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      Neon Maniacs

      R Released Nov 14, 1986 1h 30m Horror List
      Reviews 34% Audience Score 250+ Ratings San Francisco police and teens (Alan Hayes, Leilani Sarelle, Donna Locke) fight water-soluble monsters with the only weapon that works. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member Oddball 80s horror film about San Francisco teens getting slaughtered by a Village People-like group zombies. There's a biker zombie, an archer zombie, a samurai zombie, a soldier zombie, and a few others. The film is poorly made to say the least, but it does have plenty of nicely gory old school practical special effects, which I do love. Another fun part of the film is when the teens go to a concert at one point, so you get some nice cheesy 80s music and dancing, all dripping in 80s neon, so it has that going for it too. "Neon Maniacs" isn't an 80s horror film anyone should seek out, but if you've already seen them everything halfway decent and are trying to find something you haven't seen before, it's worth a look. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie is the best worst movie ever! There is no explanation to why these monsters are so random. There's a biker, samurai, alien, caveman and a old school Native American monster. It's nuts but it's just so perfect in its flaws. Enjoy! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member Imagine a bit of Hellraiser crossed with The Garbage Pail Kids, and you've got Neon Maniacs. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member There is nothing really scary about Neon Maniacs and there is nothing really neon either. It is boring and lacks explanation. Some back story and maybe a little bit more detailed monster design could go a long way. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Neon Maniacs is a real mish mash of a story where there are no reasons given BUT it has some fantastic practical FX so you just gotta love it! The film is a tad long in the tooth and could easily use some trimming which isn't a good thing for a film that's already only 1.5 hours long. I do enjoy just how quickly the film gets right to business. The opening scenes are all about the Neon Maniacs killing and introduces us to many of the main maniacs early on. Of course, the fact that some of the maniacs don't show up until the climax is a little confusing but it's not the only confusing aspect of the film. Neon Maniacs is clearly just something put together to reap the rewards of low budget horror box office and home video success and it shows... but it's still a ton of fun... totally bad fun. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Early on I was wondering why this is a highly overlooked b-movie from the 80s. As the movie went on, I kind of understand why now. This movie is just too middle of the road, forgettable, and (unfortunately) nothing special. It has all the elements you would expect for a cult classic in the making: A big cast of monsters, action that takes place at different set pieces (such as a school and a subway transit), and all that 80s flavor you would want from something like this. However, it doesn't really do anything special. There are no "so bad it's funny" type of moments. There isn't really any gore, there's no real payoff, it doesn't make much sense, and there just isn't anything memorable about this movie. It's not really the most original movie either. It's basically Gremlins, but without an ending. This is a spoiler, but not more of a warning to those who may watch this: There isn't really a payoff or ending to this movie. It just sort of stops. The Neon Maniacs are still around and the main characters are still alive. So what is to stop future attacks from the maniacs? If this were a zombie movie or a haunted house movie or something then you can expect a "just survive the night" type of ending. But this is a movie where the entire time they're trying to figure out how to stop the maniacs (or just playing a concert in a high school gym that is lacking tons of supervision and seemingly serves beer) and when they go to the maniacs' lair it just sort of stops. Nothing happens with the main characters. I thought (based on early parts of the movie) the main characters would have to fight the samurai maniac and use their wits to beat him. But no, that doesn't happen. Another moment I actually did find quite funny, and it may be the funniest and most memorable part of the movie, is how Nathalie and Steven leave the safety of the gym where there is a firehose to go hide in a classroom science lab. Of course, a maniac is on to them and enters the same room to try and find them, but... the maniac doesn't see them and leave. So what do our heroes do? Make out and presumably have sex. This is RIGHT AFTER several kids had been gunned down. I will say the subway chase was fun and I liked the young girl character (she had spunk), but this movie was just too middle of the road. It's not that bad, but doesn't need to be seen either. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Neon Maniacs

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis San Francisco police and teens (Alan Hayes, Leilani Sarelle, Donna Locke) fight water-soluble monsters with the only weapon that works.
      Director
      Joseph Mangine
      Production Co
      Cimarron Productions, Kelly Park Associates
      Rating
      R
      Genre
      Horror
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Nov 14, 1986, Limited
      Release Date (Streaming)
      May 3, 2017
      Runtime
      1h 30m