Elijah Wood Is the Creepiest Serial Killer Ever in This Underrated 2012 Slasher
But there's a chance you'll never look at him the same way again.
All people are divided into two categories: the ones who hate horrors and never watch them, and the ones who find them quite entertaining and never miss a new one. It’s only natural that people have different preferences, but with horrors it’s just something different, because you’ll never persuade a hater to watch even a slightly scary movie.
It goes without saying that psychological horror is much scarier than a simple slasher, but when you mix the two subgenres together, you end up with something that will either kill you emotionally or raise your blood pressure with adrenaline.
In 2012 Franck Khalfoun directed a psychological slasher movie named Maniac, which was actually a remake of the 80s movie with the exact same name. The new movie featured Elijah Wood and Nora Arnezeder as the main characters.
What Is Maniac About?
The movie is the tragic story of a young man named Frank Zito, whose traumatizing childhood turned him into a psycho serial killer. His mother was a sex worker, and she made him watch her every encounter with a client, which completely destroyed the boy's mind.
When she dies, she leaves him a mannequin shop, which ends up being his only place of peace. But that’s a peace that only a troubled man would enjoy. The thing is, Frank is a cold-blooded murderer who meets young women to scalp them and use their hair on his mannequins.
One day, however, he learns that his shop has caught the eye of a woman named Anna, who wants him to help her with her new exhibition at the location. The strange friendship blossoms and Frank realizes that he is in love with the woman, so he tries to medicate himself to control his violent urges. But everything comes crashing down when Anna learns the truth about him…
The most interesting part of the movie is that it's told from the killer's point of view, giving the audience a chance to be in Frank's head all the time. And this tool makes the audience actually feel sorry for the man, even though they know he is the villain.
Despite the overall great reviews from the fans of slashers, who even said the remake was way better than the original, the film failed to get a high score, only receiving 53% on Rotten Tomatoes.
But we say you don’t pay attention to the number and give Maniac a chance if you are a horror fan. Elijah Wood’s performance will leave you speechless.
Where to Stream Maniac?
Maniac is available to stream on Pluto TV, and you can also rent it on Prime Video.