The film begins from Frank’s
perspective, as he watches a couple on an otherwise deserted beach. They are
soon killed, and the man’s scream becomes Frank’s scream, as he suddenly sits
up in bed. Was it all just a nightmare? Or a memory? It’s unclear at first, but
what seems clear is that the corpse of a woman is next to him in bed. We then see
that the corpse is actually a mannequin, just one of many dolls in Frank’s
apartment, though one that is covered in blood. Frank quietly gets dressed and
leaves, several keys visible in a case by the door, one of many intriguing details of his home. That’s the
movie’s excellent opening sequence, turning a somewhat ordinary slasher scene
into something far more disturbing and odd and unexpected. We have come to
expect horror movies to go from those opening scenes of murder to tranquil
daytime scenes in a town or something. This film doesn’t bother with that. It
goes from that opening murder scene to a more eerie scene in the killer’s
apartment. And in fact, after this sequence Frank goes out and almost
immediately finds another victim.
What is also interesting and
unusual about this is that the killer is actually the film’s protagonist. We
are dropped into this guy’s world. And it is through his eyes and from his
perspective that we experience the story, which leaves us feeling uneasy. He is
not the sort of mindless monster that often populates slasher films. In fact,
he is a sad and pathetic figure, particularly as he asks a prostitute to pose
for him like the women in magazines. Is this the only way he can attempt to
connect to women? Of course, he soon kills her, and as he strangles her he sees
her as another woman. And when he is done, he is immediately horrified and
upset. That, however, does not stop him from scalping her.
One day in the park he sees a
beautiful photographer named Anna (Caroline Munro), who happens to snap his
picture. He glances at the tag on her bag to get her address, and we assume she
will be his next victim. But the film offers more surprises. When he shows up
at her house, she is not startled or worried. And it seems he believes he’s
found a kindred spirit. When he’s with her, we see a different side of his
personality, a more normal side. It’s interesting that we get to know his
violent, crazy side long before seeing anything ordinary about him, sort of the
opposite of what many films do. But it is the more violent aspects of his
personality that are dominant, and his past is never too far from Frank’s mind,
as we learn when he pulls a photo of his mother from his jacket pocket while on
a date, or from what he tells a model after tying her up.
There are some bits of odd
humor in the film. For example, Frank keeps a naked doll in a bird cage, and at
one point offers it a cracker. Also, another couple who have just met pull off
the side of the road to fool around. The woman says, about the roadside rest
stop, “This is really a nice place, isn’t
it?” She then asks, “Do you come here
a lot?” But the overall tone of the film is dark and serious and sad and
unsettling. And there are some seriously frightening moments. The man in that
scene, by the way, is played by Tom Savini, who is also responsible for the
film’s special effects makeup. Some of the scenes from this film are famous,
like the shotgun scene. But for me, one of the more compelling images is that
of Frank in bed, handcuffing himself to a mannequin and crying, “I’m so happy.” This movie is so
effective in large part because of Joe Spinell’s performance.
Disc 1 Special Features
This three-disc set contains a
whole lot of bonus material. The first disc contains two commentary tracks. The
first is by producer/director William Lustig and producer Andrew W. Carroni,
and it was recorded in July of 2010. Lustig mentions that the opening shots are
a nod to Jaws. They talk a lot about
Joe Spinell. They tell several interesting anecdotes, such as the one about
police coming into the hotel while they were shooting there, and about how a
music cue from this film ended up in Saturday
Night Live. They also tell some of the lessons learned from the making of
this film. The second commentary is by
William Lustig, Tom Savini and editor Lorenzo Marinelli. They go over a lot of
the same material, but offer different details and thoughts, and talk about
Cannes.
The first disc also includes
seven different trailers for the film, nine television commercials and four
radio spots.
Disc 2: Special Features
The second disc includes a lot
of great material. There are outtakes from the film, footage recently found in
a warehouse. William Lustig provides audio commentary for this footage, which
includes some great stuff shot on the streets of New York, plus other special
effects makeup shots. There are some shots that Lustig says he wishes he used
in the film. On the first disc’s commentary tracks, Lustig mentions how Joe
Spinell would write funny things on the card in the hotel scene to make William
laugh. Well, in these outtakes, we see a moment of that. We also get some shots
of the details of Frank’s apartment. There are approximately nineteen minutes
of outtakes.
Returning To The Scene Of The Crime has director William Lustig
revisiting the locations of the film, while talking about the experience.
Things certainly have changed. This is approximately eight minutes. Anna And The Killer is an interview with
Caroline Munro, in which she talks about Maniac
and how she got the role. She also mentions that she wanted to be an artist,
not a model or actor. This is approximately thirteen minutes. There is also an
interview with Tom Savini, in which he talks about the special effects makeup,
particularly about the shotgun scene. That interview is approximately twelve
minutes. Dark Notes is an interview
with composer Jay Chattaway, in which he mentions how the music was designed to
get you into the head of the main character. He talks a bit about his career
leading up to Maniac. Maniac Men is an interview with
songwriters Michael Sembello and Dennis Matkosky, in which they talk about the
song “Maniac” from Flashdance. They
then perform the song, with lyrics more fitting to the film Maniac.
The second disc also includes The Joe Spinell Story, a documentary by
David Gregory that features interviews with friends, family and co-workers
including Bill Lustig, Robert Forster, Caroline Munro and Jason Miller. The
story of his Joe Spinell’s pay for The
Godfather is crazy, and the footage of Spielberg is great. I need to see The Last Horror Film. There are some interesting
anecdotes about it here. The documentary is approximately forty-nine minutes.
The promo reel for Mr. Robbie: Maniac 2 is included. And
there is a radio interview with William Lustig, Joe Spinell and Caroline Munro,
with a promotional spot for it playing first. Another cool special feature is
an episode of Movie Madness from 1981
featuring William Lustig. On this program, he talks about some of the city
fears the film touches upon, and about the criticism of horror films like Maniac. This is a show where people call
in with questions, and not all who call in are fans of the film.
There is a very short interview
with Joe Spinell at Cannes, as well as a brief interview with Caroline Munro.
There is also a segment from The Joe
Franklin Show on which Spinell appears. Interestingly, in that segment,
they talk about Shakespeare. There is a short and goofy segment with Katie
Kelly, a movie critic who talks about her new review policy in which she will
give a certain number of barf bags to each film. Also included is a Q&A
shot at The New Beverly here in Los Angeles, in which they talk about the
shotgun scene and about the guy who designed Frank’s apartment. Of course, I’m
wondering how I missed that screening of Maniac.
I used to go to the New Bev all the time. Anyway, that feature is approximately
twenty-two minutes. This second disc also contains a still gallery of 123
photos, including behind-the-scenes shots and poster artwork. Finally, there is
a section of television reviews and reports on the film’s controversy. Yeah,
this disc contains several hours of bonus material.
Disc 3: Soundtrack
The third disc is an audio CD
containing the film’s soundtrack, which is approximately thirty-three minutes.
There are some sound effects too, such as at the beginning of “Maniac’s Theme,”
the first track. That theme is wonderfully creepy and sad. This is actually a
really good soundtrack, surprisingly powerful and even startling at times. It
is especially effective if you give it some volume. By the way, Frank’s voice
over is included.
This set also includes a
booklet with an article by Michael Gingold titled “Maniacs That Might Have
Been” and several photos.
This special 3-disc edition of Maniac was released on December 11, 2018
through Blue Underground. Blue Underground also recently released a special
limited edition of Zombie. I’m hoping they’ll be putting out a lot more of these great packages.
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