Maniac (2012) Horror Psycho

Maniac (2012) - This remake of a slasher Maniac (1980) is a surprise to me. It's original was not really a hit and although horrorphiles will point it out as something to see it is not a very good film. Too straight forward with a real lack of surprises it is just a slog to get through. Although the lead, Joe Spinell is great at being a maniac and Tom Savini's gore effects are awesome, the lack of a interesting story is its downfall. I mean how many times have we seen Mommy issues as a basis for abhorrent behavior in the horror genre. Pycho (1960) famously did it and there were scores of films after that. So the trope needs something else to make it interesting. The original did not bring that added something and fell flat. So what will the 2012 remake bring?
   Starring Elijah Wood as Frank in the opening scene he is stalking a young woman who is out clubbing with a friend. When the friend grabs a cab we see POV from Frank are he drives slowly following the girl along the street from inside his car. She notices him too and starts moving at a quicker pace getting scared. When he turns off saying he knows where she lives we get the realization that this is not a random victim, that Frank has been following her for a while. When the girl arrives at her apartment building relieved for the safety of home, the lights have been cut by Frank. POV Frank walking in the dark behind her as she arrives at her apartment. As she gets the key to her apartment she senses him and turns, Her says Please don't scream and then jams a large knife up her throat to make sure. Unfortunately this effects in this scene are not well done and the logic of the interaction make no sense. Frank grabs her hair, takes the knife out of her skull, at this point the body should fall to the ground but no an unnaturally she stands in place dead while he makes a quick slice to scalp her. eh.
  Frank stalks women through a online date site, which as an idea is scary as shit. The fear that should come with the amount of our personal lives are broadcast through the internet is his tool. After finishing off Judy in the first scene he now introduces himself to the profile of Lucie (Megan Duffy) who he expertly chats up to get a date with. Franks issue social anxiety as we see when he meets Lucie for dinner. Shot always in the POV of Frank the film is interesting in its approach. Producer / Screenwriter Alexandre Aja wanted this change in perspective thinking it would be terrifying. The POV perspective becomes an issue now, where the viewer will wonder over and over again how the director Franck Khalfoun will manage to get the star into a shot. Distracting at best annoying mostly. Frank's awkwardness with Lucie's seduction is wonderfully uncomfortable. Seeing himself in the bed above the mirror shows the star who you would not see otherwise. The scene though is a character defining event where we learn about the sickness driving the main character. The gore is more realistic in this scene and we are now set up for the main story.
  Frank meets a young artist, Anna's (Nora Arnezeder) who is taking pictures outside his store. She loves his collection of mannequins from different eras and wants to use them for a photo shoot she is doing. A new obsession that is not from a dating site maybe?  Well instead of that we get another very long stalking and killing scene which brings us to almost the halfway point in the film. I would think that establishing who the killer is was already done in the two stalking and killing scenes we already saw. No this one is different, way more brutal and surprise a release from the killer POV but just for a second. Did the brutality pull is out or did I miss something?

  Finally we get to his obsession with Anna, she likes him even with his quirks and they date and start forming a relationship. Frank is not a person who can handle situation that are not what he imagines them to be so every little negotiation of interpersonal boundaries is too much for him. He can't stay connected to anyone because he has been warped by his past. We get a couple of scenes where we see his Mother (America Olivo) was a prostitute who had no boundaries about him seeing her at work. So the story really is the same as the original in its structure. Still not really connecting the dots about how his childhood made him the way he is we get even more killer POV as he continues to deal with his sickness by acting out. Trying to make us understand but really no one should get this crazy from that childhood.
  This film should have had a couple detectives hot on the trail but it doesn't and because of that you have to wonder if this is a cop free city. Instead this is a meditation on his sickness and how he just can't stop himself. When his relationship with Anna goes sideways as we knew it would. We realize they are really not going to attempt to make the film have a different outcome than the original. In the 1980 version there is this small hope that Frank can change but not in the new version. There is never an indication that this film is going to be anything but a tragedy. Although it tries to save itself with a gore filled final scene overall you are left wanting. It is a film about a sick bastard and in the end he stays just that. I have to say I love that there was enough interest in this film to get it remade. I think it is an indication of how strong the genre is right now where even bad horror is getting remade. Not really my cup of tea Maniac is what it is and this film never found an audience. It opened and closed before anyone could see it and will probably never recoup the 6 million spent on making it. I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone but those who have seen the original may want to check it out as a slightly different take.