As Maniac is a remake of a 1980 video nasty horror, you wouldn’t think Cannes would be the best place to premiere it, but last May it was audiences at the French festival who got the first look at the Frank Khalfoun (P2) directed movie. It’ll reach UK screens on March 15th, but if you fancy taking a look at Elijah Wood as a mannequin store owner killer, the first six minutes of the film are now online.
Here’s the synopsis: ‘Just when the streets seemed safe, a serial killer with a fetish for scalps is back and on the hunt. Frank is the withdrawn owner of a mannequin store, but his life changes when young artist Anna appears asking for his help with her new exhibition. As their friendship develops and Franks obsession escalates, it becomes clear that she has unleashed a long-repressed compulsion to stalk and kill.
‘A 21st century Jack the Ripper set in present-day LA, MANIAC is a re-boot of the cult film considered by many to be the most suspenseful slasher movie ever made an intimate, visually daring, psychologically complex and profoundly horrific trip into the downward spiralling nightmare of a killer and his victims.’