MANIAC (Lustig, 1980)
The mother/son relationship has been plundered many times within the horror genre (see: PSYCHO, PIECES, FRIDAY THE 13TH). MANIAC is not the best of these, but it's also certainly not the worst. Frank Spinell portrays the perpetually-sweaty, probably-schizophrenic Frank Zito, a NY mama's boy whose childhood traumas at the hands of his neglectful mother lead him to see her everywhere, long after she's dead. Every woman on the street is his mother. Supermarkets, parks, hospitals; she's everywhere.
Freud's comments about there being six people in the bedroom comes to mind. Frank's fractured relationships with women stems from being locked in the closet while his mother goes out night after night, selling her body, selling the love that Frank should receive, free of charge.
Now, there's not really much interesting in this so far. Family relationships have been explored in many more subtle, innovative ways in the medium of film. Also as a slasher picture, it's pretty much just standard fare. Where MANIAC begins to differentiate itself is in its portrayal of women. Frank cuts them up, then removes their scalps, taking the hair back to his apartment and putting them on mannequins. These lifesize dolls sit around his apartment and he converses with them, screams at them, weeps with them. The mannequins become a sort of surrogate mothers, ones that will never leave him, never question him, never beat or insult or leave him. He is in a state of arrested development, and so, of course, are the women in his life. Outside of his fantasy world, he is emotionally stunted and barely able to keep it together. His relationship with a woman named Anna, an artist, is entirely on Frank's terms. In one scene, he phones her and asks if she would like to go to a movie. She says of course she would. "Can you be ready in fifteen minutes?" he asks. "I can be ready in ten" is her answer, implying that she has nothing better to do except wait for Frank's calls and be seen on his arm, in spite of the fact that she is a young, beautiful artist whose stock is rapidly rising. Like in TAXI DRIVER (which, along with THE DRILLER KILLER and PSYCHO are obvious reference points for MANIAC), it is only a question of how long until Frank screws up his relationship with Anna, and the answer is, not very long at all.
The women who he victimizes are the stereotypical slasher victims: female, young, pretty, and truly, wholly, stupid. Their vapidity in this picture is stunning, and it leads me to believe that it was also intentional. Is MANIAC a comment on the place of women in the horror picture? Quiet, stupid, existing only as a receptacle for either rage, lust, or some horrible combination of the two?
The ending seems to indicate so. Frank lies in bed, weeping, alone, having alienated the only woman that he seemed to make some kind of emotional connection with (aside from, naturally, mommy dearest). The mannequins begin to move from their places, taking up weapons and moving in on Frank, who stares, mouth agape, in horror. They then proceed to pop his head from his shoulders (in a great fucking effects sequence from Tom Savini, who earlier creates perhaps the greatest exploding head shot in horror history). It is here that MANIAC's comment becomes clear. Frank, dripping wet and looking like the retarded post-op siamese twin of Jon Lovitz, seems to believe that women exist only to serve and protect him, and he spends his adult life trying to replace the mother he never had, or who, at least, never loved him. Women, of course, are not so easily boxed, and react in kind, ripping off the greasy cranium of the male oppressor, who would have them remain in the apartment forever, never speaking or moving except to satisify his needs, and leaving him for dead.
Pretty heady stuff.
*Rimshot!*
Freud's comments about there being six people in the bedroom comes to mind. Frank's fractured relationships with women stems from being locked in the closet while his mother goes out night after night, selling her body, selling the love that Frank should receive, free of charge.
Now, there's not really much interesting in this so far. Family relationships have been explored in many more subtle, innovative ways in the medium of film. Also as a slasher picture, it's pretty much just standard fare. Where MANIAC begins to differentiate itself is in its portrayal of women. Frank cuts them up, then removes their scalps, taking the hair back to his apartment and putting them on mannequins. These lifesize dolls sit around his apartment and he converses with them, screams at them, weeps with them. The mannequins become a sort of surrogate mothers, ones that will never leave him, never question him, never beat or insult or leave him. He is in a state of arrested development, and so, of course, are the women in his life. Outside of his fantasy world, he is emotionally stunted and barely able to keep it together. His relationship with a woman named Anna, an artist, is entirely on Frank's terms. In one scene, he phones her and asks if she would like to go to a movie. She says of course she would. "Can you be ready in fifteen minutes?" he asks. "I can be ready in ten" is her answer, implying that she has nothing better to do except wait for Frank's calls and be seen on his arm, in spite of the fact that she is a young, beautiful artist whose stock is rapidly rising. Like in TAXI DRIVER (which, along with THE DRILLER KILLER and PSYCHO are obvious reference points for MANIAC), it is only a question of how long until Frank screws up his relationship with Anna, and the answer is, not very long at all.
The women who he victimizes are the stereotypical slasher victims: female, young, pretty, and truly, wholly, stupid. Their vapidity in this picture is stunning, and it leads me to believe that it was also intentional. Is MANIAC a comment on the place of women in the horror picture? Quiet, stupid, existing only as a receptacle for either rage, lust, or some horrible combination of the two?
The ending seems to indicate so. Frank lies in bed, weeping, alone, having alienated the only woman that he seemed to make some kind of emotional connection with (aside from, naturally, mommy dearest). The mannequins begin to move from their places, taking up weapons and moving in on Frank, who stares, mouth agape, in horror. They then proceed to pop his head from his shoulders (in a great fucking effects sequence from Tom Savini, who earlier creates perhaps the greatest exploding head shot in horror history). It is here that MANIAC's comment becomes clear. Frank, dripping wet and looking like the retarded post-op siamese twin of Jon Lovitz, seems to believe that women exist only to serve and protect him, and he spends his adult life trying to replace the mother he never had, or who, at least, never loved him. Women, of course, are not so easily boxed, and react in kind, ripping off the greasy cranium of the male oppressor, who would have them remain in the apartment forever, never speaking or moving except to satisify his needs, and leaving him for dead.
Pretty heady stuff.
*Rimshot!*
Labels: 31
posted by travis at 1:38 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home