Maniac

Updated for the internet dating era and given a first person point-of-view treatment that forces us to view everything from the title character's perspective a la 'Enter the Void', this contemporary take on William Lustig's 'Maniac' is more innovative than your average genre remake. While Elijah Wood's face is often obscured due to the way the film is shot, the film also benefits greatly from his casting as, with big blue eyes and milquetoast mannerisms, he seems like anything but your average serial killer. There is also more attempt to explore his damaged childhood and his desire for a girlfriend. This time round, his love interest mistakes him for a gay platonic friend due to his obsession with "dolls" (mannequins) and reluctance to hit on her. The mannequins also figure better into the plot here with Wood actually owning a mannequin store. The film does, however, disappointingly ditch Joe Spinell's curious obsession with photographs as a form of preservation from the first film, which in turn renders his dressing up of the mannequins a tad random. The violence, while quite graphic, also does not have the same shock value this time round, and while the film maintains the original's semi-supernatural ending, the effect is not quite the same knowing that it is coming. Overall though, the 2012 'Maniac' offers some substantial improvements on the original, the point-of-view cinematography is frequently breathtaking and the incorporation of 'Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' footage is excellent. The music is at least as atmospheric, if not more so, and Wood is really quite creepy.

Dude I love this movie/ now I'm not saying the original wasn't not great, it was amazing. But this remake was pretty sweet. Alot of gore and great kills. Elijah wood did a great job That dude was on top of his game when he did this movie. Aldo like all the first person killings. Though it brought a little kick to making the movie better.

If your a horror movie lover / serial killer movie well .. see it

Now this movie isn't for the weak of heart or for people that have weak stomachs. The kills in this movie is realistic and very gruesome looking. Although it lacks tension, it's better than a lot of the redundant slasher movies that go straight to DVD. What is unique about this movie is that it put you in the view point of the killer and for the most part goes in a first person view direction. And just with that this movie can get difficult to watch at points. Watching this movie was liked watching a slasher version of "Enter the Void" except instead of a wandering spirit, it's in the view point of the killer. Elijah Wood is really good at playing this obsessive, creepy or mentally unstable psycho killer roles. And he really nails it in this one as well. Although it lacks in tension it makes up for it with the visuals and the psychological aspect of things. Now I haven't seen the original and while this is a remake, I think it's a stand alone film. It's a disturbing film from start to finish and will have most people's attention that can handle it, all the way through. Psycho slasher movie fans will most definitely enjoy this one.

7.6/10

I am not writing a review because unlike the others (not pointing fingers and i apologize if i offend) i don't want to spoil anything and don't want to say anything majorly about the story I see that people rate it for something the movie doesn't give itself out to be.

I have not watched the original but what i have understood is that people seemed irritated that some "proffesional" reviewers wrote it off as a women hating, violent movie nasty, instead of focusing on the themes of the film.

Now that i have read some of the reviews for this film, it seems that a lot of reviews say the same thing. Just a violent nasty and judges/rates it on that. IT Isn't. I think its wrong to say that it isn't violent. It has violence that makes you want to turn away. But its not about that. It doesn't rely on violence. The main character is a troubled man that tries to live his life, dealing with his issues. He doesn't have anyone and doesn't know how to deal with them alone.

Its a 1st person psycho-drama with a sad but beautiful techno music to blend in with the neon lighted feel of this movie.

The acting of Elijah wood is brilliant in that he mostly needs to act with his voice. The story is sad and i cant help but feel sad for the main character. Much like The Voices staring Ryan Reynolds, the movie focuses so much on there psychological problems that it just comes of as tragic and sad.

This isn't a horror movie with no story and disposable characters. This is a character built, character driven sad movie that is beautiful both visual and story wise.

Incredibly well shot, with an inventive first hand P.O.V. gimmick that actually works and brings enough originality to the plate to give it a reason for a reboot. It's about as unpleasant as the original film, but with a little less grit and sleaziness. I definitely cringed and had to close my eyes a few times. It's nice to "see" Elijah Wood in a role like this. We don't really get very many glimpses of him since it's all shot from his P.O.V., but he turns in a great performance.