Maniac (2013)

Pretty Good

Memorable, crazy movie

A different way of telling a story

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Violent movies don't usually bother me but the sound effects while he's scalping the girls almost made me vomit. Reading other reviews people seem to say that this movie was beautifully shot and had some type of symbolism. In my opinion it was a gory waste of my time.

I have been giving out a lot of 7's lately, so I am going to purposefully give this a 6. It definitely has it's boring points, but it depicts a serial killer in Los Angeles, bored with ordinary life. I can't really say it's a good movie, but it does it's job. It was fun to watch, but it wouldn't even be in my top 10 random horror movies to watch on a random Wednesday night.6 Stars

Elijah Wood is a highly versatile actor, he's done everything bar play an action hero in his career and for the most part he's succeeded. A foray into a psychotic isn't a new thing for him as he did a competent job in Sin City (2005) but his character here is somewhat different.First of all the entire movie plays out in first person through the eyes of our lead, the only time you ever actually see Wood is via a reflection (Which happens rather a lot) He's character is a mentally ill psychotic with a fixation for mannequins, mummy issues and a possible case of severe misogyny.Though the movie looks very slick it's not easy viewing. I don't mean that because of the subject matter or the violent acts that take place but more the vibe that just didn't sit right with me.America Olivo is a highly wasted actress and has a very small role in the film which I found to be a huge let down. Combine that with a dull lead female and Wood just making me cringe throughout and the cast failed on every front.Maniac did nothing for me, left my skin crawling and I failed to see any entertainment value.The Good: Brutal death scenes The Bad: Horrible unnerving vibe to the whole film Poorly cast Awful finale Things I learnt from this movie: America Olivo deserves better roles Scalping is really easy and can be completed in under 5 seconds Our killer is fine killing innocent women but when a man calls him gay and dries his hands on his jacket he does nothing

Watching a film show on TV a few years ago,I caught a clip of what looked to be an ultra-stylised Horror film whose appearance was inspired by Nicolas Winding Refn's Neo-Noir Drive. (which despite being a fan of the soundtrack,I've still not seen!)After the title appeared to quickly disappear,I was pleased to finally stumble on the film,which led to me getting ready to find out how maniac this maniac could be.The plot:Going on a date with Lucie, Frank Zito discovers that he has forgotten to bring his meds with him,which help to keep dangerous impulses at bay.Going back Lucie's flat,Zito tries to quickly leave due to taking a fancy to Lucie and his dangerous side becoming a struggle to restrain. Believing that he wants to leave due to not giving him any "action",Lucie tries to have sex with Zito.As he gets caught up in Lucie's lust,Zito's homicidal rage becomes unleashed,which leads to Zito killing Lucie and cutting her scalp off (!)Returning to the mannequin business (which must have made them millionaires!) that his mum used to run,Zito brings Lucie "home" by stapling her scalp onto a mannequin,so that she can join all the other women in Zito's bedroom,who he hides away from the haunting memory of his mother.Just as Zito is closing up the shop one day,avant-garde artist Anna D'Antoni walks pasts and spots the mannequins in the window. Admiring the hair-raising level of detail that Zito has put into his designs, D'Antoni decides that her next exhibition will have the Zito's mannequin as the centrepiece.Falling in love for the first time ever,Zito finds himself trying to keep his bloodthirsty maniac side at bay.View on the film:Being (almost) entirely filmed in first person,director Franck Khalfoun & cinematographer Maxime Alexandre run the risk of turning the movie into a Slasher First Person Shooter,as the viewer gets to see Zito kill the next "dumb" women like an end of level challenge. Smartly avoiding the voyeurism opportunity, Khalfoun & Alexandre place the title between the burnt-up Grindhouse and the elegant Neo- Noir Art House.Backed by a superb Industrial grind and foggy synch score from Robin Coudert, Khalfoun & Alexandre pull the titles Grindhouse Slasher roots up with extreme, confrontational violence,as each of the vicious set-pieces is focused on the harrowing reaction of the victim,which cleverly makes sure that the audience always side with the victim,and not with Zito. Stepping out of the brittle Grindhouse backdrop of the original, Khalfoun places his Slasher killer in the middle of a dazzling Neo-Noir world. Displaying the full location with the (near) full use of first person pov, Khalfoun & Alexandre deliver brilliantly handled,ultra-stylised tracking shots with bright pinks and neon reds and yellows dashing across the screen,which light up the elegant art world,as the mind of loner Frank Zito rots away in the shadows.Keeping the body count down to single figures,the screenplay by Alexandre Aja & Grégory Levasseur keeps away from making any of the victims (none of whom own a mobile phone!) cardboard cut-outs,with Zito's attempts to stay sane allowing it to be shown that those most affected (from Rock chick Lucie to warm-hearted Anna) are victims who did not do anything wrong at all.Whilst Zito's Slasher killer is allowed to shine in the set pieces,the writers peel away Zito's horror side to reveal a Neo-Noir loner,with Zito's grasping of his meds allowing it to slowly sink in for Frank that he will never be able to escape the darkness.Limited to his voice and hands being the lone features to appear for most of the movie, Elijah Wood gives an excellent performance as Zito,thanks to Wood keeping Zito's foaming at the mouth rage pinned down by a Film Noir isolation,with Wood revealing in desperate screams Zito's attempts to stay away from getting another victim.Joining Wood,the stunning Nora Arnezeder gives a great performance as Anna D'Antoni,who is given a sweet,care-free soulfulness by Arnezeder,as Zito tries to kill the maniac within for Anna.