Maniac (1978) and Maniac Cop (1980)

Thanks go out to Rue Morgue Magazine for hosting a screening of Maniac at Bloor Cinema yesterday with Director William Lustig himself in attendance. And to mark the occasion, here’s my thoughts on the film of the night and review of another piece of Lustig’s short (but fondly remembered) filmmaking career.



MANIAC (1980)

A smash when it was released on the grindhouse circuit in the late 70’s, Maniac is famous for it’s boffo sleazoid performance from writer/star Joe Spinnel and it’s Tom Savini orchestrated gore. That’s about ALL it has going for it. The problem is the film has zero forward momentum. The whole thing is spent following Spinnel as he randomly kills and scalps pretty young women. Then the end credits roll. The fact is that it is utterly devoid of any sympathetic characters, has an unrelentingly depressing tone and has the forward momentum of cold molasses. The only reason to pick this one up is for the few fantastic gore gags (Slow Motion Explodo-Head and the out of nowhere acid tripping climax) to make this worth a watch. William Lustig doesn’t seem to know how to properly keep an audience glued to the screen yet, but it didn't take long for him to learn to stab straight for the heart.

The memorable original electronic score by Jay Chattaway sounds a little like the bastard child of "Goblin"...who, ironically, were originally supposed to write the score! They dropped out when Dario Argento was pulled from the Executive Producer slot.

DVD: The film is available on a passable DVD from Anchor Bay. The picture is grimy as expected, the sound is clear as it’s going to get but the commentary is worth a listen because William Lustig is a born storyteller.

MANIAC COP (1988)

A hulking cop is killing innocent civilians in New York and the city is in murderous panic. The biggest suspect on the block is Jack Forrest (A young, non-mugging Bruce Cambell) and the only person who can clear his name is the detective on his case (A growlingly on his game Tom Atkins.) Will they be able to solve the mystery in time before plowing through a series of well-played action clichés in the process? My money’s on “No."

With a lean script from genre vet Larry Cohen (“Q: The Winged Serpent”, “God Told me To” ) and a cast of genre stalwarts on the acting front, Lustig crafts a flawlessly directed mix of action/horror that knows where it stands on the genre ladder and never attempts to overshoot it’s mark. The gore (Other than a few cases of arterial spray) is pretty tame compared to his past work but you’ll get so caught up in rapid fire narrative that you won’t even notice. The film isn’t originality squared, but it is incredibly well done and fun to boot. And it has nothing to do with Maniac. Thank God!

DVD: There’s a few versions floating around of this film, but the one to get is SYNAPSE’S recent re-issue (with boosted picture and sound) of Elite’s DVD version. It boats a DTS track, clear picture and a brand new interview with the maniac cop himself Robert Z’dar. The commentary by the composer, screen-writer, director and The Chin is a half making fun of the film and another praising on how well it turned out.

P.S: Cinemacabre is a screening Rue Morgue Magazine puts on every months at the Blood Cinema. It’s 10$ and always a hell of a time, so check out what’s coming up next on their forum http://www.rue-morgue.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=91e8697d7dfffdb4e1c377556dd6d36c&f=4

As a rock hard-genre fan, it's only logical that I take naps after the carnage is over. (Ed. Nice shirt... fag)