I maniaci (1964)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Lucio Fulci

Writers:

Franco Castellano (screenplay)
Franco Castellano (story)

Release Date:

28 March 1964 (Italy)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Features a series of brief comic shetches based on manias, mainly sexual, featuring several figures of Italian society.

Plot Keywords:

Hitchhiking | Female Nudity | Antiques | Soccer | Prostitute

Cast

Walter Chiari	...	The Sicilian hitchhiker (segment "L'autostop") / Car driver (segment "Il sorpasso") / Pasquale Taddei (segment "La protesta") / Client of Night-clubs (segment "Lo strip")
Enrico Maria Salerno	...	Castelli (segment "la parolaccia")
Barbara Steele	...	Barbara (segment "l'hobby")
Raimondo Vianello	...	Mr. Brugnoli (segment "la cambiale") / Giulio Errani (segment "Lo sport") / Paolo (segment "I consigli") / Micozzi (segment "Le interviste")
Gaia Germani	...	Carla (segment "l'hobby")
Umberto D'Orsi	...	Ilario Baietti (segment "La parolaccia") / Friar (segment "Il pezzo unico") / Car driver (segment "L'autostop")
Sandra Mondaini	...	The wife (segment "i consigli")
Franco Fabrizi	...	Sita - the insolent employee (segment "Lo sport")
Aroldo Tieri	...	Mr. Bonfanti (segment "La cambiale") / Mario (segment "La protesta")
Ingrid Schoeller	...	Mrs. Bonfanti (segment "La cambiale")
Lisa Gastoni	...	Gulio's wife (segment "lo sport")
Margaret Lee	...	Rosalie (segment "Il week-end")
Franco Franchi	...	Thief #1 (segment 'Il week-end)
Ciccio Ingrassia	...	Thief #2 (segment 'Il week-end)
Franca Valeri	...	The wife (segment "il pezzo antico")

Also Known As:

Beautiful Eyes
The Maniacs

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

Spain | Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Hesperia Films S.A.

Soundtrack:

La mia mania

Early Lucio Fulci sex comedy

I was initially lured to Italian sex comedies by the naked charms of Italian actresses like Edwige Fenech, Laura Antonelli, Gloria Guida, Nadia Cassini, etc., but I have to admit I've actually kind of grown to like the genre. Although pretty risqué for its time, this 1964 movie is quite a bit tamer than the 1970's ones I'm familiar with, but it is also a lot funnier. As opposed to being one narrative, it is a whole collection of fast-moving skits. Not all of them are very funny, but none really lasts long enough to wear out its welcome.

I'm not crazy about most of the male actors here like Walter Chiari, Franco Fabrizi, and the generally insufferable comedy duo of Franco (Franchi) and Ciccio (Ingrassio), but at least they have some pretty good material to work with here. The female cast is much more interesting. It includes British actresses Barbara Steele and Margaret Lee, both of whom were much more famous for appearing the Italian horror films and gialli thrillers of the era, so it's interesting to see them in a comedy. Steele is especially good as one part of a wife and mistress duo who team up after they begin to suspect that their husband/lover is "cheating" on both of them with (yet) another woman. There's also the gorgeous Italian actress Lisa Gastoni who appears in a skit as a wife whose dullard of a husband is forced to pimp her out in the red-light district after losing a football bet. I've previously seen Gastoni in a couple 70's melodramas, "Scandalo" and "The Seduction", where she bares all both literally and figuratively, but even fully dressed in a small role here she is very sexy and very memorable.

The director of this is none other than Lucio Fulci, the Italian zombimeister himself! Few people outside of Italy know what a great comedy director Fulci was early in his career. True, he did a lot of lame crap with the aforementioned Franco and Ciccio, but he also directed superb satiric sex comedies like "The Eroticist" and "Young Dracula", and I'm amazed there hasn't yet been a legitimate English-language DVD release of "La Pretora", the film he did with Edwige Fenech (it seems like his name and her incredibly perfect breasts would be an sure bet). This is only the second legitimate release of a Fulci comedy (after "The Eroticist") and it amply demonstrates Fulci's gifts as a comedy director. Recommended.