Shot on location in New York City, MANIAC is the sleazy embodiment of everything that was wrong with the ultraviolent slasher movies of the early 1980s. Spinell is a deeply disturbed loner who vents his rage on beautiful young women. He stalks his victims, murders their male companions (one
of whom is played by special-effects man Tom Savini), and then scalps the women, nailing their hair on mannequins in his apartment. After the murders Spinell cries himself to sleep surrounded by the mannequins he considers his friends. In a rather incongruous subplot Spinell also romances a
beautiful young fashion photographer, Munro. In the end the mannequins come to life and t...
Released:
1980
Rated:
R
Length:
87 mins