Maniac - Lisas Review

***SPOILERS***

Back with a familiar feel this week.  This weeks movie felt like we were back on our Beyond Nasty challenge again.  Is that a bad or good thing I hear you ask?  Well, neither kinda..... this is one of those films that pass an hour and a half and you don't think its bad enough to slate, but at the same time you're left feeling kinda 'meh' about it.  I don't want to be too unkind about this movie as it actually wasn't too bad, but I can't help but feel Joe Spinnell is more deserving of better material... unfortunate that he actually wrote 'Maniac'.

So our premis here is a middle aged, chunky, single man (Frank) living in New York.  Its shown pretty much from the getgo that he's a bit of a freak.  We are shown that he murders young women, scalps them and then places the scalp on a mannequins in his appartment.  He has several mannequins, obviously hinting that he is a seasoned serial killer.  After several nights of sleeping with his new scalp adorned mannequins.  He goes out to find a new victim.

We are also made aware that he has a bit of a mother complex.  His mum was a nasty piece of work who died in a car accident.  Frank isn't quite ready to accept mummy dearest has gone so he seems to think each of the mannequins IS his mother, having full, allbeit one-sided conversations with her.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 - Will's Review

*** Contains spoilers for the first "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" ***

Tobe Hooper returns to pull directorial duties; making the massive shift in tone from the original all the more baffling.

This time the terror element is toned down, while the dark comedy element is ramped way up; not that dark humor was absent from the original, but it was a lot more subtle; also the blood is upped this time (hardly surprising as the always reliable Tom Savini has been brought in for makeup effects) .

More serious than the change in tone, is the change in characterization which plagues the film; once it's in full swing, Bill Johnson is superb as Letherface, although his earlier scenes show an enjoyment to the killing and teasing of his victims which was not present, likewise Jim Siedow returning as Drayton (simply 'the cook' in part 1) now revels in the violence that he previously couldn't bear to be around; it's worth noting however, that in both cases the script, rather than the actor, is at fault.