Maniac (1963)

An American painter has an affair with a bar owner in a French village and agrees to help her murderer husband escape from a prison for the criminally insane.

Director:

Michael Carreras

Writer:

Jimmy Sangster

Stars:

Kerwin Mathews, Nadia Gray, Donald Houston

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Kerwin Mathews	...	Jeff Farrell
Nadia Gray	...	Eve Beynat
Donald Houston	...	Henri
Liliane Brousse	...	Annette Beynat
George Pastell	...	Inspector Etienne
Arnold Diamond	...	Janiello
Norman Bird	...	Salon
Justine Lord	...	Grace
Jerold Wells	...	Giles

Storyline

Kerwin Matthews, playing a dissolute drifter down on his luck, Jeff Farrell, is stranded in a cheap bar in France where he falls for Annette, the proprietor's pretty stepdaughter, played by Liliane Brousse. Annette's stepmother Eve, played by Nadia Gray, gradually shifts the young man's attentions to herself, rather than her stepdaughter, and together Eve and Jeff concoct a plot to help free Eve's estranged husband from the institution in which he's been confined as a homicidal maniac these past four years after committing the so-called "Acetylene Murder", when he killed with a blowtorch the man who raped Annette. The idea is that Georges, the husband, will leave the country, but, unknown to Jeff, it's not Georges who escapes but Henri, the guard who has become Eve's lover . . .

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | one word title | camera shot of an eye | freeze frame | camera shot of eyes | 

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Taglines:

stalks his wife ... his daughter ... their lover!

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Genres:

Crime | Horror | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was on Hammer's 1960 schedule but for unclear reasons it was shelved. It would have starred Peter Cushing and George Sanders.

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Goofs

At the beginning of the picture, on the floor of the garage when the rapist is dragged out of the car, a chalk mark in the shape of a "T" is visible on the floor - commonly used by set builders or by the director to block a scene.

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Quotes

Paul Farrell: Can I buy you a drink, M. Salon?
Salon: Oh, no thank you. monsieur. I am on duty, and when on duty, I allow myself three drinks only.

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Alternate Versions

When originally released theatrically in the UK, the BBFC made cuts to secure a 'X' rating. All cuts were waived in 2017 when the film was granted a '12' certificate for home video.

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Connections

Featured in Trailer Trauma 2: Drive-In Monsterama (2016)

User Reviews

A Few Twists, Not Enough Good Turns

A Hammer production, filmed at M.G.M., and released through Columbia. Sound confusing? Well, so is the plot to this attempt at out-psycho-ing "Psycho".

Kerwin Matthews is actually pretty good, in this tale of an American artist visiting France, who gets mixed up with both a young woman, and the woman's stepmother (notice she's a "stepmother"; hint, hint, wink, wink). For some reason I had an easier time believing Matthew's interest in the young woman, but not so much in her stepmother (whose high painted eyebrows, and puffy bouffant hair reminded me of Divine). Along the way Matthews learns of the older woman's husband, and how he committed a crime trying to protect his daughter years before. They try to help the husband escape from an asylum (so they can be together), and then the confusion starts.

Though the location footage, and stark black and white photography help this film create a good atmosphere, the direction is somewhat muddled, as is the dialogue, which at times I found difficult to follow. The French accents, in addition to some questionable dubbing make it hard to understand what they are saying. When I could understand the dialogue, it seemed forced and elementary; characters having to explain things that just happened, to further the story (and make sure that we get it).

Overall a slow start and a bunch of interesting twists in the latter half, but only a couple mildly startling moments. I found myself rather unsatisfied at the end. Perhaps this would have benefited by being directed by Freddie Francis...his collaboration with Jimmy Sangster that same year, for "Paranoiac", produced a much better film then this is.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French

Release Date:

30 October 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Maniac

Filming Locations:

Montfrin, Gard, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hammer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1