IMDb RATING
3.7/10
2.8K
YOUR RATING
A former vaudevillian gifted at impersonation assists a mad scientist in reanimating corpses and soon goes mad himself.A former vaudevillian gifted at impersonation assists a mad scientist in reanimating corpses and soon goes mad himself.A former vaudevillian gifted at impersonation assists a mad scientist in reanimating corpses and soon goes mad himself.
Horace B. Carpenter
- Dr. Meirschultz
- (as Horace Carpenter)
Thea Ramsey
- Alice Maxwell
- (as Theo Ramsey)
Marvelle Andre
- Marvel
- (as Marvel Andre)
John P. Wade
- Embalmer
- (as J.P. Wade)
Marian Constance Blackton
- Neighbor
- (as Marion Blackton)
Umberto Guarracino
- Pluto
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Bartolomeo Pagano
- Maciste
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
Satan
- Satan the Cat
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSeveral key cast members are uncredited, and their identities remain unknown, most notably "Goof" the cat-hoarding neighbor, the detective, the skinny morgue attendant, Maria Altura (who Dr. Meirschultz brings back to life), and Altura's body double (for scenes requiring nudity).
- GoofsWhen Maxwell drags Dr. Meirshultz down the basement stairs, they are both wearing Dr. Meirshultz' glasses, even though they only had one pair of glasses to begin with.
- ConnectionsFeatured in It Came from Hollywood (1982)
Featured review
All right, I admit that "Reefer Madness" had continuity one could follow; but after you lose interest in 'counter-culture' naughtiness, that movie does get a little dull quite often.
The thing I like about "Maniac" is that it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Although narrative bits and pieces are borrowed from mainstream horror films of that era, and of course from the stories of Edgar Allen Poe, they're never actually woven together in any coherent manner. Nor is there any relationship established between these and the recurrent dictionary definitions of various psychoses that appear on title cards with syrupy strings playing in the background.
And of course none of it's believable in anyway - especially the make-up when the killer 'disguises' himself as the mad scientist.
However, I will say that the pacing here is swift, the dialog hilarious, the acting overwrought to the point of pure self-parody, and, after all, folks - it's only 51 minutes.
And it only cost me $2 - one just has to do one's shopping more carefully.
The thing I like about "Maniac" is that it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Although narrative bits and pieces are borrowed from mainstream horror films of that era, and of course from the stories of Edgar Allen Poe, they're never actually woven together in any coherent manner. Nor is there any relationship established between these and the recurrent dictionary definitions of various psychoses that appear on title cards with syrupy strings playing in the background.
And of course none of it's believable in anyway - especially the make-up when the killer 'disguises' himself as the mad scientist.
However, I will say that the pacing here is swift, the dialog hilarious, the acting overwrought to the point of pure self-parody, and, after all, folks - it's only 51 minutes.
And it only cost me $2 - one just has to do one's shopping more carefully.
- How long is Maniac?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $5,000 (estimated)
- Runtime51 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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