As a man who had absolutely no faith in the remake of William Lustig’s grindhouse classic, it’s quite telling that the opening of the film inspired a gasp out of me, followed by a “Holy crap.” Director Franck Khalfoun also wisely sidesteps the grit of New York (New York now no longer the wasteland is was in the eighties) entirely in favor of the more menacing and vast Los Angeles, all the while injecting an artistic gloss that makes the madness seem more surreal. “Maniac” is a gruesome and disturbing re-working of the classic horror film, that pays respect to the original, while also challenging its gore and violence, in the process. Elijah Wood’s performance is surprisingly unsettling and occasionally horrifying, since his character Frank Zito is a victim of his own madness.
