MANIAC (2012) AKA Somewhere Joe Spinell is smiling...

Poster art for the remake

Of all the 80's films slated to be remade the very last one I expected to see was William Lustig's classic 1980 sleazefest "MANIAC". Exactly why this movie got the nod to be remade is something I'll never divine but it's done & in the can for all the world to see. But in this day and age can any filmmaker remake this film & do justice to the original? Director Franck Khalfoun (P2) took on the challenge working with a script co-written by Alexandre Aja. And much to my surprise they made a pretty good little movie...

For those of you who haven't seen it yet (I know there's a couple of you out there), "MANIAC" tells the story of Frank Zito, a photographer with some serious mommy issues. His nightime activities consist of hunting women down & scalping them. He places these scalps on the heads of mannequins that he keeps in his filthy apartment. The mannequins are his friends and he speaks, sleeps & possibly has some form of sex with them (It's alluded to but never shown onscreen). And despite the fact that his mother abused him & sold her body for cash he really misses her (She died in a car accident years earlier). Joe Spinell plays Frank with a bit of pathos and a whole bunch of sweat. His perpetually sweaty face & greasy, stringy hair obscures the loneliness in his heart but it accentuates the menace in his soul. He's a bit over the top perhaps but thanks to his appearance he's nigh perfect in the role. He was born to play the part.

The unforgettable Joe Spinell

Don't call me Frodo...

While the remake hems fairly close to the original, it does make a radical change in casting the role of Frank. Instead of someone who actually looks like he's capable of committing such atrocities like Spinell here we get everyone's favorite hobbit...Elijah Wood! Initially I was aghast at this bit of casting, I mean does anyone think that the man who's best known for playing Frodo in the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy can be sufficiently maniacal?

But then I remembered his performance in "SIN CITY" (2005). He played Kevin, an especially limber psychopath who collected heads. And he was really good too! So my fears were somewhat allayed but even so, why attempt to remake "MANIAC" if you aren't gonna be able to really pour the grue on it? The original was rated R but this was back in 1980 & censors weren't as tough on nasty little movies like this one as they are now. Is the remake as gory as Lustig's original?

Happily (For me anyway) the answer is YES! Khalfoun doesn't shy away from the red stuff & if anything this film might be a bit gorier than the original. And thanks to the good folks at KNB it looks a lot more realistic as well. It's an extremely nasty bit of film making that doesn't mind pushing the envelope.

Excedrin isn't gonna help this headache.

But is it any good? I'm not trying to imply that the original was an Oscar winner but it is beloved by fans of horror films & it holds a special place in my heart. The first thing that you'll realize when you see this version is that it's shot almost entirely in first person, which is to say that nearly the entire film is seen through the eyes of Frank. At first this is quite off putting but I got used to it once I realized it was going to remain that way. It definitely puts a different spin on the proceedings and I appreciate the effort to try & differentiate itself from the original film.

Poster art for the original film

But once again...is it any good? I can safely say that we have a winner here! The decision to film in the first person works because it keeps Wood's babyface off the screen for most of the film. It would be a completely different movie if we saw his saintly visage as he goes about scalping women & being an all around maniac. His soft voice gives the character a bit of innocence which makes it more believable when he lures women to their doom. The biggest problem I had with the original was the way that the beautiful Anna (Caroline Munro) happily accepted Frank's offer to take her out to dinner, and then continue to see him afterwards! I'm sorry but there is no way that a woman that gorgeous would ever go out with someone that looked like Frank Zito unless she was being paid to do it. And it would've cost a lot of money too! At the very least, Wood is a whole lot easier on the eyes & the way he attracts women is far more believable here than in the original film. Whenever Frank is sexually attracted to a woman he starts to get punishing headaches which are accentuated by the frame becoming blurry around the edges & a high pitched screech. He begins to hallucinate & obsessively wash his hands till they bleed. He feels his
mother disapproves & the only way he can satiate himself is to murder
his victims & procure their scalps to place on mannequins heads that he
keeps at home, the pain stops once the deed is done. Wood plays the
role with just the right amount of pathos. He gives a very nuanced &
effective performance here.

She should've accepted his proposal...

The film has a smooth look to it as well. Initially I thought this was a mistake but with Wood in the lead role it feels just right. He's nowhere near as grotty looking as Spinell & the glossy look of the proceedings reflect that. The SFX are of the first order & really help sell the sheer horror of it all. Scalps are peeled away with reckless abandon & they really looks painful!

The first person perspective made me feel like I was there alongside Frank as he slaughters his victims. I didn't expect this & and it made me feel dirty afterwards, almost as if I was scalping the victims. As I said earlier, the script hems fairly close to the original with a slight twist to differentiate it but they kept the ending intact & it's still a doozy! I don't know how they pulled it all off (I suspect a bit of CGI was present) but it's extremely gruesome to watch & Wood's face lingered in my memory afterwards.

No more "Walking Dead" until the fall? NOOOOOO

I wasn't expecting much from this film but it turned out to be quite engrossing if a bit slow. Director Khalfoun knows when to liven up the proceedings just when you feel that it's becoming a bit of a slog to sit through. It feels a bit longer than it actually is but that's not a deal breaker. It's a very good movie that might have been a great movie with a
bit of judicious editing. But if you consider yourself a true horror fan you cannot miss it. It truly delivers the goods & is one of the few homages that actually succeeds in bringing on the pain.