Trivia / Maniac! (1980)

---

• Banned in China: The remake was banned in New Zealand because of its extensive use of POV shots from the killer's perspective, which the OFLC claimed was "potentially dangerous in the hands of the wrong person".
• Creator Backlash: Joe Spinell was horrified when he saw the poster art for the movie, calling it "pornographic" because it displays a noticeable bulge in Frank's pants.
• Creator Cameo: William Lustig is a hotel manager near the beginning of the film, and Tom Savini is Disco Boy.
• Foreign Remake: O Stragalistis Tis Sygrou, a 1989 Greek remake of the film.
• The Foreign Subtitle:
  • Denmark: Maniac: The Woman Killer
• Playing Against Type: Elijah Wood in the remake although he did portray a really creepy psycho in Sin City before.
• Prop Recycling: Tom Savini borrowed two "corpses" from his previous works:
  • The headless corpse which appears in the end is from Friday the 13th (1980).
  • The doll that was used in the "Disco Boy Scene" was from Dawn of the Dead (1978).
• Referenced by...: A cover of the 2008 slasher Gutterballs look familiar?
• Similarly Named Works: There are also films from 1934 and 1963 with the name Maniac. Not to mention that there would later be a 2018 TV series also named Maniac.
• Spiritual Successor: Some have called the remake a slasher version of Drive (2011).
  • Has one itself in the 2020 film The Stylist, which, while having a plethora of differences, is very much a Gender Flipped version of the story with the killer being a hair stylist.
• Stock Footage: The helicopter POV shot was unused second unit footage from Inferno (1980), on which director Lustig served as the uncredited location production manager.
• Those Two Actors: This was the second of three films to star Joe Spinell and Caroline Munro, the other two being Starcrash and The Last Horror Movie.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Before his untimely death, Joe Spinell was working with filmmaker Buddy Giovinazzo (of Combat Shock fame) on a sequel entitled Maniac 2: Mr. Robbie, which was about a Depraved Kids' Show Host who kills abusive parents of his fans. About seven minutes' worth of footage was shot and assembled into a short promotional film before Spinell's death caused the project to be shelved.
  • He was also supposed to reprise his role as another woman-hating serial killer in Maniac Cop 2, which would have connected the movies.
  • Michael Sembello's "Maniac" (which was modified for Flashdance) was originally based on this film.

---