Maniac

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Maniac

R

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1h 27m

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

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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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

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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

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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

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William Lustig

Director

Joe Spinell

Frank Zito

Caroline Munro

Anna D'Antoni

Abigail Clayton

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Kelly Piper

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Rita Montone

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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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