SHERDOG MOVIE CLUB: Week 37 Discussion - Maniac

[HUNTERMANIA]

Budden is selling me on watching this by saying the synth soundtrack was good. I might watch it. Not sure yet.

 

[dissolved]

Yea the one he said that about was the red head named Lucy. She seemed like fun, but he had to go and strangle her.

Also, the black guy that was the boyfriend of his interest talked shit to him in the bathroom and dried his hands on him. I thought, yea, he is going to kill the shit out of that dude but he was a bit impudent in that dept. He had to go kill her agent instead. It makes sense though that a stronger male would male him feel "less than."

Good thoughts. I watched it last about a week ago so you're bringing those details back to my mind again. Definitely the case about the guy drying his hands on him in the washroom. But the agent was really offensive too. I can imagine the artsy world is pretty backstabbing and shallow/snobbish that way. It came out when that gay friend of the girl was going on about how he was in some obscure commercial, and typically he was pursuing acting/modeling (kind of looked down on Wood).

 

[HUNTERMANIA]

I don't like very gory movies though... IDK. We'll see. I'm downloading it. I might try to watch it, but I might end up stopping. We'll see.

 

[MusterX]

I don't like very gory movies though... IDK. We'll see. I'm downloading it. I might try to watch it, but I might end up stopping. We'll see.

I don't think you will make it Hunter, it is quite violent.

 

[HUNTERMANIA]

I don't think you will make it Hunter, it is quite violent.

I don't mind violence for like some epic story, but just some guy killing people to kill them, that's not really my style

 

[Coolthulu]

Cool comments. Hilarious that I loved the soundtrack too and was going to mention how it reminded me of Drive also lol. But because it lacked a lot of big-name songs, I compared it rather to It Follows (not sure if you saw that or not - GREAT soundtrack).

Also, there was some sci-fi, Canadian (I think) production about 5 years ago that utilized throbbing synthetic 80s sound too. It had a lot of the era neon and red lighting as well. I can't remember the name of the movie but it was on Netflix. It wasn't that great a film as it was mostly style with little substance IMO.

But anyway, I feel similarly about Maniac. I probably enjoyed it more than I should have. It certainly wasn't perfect, but for the genre, it was unique, creepy, gory and overall pretty good IMO.

BRUH.




The soundtrack for It Follows is absurdly fabulous. It does such a phenomenal job at setting the mood and tone for what's happening. It had me mesmerized during the whole film. Definitely was one of the best 80s films I've seen that wasn't actually made in the 80s. I wasn't alive during the 80s, but this film made me feel like I was while watching it. I cannot give the director enough credit for that. The atmosphere is just too real.......




Oh & the fact that it takes place in Detroit adds to the dread. Detroit is just a pit of despair. It's like a real life Gotham City. The comparisons to John Carpenter are completely warranted. Between the music and atmosphere, it reminded me a lot of the original Halloween. I seriously can't get over the soundtrack and how well shot that film was. It's really impressive stuff.

 

[dissolved]

I don't mind violence for like some epic story, but just some guy killing people to kill them, that's not really my style

It starts brutal, stays brutal, and ends brutal.

But there's an interesting story to it IMO (particularly the psychological element).

 

[dissolved]

BRUH.




The soundtrack for It Follows is absurdly fabulous. It does such a phenomenal job at setting the mood and tone for what's happening. It had me mesmerized during the whole film. Definitely was one of the best 80s films I've seen that wasn't actually made in the 80s. I wasn't alive during the 80s, but this film made me feel like I was while watching it. I cannot give the director enough credit for that. The atmosphere is just too real.......




Oh & the fact that it takes place in Detroit adds to the dread. Detroit is just a pit of despair. It's like a real life Gotham City. The comparisons to John Carpenter are completely warranted. Between the music and atmosphere, it reminded me a lot of the original Halloween. I seriously can't get over the soundtrack and how well shot that film was. It's really impressive stuff.

I'm glad there are people who weren't around in that decade appreciating it's sound. I completely agree about It Follows in that it felt like an 80s movie.

And as an aside, though I didn't find it overly scary (outside of a couple of spots), I thought it was very good. But again, that's another movie that had sort of polarized viewers.

 

[Coolthulu]

I'm glad there are people who weren't around in that decade appreciating it's sound. I completely agree about It Follows in that it felt like an 80s movie.

And as an aside, though I didn't find it overly scary (outside of a couple of spots), I thought it was very good. But again, that's another movie that had sort of polarized viewers.

 

[Andersons Foot]

I didn't really like this one too much. The score reminded me of A Clockwork Orange at times which i liked, love the music in that movie. But overall I just couldn't get into this, never really grabbed my attention. I'm still not sure how i feel about the POV shots, I think it would've been better if used in moderation.

I'd give it a 5.3 (I watched Leon: The Professional right before this one, maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Probably hurt my score of this one)

I'll try to watch Kung Fury soon.

