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Ghost Canyon

'Maniac' [4K Restoration: 3-Disc Limited Edition]
(Joe Spinell, Caroline Munro, Kelly Piper, Tom Savini, Gail Lawrence, et al / 3-Disc Blu-ray + CD / R / (1980) 2018 / Blue Underground)

Overview: Frank Zito misses his mother, who was killed in a car accident years before. She was abusive to him, and made money selling her body, but Frank still misses her.

He tries to keep her from leaving him, and reform her evil ways, by killing young women and putting their scalps on mannequins which he displays around his apartment.

Photographer Anna D'Antoni takes a picture of him in the park, and he pursues and befriends her. Is she the one he has been looking for or just another mother wannabe?

Blu-ray Verdict: Directed by William Lustig (MANIAC COP 2, VIGILANTE) and featuring landmark gore effects by Tom Savini (DAWN OF THE DEAD, FRIDAY THE 13th), this relentlessly shocking and disturbing film was originally censored all over the world due to its graphic violence!

Now Blue Underground is thrilled to present 'Maniac' in a brand-new 4K Restoration from its recently discovered 16mm original camera negative, overflowing with hours of new and archival extras!

But more on all of those later, as for now, let's get into the movie! Split down the middle, this schizoid film is a repertoire of what can be deemed both a slasher and splatter movie.

We have seen the typical slasher film stars such as Michael Myers (Halloween - 1978), Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th - 1980) and Freddy Krueger (Nightmare on Elm Street - 1984).

These fantasy stalkers' work well on their own, but, when combined with the added ingredient of the Splatter genre, buckets of blood and missing limbs abundant, the pace suddenly becomes more shocking, more degrading and with blood-letting by the bucket loads to whet the appetite.

Films such as the English Hammer Film Productions of the sixties and seventies, Intolerance (1916), Night of the Living Dead (1968), The Evil Dead (1981) and of course, Peter "Lord of the Rings" Jackson's ultra-gore fest and blackest of comedies Braindead (1992) are all fine examples of the splatter label.

Throughout his carrier, Joe Spinell (1936 - 1989) had performed in possibly some of the greatest movies within the last forty years: The Godfather, Pt's I & II, Rocky I & II, Farewell, My Lovely (1975) and Taxi Driver (1976).

It is here, in his personal work via his attributes of starring, screenplay writing, story and Executive Producer that this 1980's classic slasher / splatter film 'Maniac' came to represent one of the most disturbing and shocking serial killers on screen since Norman Bates back in the early sixties.

A hater of women, or more to the point a man who has had the misfortune to be the miss-interpreter of women, and with a deep seated hatred fueled by his mother, this is a mind that has taken upon itself to reek havoc, vengeance and inherited blame onto his victims.

A disturbed mind has to also reside in the physical, and we see Frank Zito coming home after a bad night out in his tiny one room apartment, a shrine to all things female and childlike.

Dirty, broken and caged dolls sit aside centerfolds pinned onto the wall; framed pictures of his childhood are hung next to religious images, female mannequins that are dressed in his victims' attire, their scalped hair and their blood.

Tainted masks and images of death are a constant reminder of a mind in turmoil, a shrine to the female gender and madness in all respects.

Unlike the Bates Motel where we see our killer roaming free to explore his weakness, Zito's roaming ground is the streets of the seedier side of New York City.

There is evil, too, that is condensed into the tiny environment of his apartment that has the spectator tight up and in the thick of it all. Alienating as it first appears, director William Lustig and Joe Spinell has our leading man talking only to himself and the mannequins that he has made in the image of Woman that are the testament to his morbid indifference.

Spurned on by a grizzly, haunting and excellent score, both electronic and musical, by Jay Chattaway (Maniac Cop - 1988, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" - 1987 / 94 etc), this is a fine signature tune, both her own and Zito's, that helps delve only deeper into the confusion of this primal scream. Mr. Carpenter would be pleased.

What is surprising with this narrative is the capability of Frank Zito to totally change persona, a doppelganger of social skill, intellect and wit, switching sides and crossing the line, to fully exploit the new arena he finds himself.

Befriending unknowing fashion photographer Anna D'Antoni (Caroline Munro: The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, 1974 and The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977), with her photos of women laid across her wall.

There are comparisons, as Zito would believe, to her artistic works of preservation, via the photograph, of life, the life of woman and Zito's "still life" of his work, his preservation of life via the mutilation, destruction and the dressing of his ladies: the mannequins. He quickly claims his prize, he quickly slides back into the abyss and the sense is set for a mental explosion of paranoia hell.

Robert Lindsay, the films cinematographer and camera operator, has an eye for the suspenseful, with beautiful shots of atmosphere, it is also with Jay Chattaway's ear, Tom Savini's hands and the imagination of the late Joe Spinell that 'Maniac' is a film that both terrorizes and amazes.

This, being the heart of a good film, such as Maniac, with conflict and schism from start to finish, this will, literally, make the hairs stand on the back of your neck. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

WORLD PREMIERE! New 4K Restoration from the recently discovered 16mm original camera negative!
3-Disc Set (Blu-ray + Blu-ray + CD) includes High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) Widescreen 1.85:1 feature presentation + another Blu-ray PACKED with additional bonus material + Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD with MANIAC score by Jay Chattaway
Audio: 7.1 DTS-HD (English); 2.0 DTS-HD (English); Dolby Digital 2.0 (Castellano, Français, Italiano, Deutsch)
Subtitles: English SDH, Français, Español, Português, Deutsch, Italiano, Dansk, Suomi, Nederlands, Svenska, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Thai
Audio Commentary #1 with Co-Producer/Director William Lustig and Co-Producer Andrew W. Garroni
Audio Commentary #2 with Co-Producer/Director William Lustig, Special Make-Up Effects Artist Tom Savini, Editor Lorenzo Marinelli, and Joe Spinell assistant Luke Walter
NEW! Maniac Outtakes Featurette
NEW! Returning to the Scene of the Crime with William Lustig
Anna and the Killer Interview with Star Caroline Munro (13:08)
The Death Dealer Interview with Special Make-Up Effects Artist Tom Savini (12:11)
Dark Notes Interview with Composer Jay Chattaway (12:13)
Maniac Men Interview with Songwriters Michael Sembello and Dennis Matkosky (10:38)
Mr. Robbie: 'Maniac 2' Promo Reel (7:28)
The Joe Spinell Story (49:12)
NEW! Collectable Booklet with new essay by author Michael Gingold
MANIAC PUBLICITY: 'Paul Wunder' Radio Interview with William Lustig, Joe Spinell, and Carline Munro (19:11), William Lustig on 'Movie Madness' (47:18), Joe Spinell at Cannes (0:44), Joe Spinell on 'The Joe Franklin Show' (13:13) and Carline Munro TV Interview (2:54)
MANIAC CONTROVERSY: A selection of archival broadcast TV news clips, interviews and reactions to the film. (41:15)
Theatrical Trailers
TV Spots
Radio Spot

www.Blue-Underground.com





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