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Maniac

Play trailer Poster for Maniac R Now Playing 1h 27m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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40% Tomatometer 20 Reviews 58% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Childhood abuse triggers a man (Joe Spinell) to kill women and use their scalps to dress his mannequins.
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Maniac

Critics Reviews

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Nick Schager Lessons of Darkness An unapologetically twisted study in pathological murderousness. Rated: B+ Jul 8, 2005 Full Review Vincent Canby New York Times Good sense, if not heaven, should protect anyone who thinks he likes horror films from wasting a price of admission on Maniac. Aug 30, 2004 Full Review D.M. Palmer Vague Visages ...it also offers a more troubling variant of male rage; this time, the rage is empowered by the symbolism of the state, it wears the vestments of respectability... Nov 8, 2023 Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com Spinell's performance and uncomfortable screen presence is what really makes Maniac memorable, not to mention some excellent make-up effects from Tom Savini. Rated: 3/5 Jul 30, 2020 Full Review Larry Vitacco Philadelphia Gay News Maniac doesn't deserve the paper and ink it takes to print this review. Rated: 1.5/4 May 27, 2020 Full Review TV Guide Staff TV Guide The sleazy embodiment of everything that was wrong with the ultraviolent slasher movies of the early 1980s. Rated: 1/5 Dec 28, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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acsdoug D Lots of gore, plenty of that fake looking blood so prominent in older movies. That's it, just one murder after another. Not much of a plot or character development, so no suspense at all. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 07/16/25 Full Review Nick O A movie made for Maniacs…by Maniacs…about a Maniac. If you’re looking for a truly psychotic flick, look no further than this gritty New York slasher! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/06/25 Full Review Teddy B An interesting character study that is criminally underdeveloped. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/25/24 Full Review Audience Member An interesting premise wasted on a terrible script, terrible acting and terrible direction. It reached a point of being so bad it became laughable. Even for 80s slasher standards, this movie was bad. The kind of movie that almost makes me wish that the killer would hop out of my screen and put me out of my misery. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 10/10/24 Full Review Sam G This movie made me feel dirty. It was like rolling my brain around in a pigsty. The images defiled my mind in the most grotesque of ways! Rated 2 out of 5 stars 09/22/24 Full Review Jay H Garbage in every sense of the word. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 04/07/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Maniac

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Movie Info

Synopsis Childhood abuse triggers a man (Joe Spinell) to kill women and use their scalps to dress his mannequins.
Director
William Lustig
Producer
Andrew W. Garroni, William Lustig
Screenwriter
Joe Spinell, C.A. Rosenberg, Joe Spinell
Production Co
Magnum Motion Pictures Inc.
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 10, 2016
Runtime
1h 27m
Sound Mix
Surround
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