 

[Guestx]

I didn't really like this one too much. The score reminded me of A Clockwork Orange at times which i liked, love the music in that movie. But overall I just couldn't get into this, never really grabbed my attention. I'm still not sure how i feel about the POV shots, I think it would've been better if used in moderation.

I'd give it a 5.3 (I watched Leon: The Professional right before this one, maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Probably hurt my score of this one)

I'll try to watch Kung Fury soon.

Bear in mind that Kung Fury is only half an hour.

 

[Andersons Foot]

Bear in mind that Kung Fury is only half an hour.

Oh, I'll watch that tomorrow then.

 

[BeardotheWeirdo]

I don't mind violence for like some epic story, but just some guy killing people to kill them, that's not really my style

I'm 75% of the way through and it's been almost nothing but brutally realistic and totally pointless killings.

It's basically a snuff movie pretending to be artsy.

Just download the soundtrack instead, because it is really good.

 

[BeardotheWeirdo]

After seeing the critic and user score for the movie on IMDb I wasn't expecting much, so I was a little confused after the first 10 minutes.

Right off the bat there were several promising signs. Firstly the dialogue was very quiet, like it was being filmed from a distance, the taxi cab is just as loud as the girls conversation. This forces the viewer to turn the volume up really loud creating a more enjoyable experience. It also made the characters seem smaller and vulnerable against the dark, busy, loud city streets.

Secondly the characters were both female, and not the tough type either. They're the vulnerable type, and they're nice girls, neither wanting to take the only cab and leave the other one alone. Its not like a lot of horror movies where you're supposed to root for an asshole jock and his friends or a serial killer. There's no reason to not root for the girl

The way the killer cut the power to the first girls apartment building was definitely done in a maniacal violent fashion, living up to the title.

No creepy music slowly building to a crescendo, just a bit of heavy breathing, a vulnerable girl, and a dark hallway with no power. Very well done. The stabbing through the mouth was very realistic looking, imo.

We're off to a promising start, if you're looking for a horror/thriller.
Unfortunately from there on out it was just a steady stream of horrific realistic killings, with maybe 3 minutes of "explanation " for his actions.

Why was he able to control himself around Anna but around everyone else he was a psychopath? How could someone that fucked up run their own business? He was batshit crazy and tried to murder every good looking girl he saw, and he had no customers... how did he get a mannequin shop? He said it was his Mom's but she was a hooker so... it's unlikely she started her own mannequin restoration store.

Why was it just a night time thing? He never killed during the day. I guess because he saw his mom getting banged at night. Surely having a prostitute mom would be horrible but c'mon, lots of people have suffered worse and this guy was basically worse than the worst serial killer in history, all because he suffered from headaches and had a hooker mom. I don't buy it.

Does he know you can buy wigs made of real human hair? No blood or rotting flesh, just human hair and a hair net. No scalping people required... that whole putting the scalps on mannequins thing was ridiculous. This is just garbage designed to make attractive women terrified to go outside. The director seems like the Hollywood version of a bully-cop out for revenge on the cool kids and hot chicks through horrible pointless movies like this.

Just take a look at a picture of
Director, Franck Kalhoun on IMDb. it screams out mindless hipster sheep. There's nothing original about this guy, he's a hack.

If it wasn't for the SMC I would've shut this off, instead I'm just playing on my phone as it plays in the background.

Ok we get it, he's insane. How many long ass uncomfortable murder scenes with women screaming and begging for their life do we have to sit through? I don't hate women. This is just pointless and horrible to watch. There's no redeeming value for me.

If the guy was hideous and didn't always act like a psychopathic creep this would make a lot more sense. The girls were right to run from him.

The ending was symbolic of... how stupid the movie is. Sorry but this is awful.

Using first person was... stupid. As if the only thing stopping me from relating to psychopathic serial killers is the camera angle. Give me a break.

3/10

 

[Andersons Foot]

Kung Fury was amazing. I had never even heard of it until this thread, I was missing out big time.

 

[europe1]

Yeah this movie sucks a big one. Easily among the worst in this clubs history. At least Spring Breakers wasn't this lazy and uninspired.

Bisexual characterized parts of Elijah Wood's performance as a "caricature". For me, his entire character was a caricature. It's eye-rollingly bad how "creepy" Elijah is supposed to be. It's a painfully untactful portrayl. He starts fainting or having a migrane at the drop of a hat. His every line-delivery is just tittering on the edge of panic. It is so overt that it becomes lame. And this makes his interaction with everyone else feel stupid. Why are they all reacting this normally to him when just by the tone of his voice tells you that he's about to experience a breakdown.

