Well, if you’ve ever desired seeing a woman scalped horrifically on screen in a seedy hotel room, you’re going to get your chance thanks to Grindhouse Releasing, which is is bringing William Lustig’s nasty 1980 exploitation shocker MANIAC to select theaters this fall.
MANIAC earned instant notoriety in 1980 as the most graphic and disturbing of all slasher films, thanks to the gruesome special effects wizardry of Tom Savini. Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert called for their audience to boycott MANIAC, feminists protested the film’s brutal violence, and other critics simply reviled the film as “sick” and “dirty.”
MANIAC stars Joe Spinell (ROCKY, THE GODFATHER, TAXI DRIVER) as Frank Zito, a deeply disturbed man haunted by the traumas of unspeakable childhood abuse. When these horrific memories begin to scream inside his mind, Frank prowls the seedy streets of New York City to stalk and slaughter innocent young women. Even as he begins a relationship with a beautiful photographer (Caroline Munro of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME), Frank continues to act on his vile compulsions. The film holds nothing back in depicting the atrocities of a human monster.
The new release of MANIAC begins Oct. 29 & 30 at the Egyptian Theatre in Seattle. Mr. Lustig will introduce screenings in Los Angeles (Nov. 5, Nuart Theatre) and New York (Landmark’s Sunshine, Nov. 19 & 20.)
If you want to see what else is on Grindhouse Releasing’s theatrical slate (including EVIL DEAD, THE BEYOND and CANNIBAL FEROX), head on over HERE .
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