Maniac

285-poster
release date April 30 1980
studio Anchor Bay
director William Lustig
writer C.A. Rosenberg
starring Joe Spinell
rating
R
tagline I warned you not to go out tonight

Synopsis

Frank misses his mother, who was killed in a car accident years before. She was abusive to him, and made money selling her body, but Frank still misses her. He tries to keep her from leaving him, and reform her evil ways, by killing young women and putting their scalps on mannequins which he displays around his apartment. Photographer Anna takes a picture of him in the park, and he pursues and befriends her. Is she the one he's been looking for or just another mommy wanna be?

Official Review

maniac 1 ManiacThough this film was released in 1980, it was immediately blacklisted due to its extremely gruesome and depressing nature. It would take another 15 to 16 years before 70′s to 80′s horror fans would discover this film and spark a trend in watching what had once been called the “sickest movie ever made”. Some go as far as to say that this movie enjoys cult status. I prefer not to go that far, psycho was the one that claimed cult status by sparking the rating system we have in the present movie system, any movie that came after that and got blacklisted only pushed against the loosely sealed envelop in one specific direction. …Read More

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Official Score: 2 / 5