Retro Reviews: Maniac (1980)

I think I’ll take a stab at the Final Girl Film Club with Maniac.  This is a film I didn’t see until last year, though I am not sorry I waited.  It’s gritty, gory, and gross.  It feels so much longer than its 87 minutes, and I think it’s that slowness that makes is so powerful.  Um, spoilers ahead.  

Maniac is the story of schlubby, sweaty landlord Frank Zito, who happens to murder women in his spare time.  Actually, since most of what we see him do is stalk and murder, he is a murderer of women and a landlord in his spare time.  You see, Frank was abused and ultimately abandoned, due to her death, by his prostitute mother.  It would be neat to say that this movie is simply a bloodier Psycho, what with the monstrous mother and the lady killing and all.

The big difference is, Frank is presented to us immediately as a mentally ill murderer.  There is no big reveal at the end, nor is there revenge or paranormal, evil killin’ powers at work here.  This is unlike many slashers/splatters I watch because the killer is presented as very real.  Frank is just a guy who kills because he is sick.  He struggles with his guilt and self-disgust as much as his disgust with women.  This is why he stabs himself with one of his killin’ tools, and why, in his mind, it’s his victims come alive who do him in.

Okay, enough of that.  I took one psychology class one time and want to talk about other things, like some of the scenes I love from this.  I mentioned how torturously slow this film is, not only for the audience but for many of Frank’s victims.  The scene in which Tom Savini’s head explodes sticks with me not for the exploding head, but because of how long the woman in the car must wait for her inevitable death.  

The scene where Frank stalks a nurse through the subway is ten minutes long.  Ten minutes!  You must watch her try and outsmart her murderer for ten minutes, hiding and sweating and crying.  And then when she allows herself relief, you know that when she looks up he’ll be in the mirror and she will not only get stabbed but have to watch herself get stabbed.  And of course she’s in white, of course.  I just.  That scene.  Ugh.  

Maniac is simple and well done.  No one can rig up a scalping like Mr. Savini.  No one.  The late Joe Spinell does an excellent job with the acting, and I am now nervous about the remake with Frodo Baggins.  We’ll see, I have been wrong before.

     

Retro Reviews: The Burning (1981)

The Burning (1981)

Rather than write a full-out review, I decided to list my reactions to this film as they appeared.

Ah, camp.  Where kids go to be slaughtered.

Ugh.  What disgusting examples of youth from the 1980s.  

Wait, who sleeps next to a full gas can?  

If only that janitor had remembered to stop, drop, and roll, this whole movie could have been over by now..

What kind of a hospital is this?

Ew.  Everyone in this movie is gross.

Hey, what did that hooker ever do to you?

Wait.  George Costanza!?  Yes, it’s him.

Hey, Holly Hunter.  Cool

Those are some fancy killin’ tools, yo.

I really hope he doesn’t kill the person named “Tiger.”

Hey, they built a raft.  How resourceful.  Nothing will go wrong no--yikes, ouch.

Holy crap.  You don’t see that everyday.

This killer is certainly efficient.  If I were that skilled with gardening shears, my landscaping would look amazing.

Um, did you just wander onto the set for My Bloody Valentine?

Fire bad; axe...also bad.

Huh.  No final girl, per se, just a final sniveling pervert.  Interesting.

Whew, both Tiger and George Costanza are safe.

So, to sum it up, The Burning is...just alright.  It could be required viewing for the special effects done by my secret husband, gore maestro Tom Savini.  The editing is interesting, and some shots are indeed scary, if only for the cheap, jumping-out-at-you scares.  Also, props to screenwriters Peter Lawrence and Bob Weinstein for naming their killer after the decades-old campfire take Cropsy.  

Top Five Crazies from Slasher Films

Gentle Reader, I love horror films. Beginning at a tender age, I have been an equal-opportunity horror fan: I love the slashers, wonderful Tartan Asian Extreme, the psychological thrillers, the Italian giallo films, the zombies, the spooks, the splatters, the revenge films, the moments of dread in mainstream films that make them horrific. All of it. I love all of it. This is a list, in no order, of five beloved crazies from some of my favorite slashers. Click on the picture for a clip. CAUTION: Here there be spoilers!

The Caller from Black Christmas

I have had some experiences with obscene phone callers, and those guys were amateurs compared to this gem. Seriously. The calls were the scariest, most memorable scenes for this viewer. This is not to say that the death scenes were not well done; they were. The caller is just so...crazy. He turns on a dime from run-of-the-mill pervert to dangerous very authentically. Freak.

Crazy Ralph from Friday the 13th

Dear Ralph. I am sorry for what happened to you, more sorry than I am for the scores of

counselors claimed by the Vorhees family and their successors. You really tried to warn them. If only your communication skills were better.

Chop Top from Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part II

I think Part II is a great film for precisely the opposite reasons Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) is a great film. I will cover the glory of Part I in another post; it’s Part II’s time to shine here, and no part of this film shines brighter than Leatherface’s older brother, Chop Top. Chop Top was absent for the events that took place in part I because he was busy having part of his head destroyed in Vietnam. From what I gather, it was the sane part. Now, don’t get me wrong, the whole Sawyer clan is pretty off. Hitchhiker was less than altogether, and their father is clearly not well. Leatherface is the sensitive Holden Caulfield of the film, clearly in need of psychological intervention, but you can tell he has a soft, gooey center. None of the family are as completely, gleefully unhinged as Chop Top. He’s the whole package: Sonny Bono wig-wearing, scalp-burning-with-a-hot-wire-hanger-ing, screeching pile of crazy. Brilliant.

Marie from Haute Tension

Ah, Marie. You’re such a good friend to come to the rescue of lovely Alex from that vile, murderous drifter. Wait a second.

Aunt Martha from Sleepaway Camp

I think of all of these characters, Aunt Martha is my favorite. That voice. Those clothes. I mean, come on. I listed a few murderous monsters above and one crazy messenger, but Aunt Martha is the only one from the list who created a monster. I could watch her brief scenes again and again.