Who's with me? Who else thinks that this movie is one of the best slasher movies of the 1980's??
shareDefinitely! Savini and Spinell together!
I love it when Joe Spinell yells "Mother" when visiting her grave.
Heck, his entire performance was excellent, as usual.
And Don't Call Me Chief!
This film has incredible atmosphere. I think Joe Spinell played the part really convincingly. There's a tortured sadness and desperation to his character that makes you have sympathy for him despite being a murderous maniac. Underrated flick.
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Behold, bastard son
I am the evil one
A couple of buddies and I grabbed some beer and saw this at the Dartmouth (MA) Drive In in 1980. The 1st movie was "Blood Beach" I beleive which was a 1/2 way decent B-Creature flick starring John Saxon. Maniac is a strong fi that should be remembered by more people.It didnt have the promo & word-of-mouth strength of the Friday 13th or Haloween series and by the early 80's the Horror gore fests were starting to plateau in popularity. This movie had good atmosphere along with gorgeous chicks in a quality NYC location shoot. Its somewhat of a time capsule that won't disappoint those who chose to discover or re-discover it.
shareIt's a great movie. I don't know if it's a slasher. Seems to have more in common with Don't Go in the House.
shareWhat defines a slasher, though?
shareA slasher (in almost every case) begins with a 'wrong' from the past, then jumps to the 'present,' where a masked killer seems to be avenging the wrong from the past. The victims are usually young people who are having a good time, not paying attention, save for the final girl, who's "prudish" behavior allows her to be more observant and thus defeat the killer (until the sequel comes along...). In later slashers, there's still a wrong from the past, but the movie doesn't always have to open with it.
Maniac is kind of like that, though it has more in common with Psycho and Don't Go in the House and other movies that seem focused on the issue of a domineering mother driving her son bonkers. That could qualify as a wrong from the past, but it's very specific to those particular movies, as opposed to the slasher, where the wrong from the past varies from movie to movie.
I love this movie.
shareGreat movie!
It was also Spinells labor of love.
He stayed up all night boozing to look the part.
And he sure did!
It's brilliant.
share