The cinematic gem, Maniac, was protested by feminists and reviled by critics as “sick” and “deserves to be rated X.” Even Gene Siskel walked out after thirty minutes, saying the film "could not redeem itself" after the amount of violence he watched.
Earning instant notoriety as one of the most graphic and disturbing splatter films ever made, Maniac, released in 1980, stars Joe Spinell (Rocky, The Godfather, Taxi Driver) as Frank Zito, a stammering serial killer with serious mommy issues who spends his free time stalking and slashing women in New York City, bringing their scalps home to decorate his growing “family” of mannequins. And thanks to the special effects genius of Tom Savini (Dawn of the Dead, Friday the 13th), the film’s most infamous scene features Savini himself as a disco dude whose head is blasted off with a shotgun.
Sat., Jan. 22, 8 & 10 p.m., 2011
