I myself love any slasher film about as much as the next brother with a chemical imbalance, even when they suck-didily-uck. The stories are basically the same in every slasher flick, aka, you have to constantly guess who the killer is. Finding out the killer isn't all that hard either, because he/she is probably the misunderstood person with mommy/daddy issues and decides to act out by slaughtering people in very creative ways. Maniac is a remake of a moderate slasher film way back in the day, and the story follows a mannequin restorer named Frank, who (surprise surprise) had a horrible prostitute of a mother, which basically turned Frank into what would be considered a textbook definition of a sociopath; he is like Christian Bale from American Psycho but without the confidence, hygiene, social life, height, clean shaven face... OK he's nothing like Christian Bale. To make himself feel like he has more control over women, he goes out and stalks them like Edward Cullen and shanks them with a pretty awesome looking blade... also just like Edward Cullen. Upon his arrival home he takes the scalps that he carved from the women and places them on the mannequins so he could create his own fantasized social life... so basically it's just like he's adding friends to his Facebook page, except it's a little more above average with the fatalities.
The Good:
Among some of my very tough decisions in life such as "do I pick Captain Crunch with berries, or without?", "do I close the blinds when I'm watching Princess Diaries or not?", and "Do I use the toilet paper today, or should I see what it's like without it?" I was caught between the tough decision of claiming either Evil Dead (2013) as my favorite horror film of the year, or do I choose the movie I'm reviewing right now? Despite the fact that Maniac is a remake, it not only surpasses the "originality" of the original, but it also seals itself as quite possible one of the most original horror movies of all time! And why is it so awesome you ask? Well, it's not because you get to see Frodo from Lord of the Rings become pervy if that's what you're thinking. The biggest plus this movie has going for it is that it was done in the 1st person view, so throughout the entire movie you are seeing all the events happening through Frank's eyes, and the only time you see our beloved Frodo is when he is looking at his depressing face in the mirror. Something else I really respect about this movie is that it shows that monsters (those with anti-social personality disorder) aren't born, but they are made through several different influential factors that impact them early on in their lives (and sometimes later). At first the viewer may see that there is no redeeming value in this film, and that if anything it's a disgusting portrayal of a sexist man who gets off on scalping women. After watching Maniac I feel that if anything it tells the viewer that people like Frank do exist, maybe not the extreme that he is, but they exist all the same, and we need to be aware of that. Some of the other pluses that honestly surprised me was the acting on Elijah Wood's part, and the very simple A-B storyline.The Bad:
Maybe not to the extent that the Human Centipede I and II were, but still, this movie is definitely not for the faint of heart, and if not handled carefully it will make a person either run nose-first into the door whilst trying to leave the apartment, or it will make that person want to vomit on an ant-hill. One other beef I have with this movie is related to the 1st person view, when Frank gets up close to another person's face. Call me shallow, but when up close shots are taken of a person's face it makes me sick, maybe it's because I can see their pours and nose hairs, but it is something that always made me feel like evacuating my bowls right quick and in a hurry!
The Ugly:
Every family should see this movie... NOT!! That would be a horrible idea! And if that did happen then those parents would be compared to the balloon father as the worst parents on the face of the earth. This is a film that should be experienced by someone who can hold their crap together, and look at it in a mature and even an academic way, because it does teach a lot about the mind set of someone who struggles with anti-social personality disorder.
5 out of 5
