Maniac

The rotting remains of 2012's festival
jonbly
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Maniac

Post by jonbly »

9/10 - Really liked this one. Just hope it doesn't get mangled too badly for release, as it's covering a number of areas that would have had the old BBFC frothing at the mouth.
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MaxRenn
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Maniac

Post by MaxRenn »

Got to be honest, I think it will give the new BBFC pause. A brilliant but deeply problematic film
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Re: Maniac

Post by Kris »

Dirty, nasty and disgusting. Proof that remakes can work and that comes from a cynic like me
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Re: Maniac

Post by djwoody »

Best film so far. Nice to see something brutal at last at a horror festival! Shame all the shite before it made me so tired I nodded off a few times. Looking forward to a second viewing
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Re: Maniac

Post by Dom »

Really unsettling with a maintained sense of doom and gloom throughout. The second murder was particularly depressing especially with the piece of music chosen. Very good all round.
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Re: Maniac

Post by Blandhorror »

You can always rely on Aja to make a good movie
Well, apart from "Mirrors" obviously
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Re: Maniac

Post by thesavageintruder »

Relentlessly savage and superbly shot remake of a still fairly shocking 80's splatter epic. Absolutely loved the Goblin-esque retro score by Rob and if anyone knows of the existence of a soundtrack please note it here. Elijah Wood, an actor capable of seeming meek and inexplicably creepy at the same time, was an excellent, inspired casting choice.
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Re: Maniac

Post by gazadams »

Still not as good as the original . But found this to be very good and really enjoyed seeing it from the killers pov. Great film . Why do people always moan about remakes ? They have been doing this since film begane. Some are good some are bad and sometimes we find a gem :D
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Re: Maniac

Post by bernal316 »

After a really substandard 4 days it's the two films I was really sceptical about ( this and sinister ) that have stood head and shoulders above the rest. Maybe low expectations reap maximum rewards.
Great remake with a pumping score. At last a grimy adult horror movie. Who'd have thought!! :D
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morralex
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Re: Maniac

Post by morralex »

This was brilliant, surprisingly so. I came out of it thinking my head was a camera.
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damatotomato
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Re: Maniac

Post by damatotomato »

I found it hard to catch the night bus home after this one, convinced I was going back to a room full of nude mannequins with scalped hairdos patiently waiting there for me. I couldn't look my fellow bus passengers in the eye, I'd just spent an hour and a half looking at the world through a maniac's bloodthirsty eyes. That POV method of film-making sure messes with your head after a midnight screening on a Saturday night!

This was savage, shocking cinema - perfectly pitched by Elijah Wood as 'Frank', with a kind of resigned violence and divorce from reality.

This maniac is a shy guy with an interest in artwork involving mannequins and the selling of those figures on to those with similar interests or requirements that's a little bit of an odd job to want, but hey - someone has to do it. It's an artform all to itself. Of course, Frank spent a childhood of abuse watching his mum getting off with strangers on street corners or while hidden in cupboards. He even sees his own body as being that of a mannequin; his genitals are, to his way of thinking; a smooth mound of plastic. There's no way he could form a relationship with a body like that, or with the kind of memories he has of what relationships are like - a quick fumble on the bed with a few lovers at the same time while your kid watches from under the coat hangers. Frank can only have silent relationships with the shop dummies, but he personalises them with the hair of the ones he loves, to make them more real. It's getting that realistic hair you'd think could be tricky, although for Frank, it's easy.

I loves the opening title homage to the original Maniac movie from 1980 with the BIG RED LETTERS across the screen.

Unforgettable performances, a gritty, grimy, dead-of-night style, and truly toe-curling scenes of horror. A ferociously daring and chillingly languid remake with its own, unique, POV sense of (un)wellbeing. The shots of the killer's face in car windows and bathroom mirrors were clever and the one moment where the POV camera is set free, as if a rope of safety has snapped to circle round the maniac, suddenly exposing him as not being 'like the rest of us', was simply inspired.

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jonbly
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Re: Maniac

Post by jonbly »

morralex wrote:I came out of it thinking my head was a camera.
Next year, jonbly will presenting a new film based on morralex's upcoming murder spree... just need to extract the film. Say aah!
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Re: Maniac

Post by Wulfster »

Easily the best film of the fest for me.

As people have said, it shows that remakes CAN work if people approach them with the right intent and vision.

I know that the violence and nature of the film is going to give it problems with the BBFC, but this was pitched at exactly the right tone. It's the nearest we've had to a serious study of what happens in a deluded mind for a long while.
The music was fantastic and Wood is an incredibly brave and talented actor to take on that part and make it work as it did.

I also loved the homage to the original Maniac film poster, which was recreated in the reflection on a car door. I noticed that got a little ripple of applause.
Even loved the final shot, which resolved the ambiguity which existed in the original Lustig film, when Spinelli was attacked by the dummies.

Brilliant piece of work and so glad it played at the Fest.
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Re: Maniac

Post by Alex J »

Terrific remake of the notorious nasty. Shocking, brutal and delirious, this heady mix was the film of the fest for me. Unfortunately I fear the censors will be slashing or even refusing a certificate for this, so I'm very thankful that we got to see it uncut - cheers guys! 9.5 / 10
No tears, please. It's a waste of good suffering.
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Re: Maniac

Post by Wolfshade »

Haven't seen the original (heard from some people this is better, other people that the remake is better), but this remake totally blew me away, absolutely mesmering. Elijah Wood failed with the psycho serial killer in Sin City, but he absolutely nailed it here, and I don't think I've ever heard such effective music in a film - it was properly threatening. The cold sleek visuals reminded me of the equally awesome Drive quite a bit, visually it was stunning. Awesome stuff.
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