Maniac, Maniac on the Floor
Going through some of my old posts on alt.cult-movies yesterday, I ran across several mentions of the 1934 sleazefest, Maniac, directed by Dwain Esper of Reefer Madness fame, with craptastic cinematography by Glen, or Glenda's Bill Thompson. It's a truly amazing pre-Code exploitation film with a pseudo-psychiatric subtext that features mad scientists, incoherent soliloquies on the nature of madness, semi-nude showgirls, female wrestling, body snatching, and eating cat eyeballs! Sample inspirational dialogue: "Isn't the spark that moves the maggot the self-same spark that moves the man?" Deep.
I still have a copy on VHS, but I hadn't watched it since the early 90s. I did a little searching, and found the entire film online at the Internet Archive. The file's huge (366MB), but if you're a fan of cult film, it's a must-see. I've created a small preview clip you can watch to help you decide if it's worth it.
[Link: Maniac preview clip (4.8MB, .AVI)]
[Link: Maniac review from The Bad Movie Report]
[Link: Internet Archive download]
Comments
Great timing! I just added this movie to my rental queue last week, and it should be here tomorrow. I can't wait. After watching "Reefer Madness" last month -- and discovering it was just your standard low-budget 30s crime movie -- I remembered how much I love this genre.
Posted by: Stacia | July 9, 2006 7:02 PM
Oddly enough, I've never seen Reefer Madness in its entirety, just bits and pieces.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | July 9, 2006 8:00 PM
Maniac has a very early performance by Phyllis Diller. She's the girl in the basement scenes and part of the the cat fight! She couldn't have been more than 17-18.
Posted by: Joe Riley | July 10, 2006 7:54 PM
That's amazing. I had no idea.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | July 10, 2006 8:46 PM
Thanks for the heads up about Phyllis Diller... I'll keep an eye out for it.
Posted by: Stacia | July 11, 2006 2:54 PM