Maniac (1980) Full Review

Film Scene Investigation

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Transcript

00:12hey everyone welcome back to another film review with me beau here on the film scene

00:19investigation channel thank you so much for checking out the video in today's review i'm

00:26going to be taking a look at the controversial 1980 slasher film maniac before we get into it

00:35guys if you haven't already please do consider subscribing to the channel all the support is

00:41greatly appreciated so maniac from 1980 was directed by the filmmaker william lustig and

00:51starred the actor joe spinel in the lead role it's safe to say that maniac was a very small production

01:01with a very limited budget spinel who actually co-wrote the film screenplay played this psychotic

01:11serial killer loose on the streets of new york city now when the film was released all those years ago

01:20it was met with some very harsh criticism due to the film's violent nature maniac was actually banned

01:31here in this country the uk for many years before it was officially released and uh you know in my

01:39eyes

01:40the censorship surrounding the film only made it more notorious now i first came across this movie

01:49many years ago when i was watching an old tom savini documentary about his career savini ended up doing the

01:59effects

01:59for maniac and subsequently had a minor role in the film so yeah they had some footage inserted into the

02:08documentary

02:09for what it was worth i thought it was pretty awesome

02:13but only recently have i actually taken the time to actually sit down and watch maniac in all its glory

02:21when it comes to the film's narrative the movie followed the serial killer frank zito who was played by actor

02:29joe spinel

02:30this guy was a sick individual who spent most of his nights prowling the streets of new york city

02:40in search of people to kill the film's title wasn't wrong i mean this character indeed was a maniac

02:52going around murdering people at random and then scalping his victims afterwards it was very disturbing stuff

03:02and i guess you know for frank it wasn't just enough to actually kill someone no no no no he

03:08had to

03:09you know take a little piece with him back to his apartment just complete psychopath

03:16frank remained the central figure within the film with everyone else kind of acting like side characters with

03:25no backstory we never really got to know any other characters in the film as the victims that we saw

03:34only appeared on screen for a few minutes before they were killed off there was no mystery surrounding

03:43these deaths there was no ongoing police investigation that we saw it was simply just frank night after night

03:52going around killing people at random and we the audience were there side by side with him all the way

04:01now in fairness there was one character called anna who was this um fashion photographer who we did get to

04:12know

04:12briefly anna who was played by actress caroline monroe was introduced very late on into the film

04:21perhaps maybe in the last 45 minutes up until that point we'd only seen these vicious brutal kills

04:30kind of happening one after the other with no real kind of story progression so when the anna character was

04:40introduced i was uh glad to see something was happening because up until that point

04:46i was starting to get a little uh a little bored with these random kills usually in these types of

04:54films you

04:54know there's a big supporting cast you know everyone's got kind of backstories and there's a history in

05:01there and we kind of know more about the characters but all that was pretty much missing from this movie

05:07once the anna character was introduced the story definitely picked up the pace as we saw frank becoming

05:15more infatuated with her the two actually became quite friendly with each other

05:22yet anna had absolutely no idea what she was getting herself into

05:28it was obvious from the start that anna was next on frank's hit list the film culminated with frank's

05:40attack on anna at a cemetery where frank's mother had been buried they were both there at the cemetery to

05:49pay their respects to frank's mother but once frank saw the tombstone he started to act

05:57very strange clearly the sight of his mother's tombstone triggered some sort of emotional distress

06:07as frank then suddenly turned on anna and started to choke her given the size difference between the

06:16two anna didn't really stand any chance against this big burly frank zito and you know when i saw all

06:24this play out my assumption was okay there we go anna's next to be killed off but to my surprise

06:32she was able to actually escape anna was also able to injure frank in the process before she ran out

06:40of the cemetery unlike all of frank's other victims anna had actually survived and now could

06:49report him to the authorities we saw frank return to his apartment knowing that the game was up it was

06:58only a matter of time before the police you know smashed through his door and arrested him for all of

07:04the murders that he'd committed so he decided to retire to his bed and wait for their arrival when the

07:13authorities showed up at the authorities showed up at the apartment the next morning they found frank dead with a

07:19self-inflicted stab wound to his stomach we saw the police rush to the apartment you know their guns in

07:26their

07:26hand ready to take out this maniac but it was already too late there was no way that this maniac

07:36frank zito was

07:37going to do time behind bars so he took the only other option he had left now one of the

07:46main

07:46highlights that this film offered was its amazing special effects from the legendary tom savini from

07:55women getting scalped to a man's head being blown up i mean it was all there on screen and with

08:05savini's

08:05effects the outcomes were very impressive but as i say this you know should we really be surprised

08:15i mean tom savini is a guy that i've always held in high regard and you know time and time

08:23again he

08:24has proved what a great effects artist he is having savini involved in any type of project would only

08:33heighten its quality and that's exactly what happened here with maniac and you know i'm just going to

08:41say this right now after watching this film and seeing all the amazing practical effects it did

08:47you know make me realize just how important practical effects can be to storytelling i don't know i'm just

08:54so sick of current day cinema you know 21st century cinema is just so poor and obviously this is reason

