Maniac (2013)

Load of rubbish!!

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

I am not writing a review because unlike the others (not pointing fingers and i apologize if i offend) i don't want to spoil anything and don't want to say anything majorly about the story I see that people rate it for something it isn't and i feel like that is a problem. I just feel like people should know at least what I gathered from this film. I have not watched the original but what i have understood is that people seemed irritated that some "proffesional" reviewers wrote it off as a women hating, violent movie and nothing more.Now i have read some of the reviews for this and a lot of people say the same thing. Just a violent nasty and judges/rates it on that. IT Isn't. In fact this is one of the saddest movies i have seen. I think its wrong to say that it isn't violent. It has violence that makes you want to turn away. But its not about that. It doesn't rely on violence. The main character is a troubled man that tries to live his life, dealing with his issues. He doesn't have anyone and doesn't know how to deal with them alone.Its a 1st person drama/thriller with a sad but beautiful techno music to blend in with the neon lighted feel of this movie. The acting of Elijah wood is brilliant in that he mostly needs to act with his voice and not his face. The story is sad and i cant help but feel sad for the main character much like The Voices staring Ryan Reynolds. The movie focuses so much on there psychological problems that it just comes of as tragic and sad. This isn't a horror movie with no story and disposable characters. This is a character built, character driven sad movie that is beautiful both visual and story wise.

The grimy and disturbing 80s horror classic gets a new look with help from modern horror icon Alexandre Aja. Adding to the intrigue is the casting of Frodo himself, Elijah Wood, in the role of the disturbed knife wielding manic Frank. The story is relocated from the streets of New York to Los Angeles and Frank is more of a presentable and attractive guy than the sweaty overweight version played by Joe Spinell in the original. Another major difference from the original is that the whole film is shot entirely from Frank's point of view. Although we do see his face a number of times in reflections. All of these changes work in the retelling of a man who stalks the streets murdering and scalping women. The up close and graphic opening scene sets the tone for what shapes up to be a quality remake.Like a lot of severely deranged killers Frank has some unresolved mommy issues and takes it out on his victims. With his mother now dead he owns and operates her Mannequin store. This is where he meets Anna, a photographer who conveniently enough is shooting mannequins for an up coming exhibit. Like in the original Frank see's Anna as his last chance to live a somewhat normal life. Although it doesn't take long before he is back on the streets stalking his next victim. The P.O.V shooting style gets us a glimpse into Frank's disturbed mind, from his hallucinations and anxieties to his loneliness and despair. Director Franck Khalfoun's use of mirrors and reflections, and the way his shots are composed are rare for a horror movie. For its budget and everything that could go wrong, they really made quite the film.Elijah Wood's portrayal of Frank also gets high marks as he doesn't force anything, and doesn't play "insane" but is just a normal guy, who just happens to murder people. A lot like Anthony Perkins in "Psycho". He is a frightened and lonely guy who suffered terrible emotional and physical abuse from his mother as a child. All of this repressed anger and rage surfaces at night when he must go out and kill his "mother" over and over again. After every kill he takes their scalp and some piece of clothing and puts it on one of the mannequins in his bedroom. In the end his thin cover of sanity is blown with Anna, and his mannequin friends want a piece of him too.

MANIAC is an unwanted remake of the classic Joe Spinell video nasty of the same name from 1980, a film about a psychopath with a habit of scalping women. This new version follows exactly the same story (right down to the horrific nightmare climax) with 'improved' CGI gore effects over the original, although I have to say they're nowhere near the quality of the much-remembered Tom Savini prosthetic effects work.In any case, this is an incredibly dark odyssey of murder and madness. I thought the material would have been watered down but this is just as grisly and depressing as the original. There's plenty of reason to watch, not least Elijah Wood who makes a good psychopath (as he did in SIN CITY); the whole film is shot through the killer's point of view which gives things an edgy, fresh feel. I loved the use of music and cinematography throughout, which reminded me of Refn's style in DRIVE, so it's a little bit of a shame that the story is so unrelentingly dark and miserable. I'd love to see an action or martial arts film done in this same POV style, though.

First of all my rate to this film is 9 out of 10 and i will explain why i rated this movie, higher.Accordin to people's review they're all saying one thing is missing,theme is bad,bad plot etc...For me this film is just masterpiece.Because its atmosphere , its soundtrack and acting are just freaked me out and editors really showed the bittersweet life of maniac and made us feel the world of psycho!!! I would say this film really showed us the act of a psychopath,their feeling ,their aspect of life and how they perceive society and how they see the world and i would say that this film helped me to see the world from their eyes and it's not just a thriller crime movie its a piece of scene how some hidden society see the world.And about Elijah Wood, he's the right person to take this role.I really wanna let know to other people who's not satisfied or not liked this film is that they don't feel deeply of its hidden beauty, of a psychopath mind like a beautiful mind.