I must admit, I was rather quite anxious about the film before actually viewing it at a late night screening, but, truthfully, this is a memorable and emotional horror film that really punches the viewer in the face with its raw powerhouse of images, and it had my eyes glued to it literally throughout its running time.
The story is about a depressed and genuinely deranged serial killer who by day works at a mannequin shop, mostly reassembling old mannequins and by night, he prowls the streets of Los Angeles, searching for young females to slaughter so he can use their scalps in his private collection of mannequins back at his home, however, his life takes an unusual and positive turn when a young photographer, fascinated by his store, asks him to assist her with an upcoming photo shoot involving his mannequins. Yes, this isn't a very happy story, and the story closely resembles the original despite their being rather minor changes made to it. But still, this is a remake that is well worthing watching or giving time to watch.
One thing that stuck out with me, throughout the entire film, is that, having seen the original Maniac, which was a miserable and grim look into the life of a degenerate murderer who suffered from tremendous neglect as a child,is that, this seems to have more of a glossy and clean look compared to the original, which I thought was quite a relentlessly trashy and outdated film compared to today's standards. It still was entertaining but I honestly thought this was a much superior film by comparison. The majority of the cast acted very well,and Elijah was very convincing and suitably petrifying as mad man frank,even though occasionally I thought the script at times was a tad clunky, and could of had more effort put into it. It could have had much more depth and flesh to it, however, the direction and cinematography was superb and the music, of course, was masterfully done and and it really provides a lot more impact to a lot of the more gorier parts. The soundtrack is very reminiscent of drive, however, there is also a small dose of opera music thrown in that gives this a lot more class and edge over most slashers. Also, what's admirable about the film is that it respects fans of the original, and it desires to be more then just a simple exploitation movie. There are a lot of intelligent artistic touches to the film I don't want to give away, but, this is quite an inspired effort that rises above a lot of the tame and forgettable ghost horror films that seems to plague mainstream horror now. But, this is anything but a horror film for casual viewers, folks. While it succeeds primarily in being a psychological thriller with lashings of rather intense gore added to it, most of the murders are utterly horrific with almost too realistic special effects that make some parts of it quite unwatchable. The camera never flinches or moves away from all the bloodshed and we basically get to see almost everything Frank does just about. However, it doesn't prolong any of its violence and it cuts away halfway through in some of the more extreme parts. Overall, a few plot holes and script issues keep this film from being the definitive horror movie of the year, but, it still packs one heck of a wallop and proves to be a real horror film rather then a fake, cheaply made torture film that exists to make money, which is unfortunately typical of the horror industry these days. So, if your a fan of the genre, definitely watch it, and just think of it as a horror version of drive, without the stiff acting or the tedium.
The story is about a depressed and genuinely deranged serial killer who by day works at a mannequin shop, mostly reassembling old mannequins and by night, he prowls the streets of Los Angeles, searching for young females to slaughter so he can use their scalps in his private collection of mannequins back at his home, however, his life takes an unusual and positive turn when a young photographer, fascinated by his store, asks him to assist her with an upcoming photo shoot involving his mannequins. Yes, this isn't a very happy story, and the story closely resembles the original despite their being rather minor changes made to it. But still, this is a remake that is well worthing watching or giving time to watch.
One thing that stuck out with me, throughout the entire film, is that, having seen the original Maniac, which was a miserable and grim look into the life of a degenerate murderer who suffered from tremendous neglect as a child,is that, this seems to have more of a glossy and clean look compared to the original, which I thought was quite a relentlessly trashy and outdated film compared to today's standards. It still was entertaining but I honestly thought this was a much superior film by comparison. The majority of the cast acted very well,and Elijah was very convincing and suitably petrifying as mad man frank,even though occasionally I thought the script at times was a tad clunky, and could of had more effort put into it. It could have had much more depth and flesh to it, however, the direction and cinematography was superb and the music, of course, was masterfully done and and it really provides a lot more impact to a lot of the more gorier parts. The soundtrack is very reminiscent of drive, however, there is also a small dose of opera music thrown in that gives this a lot more class and edge over most slashers. Also, what's admirable about the film is that it respects fans of the original, and it desires to be more then just a simple exploitation movie. There are a lot of intelligent artistic touches to the film I don't want to give away, but, this is quite an inspired effort that rises above a lot of the tame and forgettable ghost horror films that seems to plague mainstream horror now. But, this is anything but a horror film for casual viewers, folks. While it succeeds primarily in being a psychological thriller with lashings of rather intense gore added to it, most of the murders are utterly horrific with almost too realistic special effects that make some parts of it quite unwatchable. The camera never flinches or moves away from all the bloodshed and we basically get to see almost everything Frank does just about. However, it doesn't prolong any of its violence and it cuts away halfway through in some of the more extreme parts. Overall, a few plot holes and script issues keep this film from being the definitive horror movie of the year, but, it still packs one heck of a wallop and proves to be a real horror film rather then a fake, cheaply made torture film that exists to make money, which is unfortunately typical of the horror industry these days. So, if your a fan of the genre, definitely watch it, and just think of it as a horror version of drive, without the stiff acting or the tedium.