Maniac . Weekly Alibi . 07-08-97

Maniac

DIRECTED BY: William Lustig

REVIEWED: 07-08-97

I put off seeing this one for a long time due to its reputation as being one of the most offensive slasher flicks ever made, but you know what? That's giving it waaay too much credit. Joe Spinell (The Godfather, Taxi Driver) plays Frank Zito, who spends his time whimpering, whining and slaughtering young women. He weeps over their corpses as he scalps them in loving closeup (courtesy of makeup effects wiz Tom Savini, who also gets his head blown off in the movie), then takes the scalps home and nails them to the heads of mannequins. About halfway through the movie, this weird romance-stuff rears its head when Zito meets fashion photographer Caroline Munro. All of a sudden, they're dating, and all I could think was: What the hell is this beautiful British fashion photographer doing going out with this fat, pock-marked, badly-coiffed, sweat-greased dirt-dish? I tell you, my suspension of disbelief was in overdrive here. Anyway, Zito finally shows his true colors when the lovebirds visit his mother's gravesite--while shrieking "Mommy! Mommy!" he goes for Munro's throat, but she manages to escape. Before long, the cops are on Zito's trail. Busting into his filthy, body-part-ridden apartment, they find Zito lying in a pool of blood, and can you guess what they do next? That's right, they leave! Just walk right the hell out, as if they stumbled across grandma snoozing on the couch amidst her knitting. I once had dinner with Director Bill Lustig, who spent most of the meal talking about his neighbor Sheryl Crow and how he'd like to "float like a little bird" up to her window and peek in at her. Now that was offensive. (Media)

--Scott Phillips

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