09:04why i started this youtube channel to you know celebrate the amazing cinema of the past i mean the

09:11overuse of cgi in today's cinema is you know pretty much unbearable i mean i don't really watch many

09:20new films um but uh when i do it looks like something out of a video game you know it's

09:27just uh

09:28so fake it's just nothing there that you can really kind of get into it's not it's not tangible

09:34enough for me and so really all i can say is seeing maniac and seeing these amazing practical effects

09:41it just made me miss them and i long for a day when practical effects reign supreme again

09:49i have to say i really did enjoy the film's score that was produced by the composer jay chatterway

09:59this guy created this dark and moody soundscape which blended so well with the disturbing imagery

10:10on screen i've said this before but film scores are so important when it comes to creating the right

10:20mood and tone for your film and if you've got a bad one then it can really ruin the audience's

10:29experience on this occasion chat away delivered the goods with his unique blend of musical arrangements

10:39many times we heard these crescendos of weird sounds and noises that were built up and then you know

10:49blared out all over the place the soundtrack really stood out and yeah just thoroughly impressed with

10:56jay chatterway's efforts the score almost acted like another character within the film constantly

11:05shaping the film's sinister atmosphere as the story unfolded really great soundtrack and um i'll be

11:13honest i don't really know too much about this composer jay chatterway i know he did um many soundtracks

11:19in the 80s so yeah he's a guy that's now on my radar i'll definitely be checking out some of

11:24his

11:25other work for sure when it comes to the performances i thought actor joe spinel did a great job and

11:35um

11:35yeah he really took things to the extreme on this film the actor conveyed a range of emotions from sad

11:48to

11:48angry to happy and confused i mean it was all there and it was very scary to witness because

11:56his performance felt so real it felt so believable and it wasn't just the performance

12:04the actual physical appearance as well spinel had it down to a t i mean this guy indeed looked like

12:12a maniac with the hair and the constant sweating spinel really did embody this mentally unstable man

12:25and uh yeah just um props to him for delivering such a haunting performance there was a really creepy

12:35moment that i just want to quickly bring up where we saw frank lay on his bed calmly talking to

12:42a mannequin from what he was saying you know it didn't really make much sense it was just you

12:49know thoughts from a madman but already it was still kind of disturbing but what really got me

12:55was the moment when frank actually broke the fourth wall you had the camera slowly pan around the bed

13:04as frank spoke out but when the camera finally centered in on frank he looked directly

13:11at the camera it was strange because suddenly he was looking right at us and uh yeah it it was

13:21freaky

13:22frank continued to speak as if he was speaking directly to us as if we were in the room with

13:30him

13:30it was just so creepy but you know what i will say it was a great idea and it was

13:38brilliantly

13:38executed now i understand that the filmmakers were trying to create suspense having frank go out lurking

13:48in the shadows night after night and you know killing random people obviously that was the main bulk of

13:55the story okay but i have to admit that after like the third kill i was starting to get a

14:03little bit

14:04bored i you know i don't want to be too critical on the filmmakers because maniac was filmed on a

14:14shoestring budget you know the filmmakers were very limited in what they could do but i have to say

14:22a large majority of this movie is simply just a collection of kills it was the same thing happening

14:31over and over again with no real story developing with the lack of story you know we were basically

14:41left with these long drawn out sequences of frank in search of his next victims all that footage it just

14:51really slowed down the film's pace and it actually felt a little bit like padding i don't know it just

14:57uh went on

14:58for a long time and uh yeah it didn't need to be that way i really think it would have

15:04been interesting

15:04if we'd had seen you know these investigators trying to track down frank trying to find his identity you

15:11know this whole you know cat and mouse game but um yeah we didn't get any of that and um

15:18what we're left

15:20with was a pretty simplified slasher movie that i think after you've seen it in terms of rewatchability

15:30you know it's there but whatever and saw ratings for maniac from 1980 i'm going to be rating this movie

15:43maybe a solid

15:47four out of ten maniac was this bizarre character study of a depraved man who was lonely and on the

15:59brink of psychosis actor joe spinel did a wonderful job in the lead role as the madman frank zito as

16:08i

16:08mentioned this guy looked and felt believable as a crazed serial killer with its use of rundown sleazy

16:21locations the film did actually remind me of the 1979 abel ferrara film the driller killer both films

16:30painted a very grim portrayal of life in new york city and to be honest they would actually make

16:38a great double feature you know it's safe to say that with maniac you don't need to use your

16:47imagination all the blood the guts all of that was on screen for the audience to see in all its

16:56glory

16:56you know nothing was off limits and i don't know at times it almost felt like

17:02the filmmakers were doing their best to push the boundaries and see how far they could go

17:10the extreme violence that was on show makes the other slasher films seem tame in comparison

17:19so if you haven't seen this one yet and you're considering it by all means i recommend it but

17:27be aware that this movie does not pull any punches for those who have seen this movie maniac let me

17:36know your memories of this movie in the comment section below that is all from me today guys i hope

17:43you've enjoyed this review of maniac from 1980 i will be back next week of course with another cult

17:51movie review don't forget to like and subscribe and of course take care see you next week

17:58you

18:21you

18:22you

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