Maniac (1963)

Director:

Michael Carreras

Writer:

Jimmy Sangster (writer)

Release Date:

30 October 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Plot:

Kerwin Matthews, playing a dissolute drifter down on his luck, is stranded in a cheap bar in France where he falls for Annette...

Plot Keywords:

Lodging House | Jukebox | Rape | Blow Torch | Adultery

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Kerwin Mathews	...	Paul Farrell
Nadia Gray	...	Eve Beynat
Donald Houston	...	Georges
Liliane Brousse	...	Annette Beynat
George Pastell	...	Inpsector Etienne
Arnold Diamond	...	Janiello
Norman Bird	...	Salon
Justine Lord	...	Grace
Jerold Wells	...	Giles
Leon Peers	...	Blanchard

Also Known As:

Die Ausgekochten (West Germany) [de]
Il maniaco (Italy) [it]
Murhaaja noidankehässä (Finland) [fi]
O dolofonos drapetefse ti nyhta (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

MGM British Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Trivia:

Donald Houston is dubbed

Movie Connections:

References Psycho (1960)

MANIAC (Michael Carreras, 1963) **1/2

This was one of two Hammer thrillers (even if it was watched on a "Fantasy" day) that had eluded me thus far; for the record, the remaining title – CRESCENDO (1970) – has, controversially, just been released on DVD-R as part of Warners' U.S. exclusive "Archive Collection". While MANIAC has a reasonable reputation, I have to say that I was ultimately let down by it and I would place the film in the lower rank of the studio's efforts in this vein. Its main fault, basically, lies in a not very interesting plot (courtesy, as were many of these outings, of screenwriter Jimmy Sangster): besides, it tries – but fails – to recapture the sense of eeriness inherent in a remote seaside location (in its case, the Camargues) already seen in the much superior TASTE OF FEAR (1961) and THE DAMNED (shot in 1961 but only released 2 years later). That said, characterization is quite well rounded: Kerwin Mathews, infrequently seen in a modern-day setting, makes for a surprisingly effective lead (in fact, he had previously starred in Hammer's splendid adventure film THE PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER [1962]); Nadia Gray is sultry and conniving, Liliane Brousse her ingenue – but no less sexy – stepdaughter (who gets raped in the film's very opening sequence!). Coming into play during the latter stages is Donald Houston as the titular figure, though he proves to be someone other than who the audience had been led to believe; therefore, we have a number of nice twists (and implied violence) here…but, then, end up with a rather ordinary mystery – actually anticipating a number of gialli in this regard! Unfortunately, my enjoyment of the film was further dampened by all kind of technical problems (after the picture in the copy I acquired initially failed to visualize) – with stretched image (fixed by altering the TV setting to 16:9), fuzziness, combing (the latter also causing the audio to drop out a couple of times) and lip-synch issues all rearing their ugly head throughout the viewing!