Creepy people are "off" in some manner. Elijah is off at all times. Creepiness plays on the fear of there being something subtly wrong about the person in question. As if there is something intangible that you cannot fully describe that makes them not fit in (Norman Bates being the ur-example of this). Elijah's creepiness doesn't work because it's so overt, removing all that wonder and alertness in your mind over why you're feeling this way. He's like a drunk person stumbling along an alley. Everyone can see what the deal is.

And the fucking mommy stuff? Please.

And by all the... Guuuhh this movie was visually unstimulating. Everything about it was, really. It's as if the director was to lazy to give anything; the visuals, the ideas, the characters, some sort of defining touch. Just look at how lazily the mommy stuff was handled. It's as if the director thought that merely by mentioning mommy problems he gives his movie gravitas. These things need to be implemented skillfully, with some sort of idea or technique that makes them stand out and resonate.


The kills were mediocre at best. Nothing that hasn't been done a milion times elsewhere.

Using first person was... stupid. As if the only thing stopping me from relating to psychopathic serial killers is the camera angle. Give me a break.

Jesus Christ, THAT was his idea? I was wondering what the hell sort of an design-choise it was supposed to be to film so much from first-person. Especially BAD first-person as in this film. But reading this it just hit me. The director wants us to relate to this clown? Please. Wood's character is already such a laughing stock that we can't take him seriously. We can't relate to him because the man behind the camera has no relatability to us at all. The first-person footage just comes of as a lazy attempt of putting you in the moment that falls completely flat.




Christ this movie is even boring to talk about! I'm to unintrested to even edit what I've written about this film. Who cares if it's come out articulate or cohesive or not? This movie does not deserve words.

Fuck it. Maybe I come back tomorrow to clean this up. I just can't care about this shit right now.

 

[BeardotheWeirdo]

Kung Fury was amazing. I had never even heard of it until this thread, I was missing out big time.

Kung fury is a lot of fun. I watched it when it came out and tbh can't remember a ton about it but I did enjoy it a lot. The hacking time part was hilarious

You'll probably love Manborg if you loved Kung Fury. They're similar in many regards

 

[Andersons Foot]

Kung fury is a lot of fun. I watched it when it came out and tbh can't remember a ton about it but I did enjoy it a lot. The hacking time part was hilarious

You'll probably love Manborg if you loved Kung Fury. They're similar in many regards

Nice. I voted for it in the other thread, I'll check it out even if it doesn't win.

 

[Guestx]

First off, I'll start by saying something that I more or less said when the movie won, and that's that this is not a movie for me. I know that a lot of people enjoy movies like this in the same way that a lot of people enjoy movies like Saw and Hostel, but I'm not one of them.

With that said, I'd like to start with the good.

I thought that the overall presentation of the film was great. I appreciated the cinematography, and the use of both muted colors and shadows. I thought the score was excellent, with its 80s-esque synth tracks. I thought the acting all around was very good, and on this point I disagree with @europe1's contention that Wood's portrayal of the character was laughable. And I felt like the kills, for what it's worth, were disturbingly brutal.

I also found it interesting simply to see someone like Elijah Wood take on a role like this. I tend to find myself rooting for the guy because, whether fair or not, if you're not a physically imposing man with hunky good looks then it can be difficult to stay relevant in Hollywood. Despite his relatively short stature, small frame, and boyishness, he has managed to continue to have a solid career.

With all that said, however, I have one question: Why? Why did this film need to be made? What joy are we, as viewers, supposed to take in watching our main character go around the city brutally murdering innocent women? I know that @In The Name Of mentioned the psychological component, but I don't feel that aspect really makes the film INTERESTING to me. It makes it DISTURBING because I'm being reminded that such people actually exist, and it raises some interesting questions about the human brain and how it can go rogue, but it's not something that I actually want to sit down and watch a film about.

Here's one thing that's curious though, and something that I have been thinking about over the past couple of days: One of my favorite films of all time is American Psycho. It's also a film about an insane killer who goes around brutalizing innocent women and doing the most unnatural shit to them. So why do I enjoy American Psycho but not something like Maniac?

The answer that I arrived at is style. Not the style of the film--though American Psycho is indeed very stylish--but the style of the protagonist. Simply put, putting aside the teensy weensy little detail that he's a psychotic murderer of innocents, Patrick Bateman is cool as shit! He's just a cool dude! And the character, as brought to life by Christian Bale, is always entertaining to watch. I think this is also why movies and TV shows featuring Hannibal Lecter are popular. Just look at the TV show Hannibal with Mads Mikkelsen. As much of a crazy cannibal that Lecter may be, he's also full of style.

So that's why I'm down for this guy:

But have no interest at all in watching this guy:

So that's pretty much it. On a craftsmanship level, I thought the film was interesting and well-made. But on a narrative level, it's not something that I want to spend my time watching. Oh Bone Tomahawk, we did not mean to foresake thee!

5/10

 

[Guestx]

And just for the hell of it, another American Psycho gif: