Maniac Movie Review 446

Maniac is a 1980 horror movie directed by William Lustig and starring Joe Spinell.

Frank(Spinell) is a very strange guy who  lives alone in his apartment with a lot of mannequins. That sounds normal right? Wrong. He is a total psycho who stalks women and kills them. He doesn't leave it there though. He scalps them and brings back their scalps t put on his mannequins. Frank is obsessed with his dead mother who was not a good role model for his when he was younger. Now, he has a shrine to her in his apartment. He seems to feel bad about it though and he cries about his crimes. He has nightmares about the people he has murdered, but he can't stop.

He is walking through the park when he spots a lady photographer. He sees her bag and her name is written on it. She is Anna(Caroline Munro) and he decides to call and see her. That evening, he follows a nurse and there is a great scene which takes place in the subway station where he looks for her and he eventually catches her and kills her. He calls over to see Anna and she talks to him about her job. She photographs models and he is very interested in that. They go out to dinner and he wants to see her again. She likes him. He calls over to watch a shoot in her apartment and he meets one of her models. He takes her necklace and later calls over as an excuse to come into her apartment. He kills her after bringing her to his apartment.

The movie comes to a close when Anna goes to a graveyard with him which is a silly thing to do and he attacks her. She runs off and injures him with a shovel. He can't catch her and so he goes home. He lies on his bed and he sees his mannequins come to life and attack him. They even pull of his head.
The film ends with Frank being found by cops who can see that he has killed himself by stabbing his knife into his stomach. They leave his place and his eyes open. Is he dead???

This film is a bit sleazy in my opinion. It is made on a shoestring budget but for all that, it is quite good. The main character looks seedy and strange so that works well. He looks like a guy who would be alone and without a woman. This is a realistic horror and it is gritty and tense in parts. I liked some of the scenes, especially when he is chasing the nurse through the subway. Spinell did very well in his part here and he really does convince you that he is a deranged guy who has been damaged by his mother. It looks dark and dingy and works very well as a horror movie. I liked it and it was entertaining on the whole. There is a bit of violence here but nothing major. I recommend it to any horror fans. I will give it a 6/10.