49) Maniac (1980)

They don't know when to stop. They never know when to stop.

Director
William Lustig

Cast
Frank Zito - Joe Spinell
Caroline Munro - Anna D'Antoni
Kelly Piper - Nurse
Tom Savini - Disco guy
Abigail Clayton - Rita

Something about the 1980 slasher Maniac makes it seem a little more than just a hack 'n slash movie.
Unlike the maniacal monsters many audiences witnessed during this era, this time they're "treated" (I use the term loosely) to a more in-depth look at the twisted nature of a monster unlike before. Rather than watching a movie through the eyes of the victims. Maniac a story completely centered on the villain.
What makes it terrifying is that the monster here, Frank Zito (Joe Spinell - Rocky I and II, The Godfather I and II), is too grounded in reality than, say, Jason Vorhees in Friday the 13th, or Michael Myers in Halloween. 
Maniac is a low budget psychological slasher flick. It's an underrated gore piece with disturbing imagery - what else can it be as it focuses on a disturbed killer with mommy issues.
While watching this, I picked up on influences likely derived from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Pyscho is based on a novel by Robert Bloch loosely influenced around the infamous serial killer Ed Gein.
Gein served as the inspiration behind other horror films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Silence of the Lambs - both movies are heavy in mutilation and dismemberment with a little more realism and focus than audiences see when Jason lobs someone's head off with one clean swipe of his machete.
Anyhow, Spinell's performance as Zito seems a lot like Norman Bates as far as his obsession with his deceased mother goes. In Zito's case, his obsession takes the form of a makeshift shrine to his mom, with votive candles and the delusion she still speaks to him from beyond. I also see some influence taken from killer David Berkowitz - the "Son of Sam."
In this movie, Zito's maniacal behavior ultimately stems from the abuse his mother, whom we discern was a prostitute during her life, inflicted on him as a child.
His broken mind has him talking to his late mother out loud when alone inside his empty apartment filled with female mannequins wearing the scalps of his female victims.
The movie opens with a couple sleeping on a private beach. As they awaken, they both end up murdered by a dark mysterious figure. It turns out to be Zito's sick nightmare.
He wakes up and pulls himself together. Zito then goes out for a walk around Times Square.
And as he strolls passed a cheap motel, a prostitute propositions him. She just needs one more...client...in order to make her monthly rent. At least that's what she tells her friend.
They check into the motel were he ultimately strangles her, scalps her, and takes her hair back to his apartment for one of his mannequins.

Joe Spinell in Maniac.

When he returns home, he's distressed over committing another murder. Zito starts talking to his mannequins, or to himself, claiming beauty is crime punishable by death.
When he later goes back out, he takes a shotgun with him.
Zito drives around for a while until he comes across a couple in a parked car.
The guy in the car is played by horror effects legend and actor Tom Savini.
As the couple makes out, the woman spots Zito peeping. She screams, and Zito hides in the shadows.
Finally, as Savini's character starts the car at the pleading of his girlfriend, Zito is standing directly in the headlights. He jumps on the hood, and shoots Savini at point blank. It's as gruesome as you can imagine, especially since Savini was involved. He loves his splatter and all that.
Zito walks around and shoots the girl also at point blank range.
Murdering victims in parked cars by shotgun was the general modus operandi of David "the Son of Sam" Berkowitz when he terrorized New York City.
Later that night, Zito hears about his crime on the nightly news. He begins to cry while talking to his mannequins. and finally falls asleep.
The movie shifts to a photographer named Anna shooting images in Central Park.
She captures a photo of a kid on a bike just as she almost runs her bicycle into Zito.
Zito sees Anna taking that picture, and secretly sneaks over to her camera bag as he pretends to tie his shoe. He looks at her name and address on the bag label.
That night he spots a nurse getting off her shift at Roosevelt Hospital. He follows her into the subway
she realizes she's being followed. In an intense and scary scene, she tries hiding in a bathroom. The intrigue plays out as the audience is led to believe Zito is in there with her. It draws out, making the suspense continue to build and build.
Zito later stops by Anna's apartment under the guise of being an artist. He claims to be genuinely interested in Anna's work, and asks her out for dinner.
After a few dates, he gains her trust. Finally his true nature abruptly comes out as he takes her to visit the grave of his mother before one of their dates. The culmination of all the demons haunting Zito take the form of his victims. The question remains, whether they really exist or only in his head.
It doesn't seem right to recommend this movie to just any one. I feel it needs a little disclaimer. In other words, this isn't an all-in-good-fun thriller type of flick. Zito is the worst kind of antihero.
The movie doesn't waste time making sure the audience knows what kind of monster they're about to spend the next hour and a half with. The audience quickly knows what sets him off. They know what he's capable of. And Zito's self pity and mental torture doesn't make him a sympathetic character in the least.
Not only is Maniac a cring-fest of horror to watch, hammering out a review was difficult. I didn't know how to approach this after watching it.
They say horror movies act as a kind of "how-to" guide in dealing with our fears. They give us a controlled environment to determine what we would do in various terrifying circumstances such as dealing with a maniacal killer like Zito. As horror director John Carpenter once said, "everyone's afraid of something. We're all afraid of the same things together. It binds us as a people."
Such is definitely the case with a serial killer horror movie like Maniac.
Maniac is meant to not just terrify, but to shock. It's meant to make us cower in disgust and trepidation. It's graphic depiction of gore is meant to make us turn our heads. And it certainly does all of the above. It completely plays out as a horror movie in the truest meaning of the term.

Hyla Marrow and Tom Savini.

Spinell's ability to shift emotions on a dime is impressive to watch. His eyes speak loudly despite his rather frumpy rotund body. He was a veteran actor, and plays his part with no inner-joy because Zito doesn't have any. He's an empty man, void of any inner peace. That must be a hard characteristic to portray on screen. Spinell manages to pull it off well, even for this low budget movie.
I feel like I'm walking on egg shells writing about Maniac. It does hold a place in the gallery of classic horror titles. It falls into the sub-category of classic cult horror thanks to its build-up and anticipation, bloody effects, and Spinell's acting.
Maniac isn't necessarily bad merely because of its graphic imagery. In some instances, that content and subject matter are more intense than the average slasher flick from the same era. I wouldn't say it's bad just because it was directed by William Lustig who directed porn films prior to Maniac, and used money from an adult film he directed in 1977 to fund this low-budget movie. It cost $350,000 to shoot, and many scenes were shot surreptitiously as the production crew didn't have the necessary city permits to film in certain areas.
A remake starring Elijah Wood was released in 2012, which I have yet to see. With the main character, it's all about the eyes. And like Elijah Wood, Spinell has eyes that dictate the intensity and mood of the film.
This movie is a little like an expose of a severely delusional madman. The audience sees him exactly as he is - delusions, gore, and all!