Maniac

[caitlinmorton]

I thought the camera work fit well with the story. I really quite liked it. Saw it in Wandsworth Saturday night, cinema was by no means full, but relatively good crowd for how massive a screen it was. Probably 30-50. No walkouts that I remember but that's not to say there weren't any I didn't notice. My friend and I were sufficiently frightened. I thought the length was fine. Any more and it might have been too much. And the effects....the sound effects were what really got me. That was just insane.

[John Milton]

I caught this film at a screening in Glasgow on 3rd April.

I have to agree with what's already been said and that the camera-work from Elijah Wood's character Frank's POV didn't do much for me and must have been difficult for the other actors to perform directly towards the camera. Wood himself didn't exactly deliver a sterling performance and at one particular point, both my friend and I expected him to say "My precious!!!!!"

Although the special effects were by and large very well done, much of the gore verged on being horror-porn and horrific simply for the sake of it.

Any plot for this film was minimal and attempts to humanise and explain Frank's actions were poorly developed and based on pop psychology.

On a positive note, the film's soundtrack and gritty feel really were reminiscent of films of the 80s. However, catchy electronica is not enough to save this film for me.

As a self-confessed horror fan, this was a major disappointment.

[julieisbored]

Saw this in Sheffield today, very few people at the screening and one couple walked out early into the film. Surprisingly I didn't mind the camera work but did feel it relied to much on shock and gore ( especially the yucky sound effects). It was worth watching but glad it was a freebie as I would have been a little disappointed to have pa*d. Only a 4/10 from me I'm afraid

[stuartboy]

OK. I stand corrected. This should have been 80 mins shorter than it was. This film is really bad. Very poor story and extrremely bad acting. It does score high with the premise, the camera work and special effects. It is a true gore fest.
What was Elijah Wooden thinking? His acting, including his voice-over as he doesn't appear in the flesh as much du to it being filmed from his POV, is about as mahogany as a Chippendale sideboard! He sounds so wooden and flat. I know that he can act and speak, witnessed in his sitcom Wilfred so I have no idea what was going on here. Maybe it is intended and central to the story? I doubt it. He was just shit. I also have issue with some of the blood used. It looked like red food colouring rather than blood, particularly when he was seen washing his hands - the "blood" was seen to have left pink staining on his hands which never washed off in the flow of water. Poor. The film itself seemed to be a series of sequences loosely connected that were drawn out into a film rather than a coherant story. I can only presume that Mr. Wooden did this as a favour or a bet rather than a serious acting role.

I'm going to give this a 4/10, solely due to some of the attributes of the film actually being OK to good and outweighing direness of the rest.

[flohaymcleod]

3/10 low budget movie

[Iceman1971]

Proper shocker! Got to be one the worst films I've seen at a cinema

[drizzy5oh]

Saw this last night and LOVED IT. Definately a future cult classic. Everything about it just worked, really thought the 80's influenced synth soundtrack matched the film perfectly.

Also, the second decent serial killer film to feature 'Goodbye Horses' in the soundtrack (the first being 'Silence of the Lambs').

9/10