YMMV / Maniac! (1980)

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• Awesome Music: For the remake, Robin Coudert (credited simply as "Rob") created a soundtrack that'd be entirely based on 80s synth music. The result was probably one of the most original, badass pieces of soundtrack in a movie. Extra mention goes to the piece called "Haunted". It gives this amazing sense of dread, hate and desolation, the one you'd feel while driving around your city and wondering what lurks in its rotten core.
• Funny Moments: From the remake:
  Lucie: You are totally not what imagined.
  Frank: Really? What did you imagine?
  Lucie: Uh... fat, with long black hair and greasy skin full of acne. ^note This is pretty much what Joe Spinell looked like in the original.
  Frank: You should see the other picture I was about to send.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Frank's death at the end is uncomfortably similar to Joe Spinell's own death nine years later.
• He Really Can Act: This was Joe Spinell's opportunity to shine as a male lead, and by god does he shine with a disturbing and poignant performance.
• Jerkass Woobie: Yes, Frank is a misogynistic, psychotic killer... but, as you get the sense of how truly alone he is, it's hard to not feel sorry for him. Especially in the scene in the cemetery near the end.
• Narm: As Frank is being ripped apart in the remake, he lets out a very SpongeBob SquarePants-esque yell of "Augh! My leg!"
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The ending... having your victims suddenly come to life before you and kill you right there? Creepy, to say the least.
    • Want to see an even more disturbing version of the above scene? Watch the remake where you see it from the perspective from Frank himself!
  • Not to mention, Joe Spinell's performance in this is genuinely chilling.
    • Just as chilling is Elijah Wood's performance in the remake, that is when it's not depressing as hell.
• Signature Scene:
  • The "Disco Boy" having his head blown off, along with the mannequins coming to life, and dismembering Frank.
  • Add in the subway stalking sequence, which is easily the most suspenseful part in the film.
• Spiritual Successor: The Last Horror Film, which features Caroline Munro and Joe Spinell in nigh-identical roles.
• Tear Jerker: Frank is a walking tearjerker. He loathes murdering innocent women, but he is urged on by some voice in his head, and can barely get by on his own with his poor grasp on reality. Even sadder is the climactic scene in the cemetery, where he breaks down sobbing at Rita's grave.

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