you also see at the very very end that he opens his eyes. So maybe he's still alive. I don't know so I guess I have to see maniac too Then that'll tell me although i'm not even a hundred percent sure that that's um connected because it might not be But I'll have to see Okay, so that's it about the actual like events of the movie. So let me talk about some of the other stuff So there are moments when frank makes those guttural noises Yeah, and the heavy breathing which is meant to signify that mental change and it lets you know At those moments that he's thinking about terrible things So I think for me that one of the most important Of those moments is the one where he's at the photo shoot to see anna and it's important because Prior to that scene there was a very large portion of him acting normal And seeming like a normal guy and being charismatic and being trying to be in like a normal relationship with anna But then when he meets that Rita when he meets rita the model Then she walks away and and he's sitting by himself That's when you notice the change in the breathing and he's making like these guttural noises at the same time too And that's why that scene is particularly important because it shows the most Contrast between him being normal and making that switch like it's the best stage where you really really really notice it So really really well done They do a great job of laying out the backstory for frank's pathology His issue with losing his mother and his idea that a picture preserves a person like the picture of his mother But also like the mannequin is like a preserved person and the scalp is also a perverse preserved person So that conversation that he has with anna prior to the photo shoot where they kind of first meet like really meet um That's a really interesting really important uh dialogue between the two characters because they're talking about It gives you a more of a glimpse into his mind of like, oh well I'm preserved you know if you take this picture then they are preserved forever And then he ends up showing the picture of his mother giving you the idea that he believes his mother is kind of preserved forever in this picture But then he's also seeing his mother in other women and that is preserving her as well And then that's why he wants to get close to him because he sees his mother In them and then he needs to preserve some piece of them with the mannequin, which is the scalp Um frank has self-confidence issues So at the slightest indicator that a woman may step out on him or another guy may swoop in he goes off the deep end That was kind of A little bit of what I got out of the situation with anna where you know He it seemed like things were going well for him and he hadn't kind of like lapsed back to being a homicidal maniac But he Then eventually gets there because I feel like all the stress it the stressors that kind of hit him Of feeling like things are going well with anna and then feeling like there are a bunch of indicators that there's a lot of um Doubt in the ability to maintain the relationship or move it forward And then that's when he meets rita and then that's when his breathing changes And he just kind of goes back to being the serial killer self that he is So it really does feel like in this film. There's a bit of an opportunity for him to go away from being a serial killer And he does that for a little bit, but then he inevitably goes back. So it's kind of like The struggle like I was talking about earlier of him kind of being a junkie being addicted to drugs It's that struggle of Can he stay clean in a sense? But then he gets the the urge he gets he starts jonesing for it And he just can't get away The allure for some and repulsion for others With this film came from how up close and personal this film was with the actual killer I feel like like I was saying before you like get inside of his head But there's also a level level level Sorry level of discomfort That comes in knowing the backstory of how he got to where he is and being able to feel A level of sympathy for what happened to him in his past Because I feel like you get there and when he's a terrible person And he does the obviously terrible things that are depicted in this film You don't want to like him and you don't want to feel any sort of positive or sympathetic feeling for him But when you do because of that backstory that you find out It makes you uncomfortable because you're like i'm feeling a bit of sympathy for this person But this person's terrible And so feeling so conflicted is very very uncomfortable And I feel like that's one of the reasons that this film disturbs people to the level that it does The other aspect being the violence and the gore obviously but So henry portrait of a serial killer came six years after maniac like i was saying before And people freaked out about that movie as well saying it was like so intense and over the top and just too much But I feel like maniac is way more disturbing I I hear a lot more people talk about henry portrait of a serial killer than I hear talk about maniac in in that regard And I feel like if you're going to talk about that you should probably Mainly talk about maniac you can talk about henry portrait of serial killer as well because it is also kind of that level of disturbing but um, I feel like maniac feels even more raw and more close to the serial killer and more um Disturbing just in general To up the ante of being disturbing and gross Oh, I already talked about this the disturbing and grossed aspect being upped by Frank Zito being so sweaty all the time It's a weird choice and some people are probably more grossed out about it, but I like the choice. I do Once again spinel did an outstanding job with this role a tough role. He did a really good job Uh, I really dug his performance Too bad. He passed away in 1989 so Uh, this this film points out how much a person can be messed up When the one they love most as a child is their worst abuser And I feel like that is the core theme of this film is how parenting matters that much And you know, just like I said like how messed up a person can become because they have the trauma They have traumas in their childhood, especially when it's tied to A parent and you know, it kind of goes back to psycho The pitchcock film psycho where, you know, norman bates is so tied to his mother. So has so much love for his mother that It causes him psychological problems in his adulthood and I feel like Maniac's kind of inspired by that but it takes it to the next level and it gets way deeper On his backstory and actually gets kind of sympathetic because there is a little bit of that in psycho But I feel like in maniac. There's a lot more So anyway, this film is a good film quite a good film Um, so I'm gonna have to give it a star rating out of five Out of five stars stars with half stars in play. I'm gonna give this a four and a half. This is a very Well put together film. Uh, I dig it. I think especially with such a low budget They did an unbelievable job with the practical effects the acting the script writing was great The music was really good in it. The directing was Excuse me. The directing was quite well pulled off. Um, yeah, it really comes together and it's it's a horror classic at this point So anyway, thank you everyone for checking this out. Put some comments down there. What are your thoughts on maniac? Also, have you seen maniac 2 and have you seen the remake? Let me know if those are musts for me also maniac the maniac cop series Let me know about that. I heard good things about the first maniac cop So I'll probably just check that one out. But tell me about the other ones too So put those comments down there. You can give me a like But the big thing is repay me with a subscribe if you're not already subscribed if you already are big Thank you to you, but I keep I get motivated to keep doing these if you hit that subscribe So that'd be appreciated. But thank you so much for checking this one out and until next time keep it brutal