One remake I was actually looking
forward to seeing was the French/American co-production of Bill
Lustig's 1980 slasher Maniac. This project sees French filmmaker Alex Aja
again collaborating with his countrymen Greg Levasseur & Franck
Khalfoun.
Frank (Elijah Wood) restores antiques
by day and stalks the streets in search of female victims by night.
Aja has had prior success with horror
remakes – with The Hills Have Eyes & Piranha 3D – and I'd say
his record remains intact with Maniac, as well. Although this has a
slicker presentation, I feel director Khalfoun still maintains a lot
of the sleaze from Lustig's original. This isn't an empty Platinum
makeover, folks. Maniac can get pretty ugly when it revels in the
violence and because it is told almost exclusively in the
first-person perspective, the voyeuristic nature of the narrative
makes it even more disturbing. I can't say I'll soon forget the
pre-title card segment where things end badly for Toronto's own New
Waterford Girl Liane Balaban.
The original is chiefly remembered for
its gore effects by Tom Savini, and this one follows suit. I don't
know what it is about Aja and his team, but they seem to be able to
get the best out of KNB EFX when it comes to practical & digitial
integration. I think the best thing about this movie though, is the
fantastic score by Rob Coudert. I find it impossible to listen to
this now without thinking of Elijah Wood prowling around in a
windowless van.
Speaking of which, I really have to respect Wood for taking this part. This is an actor who fronted three of the top grossing films of all time, and now he's running around LA scalping women. This is the kind of role that could kill a career, yet he gives it one-hundred percent. I give you mad props, dude. I think Joe Spinnell would be proud. I also appreciated that the relationship – such as it was – between Frank and Anna (Nora Arnezeder) was left intact. That was one of the things that made the original interesting in that, unlike most onscreen serial killers, Frank was capable of acting like a normal human being.
I feel the movie does falter toward the
end, as the amount of stuff that Frank gets away with seems a bit
unlikely. I can believe a subway station to be deserted at night, but
not a city street in broad daylight. However, since we are seeing
things through the eyes of an insane person, it's possible events are
not unfolding quite as they appear. It wouldn't be the first time.
Maniac is not a perfect film by any
stretch, but I think this crew have a good handle on what makes a
good remake. Tell the same story in a new way. Sounds simple, doesn't
it? Well, there's a bargain bin at your nearest Wal-Mart that proves
that isn't the case.
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