Maniac (1934)

An ex-vaudeville actor gifted at impersonation assists a mad scientist to reanimate corpses and soon goes mad himself.

Director:

Dwain Esper

Writer:

Hildegarde Stadie (story)

Stars:

William Woods, Horace B. Carpenter, Ted Edwards

Cast

Cast overview:
William Woods	...	Don Maxwell (as Bill Woods)
Horace B. Carpenter	...	Dr. Meirschultz (as Horace Carpenter)
Ted Edwards	...	Buckley
Phyllis Diller	...	Mrs. Buckley
Theo Ramsey	...	Alice Maxwell
Jenny Dark	...	Maizie
Marvelle Andre	...	Marvel (as Marvel Andre)
Celia McCann	...	Jo
John P. Wade	...	Embalmer Mike (as J.P. Wade)
Marian Constance Blackton	...	Neighbor (as Marion Blackton)

Storyline

Don Maxwell is an ex-vaudeville ham, wanted by police, who has now found himself as the unlikely assistant to Dr. Meirschultz, a mad scientist in the business of reanimating corpses. Maxwell's gift of impersonation gets him and Meirschultz past the guards and into a morgue where they use a special serum to revive the corpse of a pretty young woman. But that's nothing. Dr. Meirschultz has a heart beating in a jar of solution and is eager to put it into a corpse that really needs it. Meirschultz gives his assistant a gun and advises him to commit suicide, so that he can put the heart in him, but Maxwell shoots and kills the scientist instead and hides the body. People will miss Meirschultz, Maxwell quickly realizes, but no one will miss his lowly assistant; and so Maxwell dons eyeglasses and a fake beard to become his onetime benefactor. The trouble is, he impersonates the mad doctor too well and goes crazy himself.

---

Plot Keywords:

doctor | assistant | impersonation | scientist | heart | 

---

Taglines:

What Are the Dangers of Desire?

---

Genres:

Horror | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 September 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sex Maniac

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Roadshow Attractions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

51 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film is listed among The 100 Most Amusingly Bad Movies Ever Made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE® MOVIE GUIDE.

---

Goofs

When the wall is broken down, the actor playing "immured dead body" on the other side can be seen pushing the bricks apart.

---

Quotes

Marvel: It's pretty though. Imagine the poor guy. I'll betcha nobody knows him all his life, and then... Say, wasn't there some guy in history who spent all his life looking for an honest man?
Jo: Sure! In his day, men were men, but now they're too scared to be anything but honest.

---

Connections

Features Siegfried (1924)

---

Soundtracks

"La Cooca Rocha"
Sung by Thea Ramsey

User Reviews

For fans of wacko film making an absolute must see!

I remember the first time I sat down to watch CITIZEN KANE many years ago. That movie had the reputation of being perhaps the greatest American film of all time, and I was sure I was going to be disappointed. I wasn't. It's a brilliant piece of film making that I've enjoyed again and again over the years, and one of the few times I remember thinking that a much-hyped film had actually exceeded its publicity. Last night I had a similar experience: I watched Dwaine Esper's classic MANIAC. We may be talking about the other end of the cinematic scale here but my reaction was similar: here was a movie I'd read about for years which not only lived up to the hype but surpassed it. MANIAC is a work of demented genius. I can't remember seeing another film that was more assuredly the product of a man unhampered by matters of good taste or conventional film making technique. It's one of the most consistently watchable and entertaining features I've seen, with an atmosphere more reminiscent of an old underground movie that a Hollywood production. The over the top acting, ludicrous but somehow clever dialogue, and nightmarish imagery (raving madmen superimposed over footage from silent horror classics, way ahead of its time gratuitous nudity, people being shot up with hypodermics the size of harpoons, and a killer catfight between two ferocious and seemingly indestructible women) all combine into a unique and surreal viewing experience. And yet the most shocking thing about this movie is the flashes of actual talent it displays (albiet sparingly). The sets and photography are occasionally quite atmospheric, and some of the dialogue, if competently delivered, would have seemed quite clever and original, foreshadowing the "postmodern" exchanges of people like Tarantino. All in all a movie that defines by example the word "unique" and an experience not to be missed.