MANIAC

Frank is one seriously disturbed individual. Traumatized by the abuse he endured as a child from his mother, he regularly goes out into the streets to follow, kill and scalp beautiful women. The hairs of his victims end up on the heads of the ancient mannequins he so lovingly restores. These are his ideal women. They’ll always keep him company and will never hurt him. And then Anna steps into his life. She’s a French artist who wants to use Frank’s mannequins for one of her installations. As the two get to know each other, Frank starts to believe that he could have a relationship with a real person. But is redemption really possible for a completely insane, bloodthirsty psychopathic maniac ? William Lustig’s Maniac from 1980 has become a true cult picture. When someone then starts to shout “remake”, most movie buffs will hide behind their film collection to avoid being exposed to yet another violation of a film classic. When it comes to Franck Khalfoun’s version of Maniac, we can only give you one advice : get your ass to the BIFFF ! The French director of P2 and Wrong Turn has surpassed the original by injecting psychological depth and giving the violence an almost unbearable intensity by showing everything through the eyes of Frank, a superb performance by Elijah Wood, who’ll never be mistaken again for a cute Hobbit. Franck Khalfoun’s Maniac is one of the horror classics of the 21st century.