Maniac Reviews
Fan The Fire
It's not enough to just mimic exploitation cinema, swallow its misogynistic conventions uncritically and call it an homage.
Full Review
| Original Score: 0/5
Top CriticRank even on its own terms, it's the kind of inferior remake that also invites questions about the original's cult status.
Full Review
| Original Score: 1/5
Birmingham Post
Much of the film feels graphically real but I was never convinced that some of the girls would ever have trusted him in the first place.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
The List
So needlessly graphic and explicitly violent from the outset that it ends up catering to the desires of a voyeuristic audience much more effectively than critiquing them.
Full Review
| Original Score: 1/5
ColeSmithey.com
An irredeemable exploitation horror movie that overplays its subjective POV conceit, "Maniac" will leave viewers cold.
Full Review
| Original Score: C-
Daily Express
This Maniac may have artistic aspirations but it doesn't make the film any more palatable.
Full Review
| Original Score: 1/5
Sky Movies
One for fans at the nastier end of the slasher spectrum.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
Observer [UK]
I doubt if cult status is in the offing, but who predicted a future for Michael Powell's Peeping Tom?
Guardian [UK]
I found it intestine-squishingly horrible, but also dreary.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
Daily Mail [UK]
It's hard to escape the feeling that the whole film is just a nasty, voyeuristic exercise in titillation.
Full Review
| Original Score: 1/5
This is London
This story was first told, much better, in 1980 - a real B-movie stunner.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2/5
Daily Star
See this and you'll never be able to look Frodo Baggins in the eye again.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
The Aristocrat
One of the purest genre films of the decade. Honestly, be wary of Maniac. This film will do for walking home alone what Jaws did for the beach.
Full Review
| Original Score: 5/5
We Got This Covered
Maniac is perfectly brutal, gritty, in-your-face horror with a film-noir bite, sporting a memorable performance by Elijah Wood that makes me wish horror films had their own Oscars-like event.
Full Review
| Original Score: 9/10
HeyUGuys
Maniac is excelled by a career-altering performance from Wood and an uncomfortable sense of realism that's vested - and maintained - throughout.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
Neon Maniacs
Maniac is that rare horror remake that completely outclasses its source in every sense. And when you consider how much we love the original, that's really saying something.
Full Review
| Original Score: 5/5
Electric Sheep
It's hard to think of another piece of filmmaking that will manage to pack the same visual invention and emotional punch into a measly 89 minutes. Do not miss.
Screen-Space
Wood, Aja and Khalfoun play out the conceit with freshness and, more importantly, frankness. The first-person perspective holds strong to the final telling frames, imbuing the film with an existential, even soulful, thoughtfulness.
FEARnet
Does a fine job of balancing some legitimately smart ideas with its requisite moments of pain, suffering, and horror.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5
Digital Spy
Far too busy doing the filmic equivalent of poking you with a stick to see how much you flinch, and unashamedly so.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/5
