Maniac (2012 film)
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Franck Khalfoun |
| Produced by | Alexandre Aja |
| Screenplay by |
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| Based on |
Maniac by Joe Spinell |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Robin Coudert |
| Cinematography | Maxime Alexandre |
| Edited by | Baxter |
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Production
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| Distributed by | IFC Midnight |
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Release date
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Running time
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89 minutes |
| Country | France United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $31,081 |
Maniac is a 2012 French-American psychological slasher film directed by Franck Khalfoun and written by Alexandre Aja, Grégory Levasseur, and C.A. Rosenberg. The film was produced by the French film companies La Petite Reine and Studio 37. It is a remake of the 1980 film of the same name and stars Elijah Wood as Frank Zito, a brutal serial killer. The film also stars Nora Arnezeder, Jan Broberg, and America Olivo.
Frank Zito is a mentally disturbed young man who has taken over his family's mannequin sales business after the recent death of his mother, who also moonlighted as a prostitute. Frank's childhood experiences of seeing his mother bring home clients or being taken out with her to turn tricks has left Frank unable to enter into meaningful relationships with women, and his sexual impulses tend to manifest themselves as violent urges that Frank externalizes as his mother's will. Struggling to come to grips with his mother's treatment of him, and spurred by memories of his mother brushing her hair before going out at night, Frank stalks, murders, and scalps a woman one night, attaching her hair to a mannequin that he then keeps in his bedroom.
Frank joins an online dating site, where he befriends a girl named Lucie. The two meet for what turns out to be a successful date. The pair return to Lucie's apartment, where she attempts to seduce the virginal Frank; Frank, feeling overwhelmed by homicidal impulses, insists that he likes Lucie and that he must leave before something bad happens. Lucie, mistaking Frank's panic for nervousness, becomes sexually aggressive and begins performing fellatio. Though he attempts to control himself, Frank eventually strangles and then scalps Lucie. Frank takes her hair back to his apartment, where he attaches it to another mannequin.
One morning, Frank awakens to find a photographer named Anna taking photos of the mannequins in his storefront. Frank invites her into his store, where she becomes taken with his work restoring antique department store mannequins. The two develop a friendship, with Frank agreeing to help Anna put together an art exhibit using his mannequins. As the two spend more time together, Frank begins to fall in love, and becomes more aggressive about trying to control his urges, attempting to take pharmaceuticals to quiet his impulses. Nonetheless, one night he follows a woman home from her dance studio and stabs her to death in a parking lot; once again, he scalps her and attaches her hair to a mannequin in his bedroom.
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