Re:Make - Maniac

In this new blogging series, I am contrasting a classic movie and its remake. This is to showcase that a remake is not always a bad thing. Very rarely do movie remakes attempt to do anything fresh with their concept, but usually just blandly redo every major scene. But sometimes this is not the case. A new director might find some new angles on the established IP and possibly given a totally new twist rather than same-old-same-old. Some great cinematic feats would not have been possible if there wasn't a rogue filmmaker ready to give a shot in redoing something beloved.

Maniac (1980)
Director: William Lustig

vs.

Maniac (2012)

Dir. Franck Khalfoun

The original Maniac was born out of the cheap grindhouse thrills of the late 70's, early 80's. It is a New York movie through and through, and so seedy you feel like you need a shower afterwards. This aesthetic is very particular, but it gives Maniac some edge its flawed realization might otherwise miss.

We are taken to a journey to a mind of an overweight, bug-eyed, bad-skinned and greasy haired loner who also happens to be a mentally ill serial killer (Joe Spinell). The character is clearly suffering from his conditions, having hallucinations and manic bursts, as well as the uncontrollable urge to date women with his knife. It would be easy to hate this pathetic creature, but there is some unwilling sympathy to found in him. As evil as he seems, at worst he is just lost in his delusions, as helpless to pull himself together as the audience is to stop his gruesome murders.

That's not to say there are misogynistic roots in this rotten apple. He is a total predator, unreleting and unforgiving when he gets his killer instincts on. The stalking scenes, culminating in gory effects by Tom Savini himself, are some very effective use of horror filmmaking. The film is sad and nihilistic, seeing the murders as unstoppable and the killer not even particularly wanted or searched. Just another sad story in a city full of them.

Though by the end the film breaks the main character's insanity twirling out of control into the storytelling as well, the grounded viewpoint was a clear pathfinder. In the film we are stuck to the killer's mind, whether we like it, or rather, not. More grounded serial killer fare followed this, like Angst and Henry - Portrait of a Serial Killer, which overemphasized the mundaness and banality of people like this.

After the Giuliani cleansing of New York, it stands to reason another Maniac could not have been updated to the same setting. Instead, screenwriter Alexandre Aja and director Franck Khalfoun decided to set the new version to Los Angeles, a city who gives even less of a fuck of the mentally ill and the unsuccessful sad souls. The viewpoint was then stuck even more inside the killer's head, to the point of shooting the entire thing in POV. These decisions work to show how the entire world in each of the citizens of LA revolves only around themselves.

Elijah Wood's Frank seems at points to be even too nice a soul to belong in the city where everything is sheer surface and real thoughts are kept tightly inside, to the point of bursting. The city of fake people can't help a soul just trying to find a connection. His work as a mannequin creator is an important metaphor to this as well.

But Frank is just as much a madman as his predecessor. When he can't relate to women, he resorts to stalking, killing and scalping them. Though his extreme misophobic deeds are horrifying and disgusting, this lost soul might be even more symphatetic this time around. The film wisely keeps Wood's face and doe eyes out of screen for the most part, telling the story more by just his voice. He doesn't do what he does out of evil, but because he has lost his sanity and is as terrified, unable to help himself and as lost as the audience.

In the end, the seedy and gory Grindhouse shocker was updated into a more clean but genuinely unnerving POV film. It allows perhaps a bit more insight into the mind of a titular maniac. Rather than going through motions, this one dares to surprise and take the story into unexpected territories.

Maniac (1980) ★★★ 1/2

Maniac (2012) ★★★★

Three laughs: The Devil's Sword

It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most "quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing to you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart.

Three laughs case file #24: 

The Devil’s Sword (Golok Setan) Indonesia, 1984

Director: Ratno Timoer

It is a particular pleasure of seeing genre films from far-off countries, since they often innovate and blend western action movie basics with more exotic sensibilities. Though it utilizes some Indonesian folklore, The Devil's Sword is actually a comic book adaptation. But one does not have to read some obscure Indonesian comics or need to know anything of the island nation's complex history to enjoy the movie. It is gleefully violent, logically dim, constantly surprising and often totally bonkers.

If Indonesian movies would have a big film star, then Barry Prima would be it, known from this and another film called The Warrior. Basically, he is Liu Kang from the Mortal Kombat games, a guy who sort of looks and acts like Bruce Lee, but has a bandana, and has been enhanced with some outlandish magic abilities. Here he plays Mandala, a mythical warrior that has to avenge the death of his master to the evil powers allied with the sinister Crocodile Queen.

At the same time his rival, the rogue Banyuaga (Advent Bangun) is after the legendary Devil's Sword that would give unmitigated power to its wielder. He is after the power for himself, but is seduced by the Crocodile Queen and thrown to do her bidding. The film's cast of character and basic structure seems to be a bit indebted to Star Wars, or perhaps it is just that it also follows Joseph Campbell's basic formulas. Nevertheless, there are plenty of amusing side characters to be met along the way.

Three laughs (SPOILERS):

1. Even the first major fight is a corker, where Banyuaga and his men distrupt a wedding to kidnap the fiancee of a local prince. Mandala happens upon the fight, arrives on a flying boulder and starts kicking ass. He is not above hitting people's heads off, or punching them so hard they float off to treetops, after which they are impaled by a spear. Crocodile Men pop out of the ground and Mandala is not at all miffed, quipping "Oh, Crocodile Men". The fight choreography here is surprisingly inventive, with a scene with a wooden table proving to be particularly noteworthy.

2. We're introduced to the Crocodile Queen when we see her select a mate for herself. She has hypnotic gestures that make shirtless young men stand up as she slithers around them. When she takes her pick, it enrages one would-be suitor, that attacks Banyuaga. But the attacker is defeated with a quick punch and thrown to a cage where apparently the Crocodile Cult keeps their prisoners in hunger. The poor guy is soon ripped into pieces. Banyuaga's reward is sex on a circulating bed in a giant chalice of fire.

3. It is not quite clear, if the crocodile cultists are supposed to be half-crocodile mutants or just people with elaborate croc costumes on. Nevertheless, the film's showstopper is Mandala's fight on the raft with crocodile men rising from the river. Dudes have to swim in theircostumes to get a shot at Mandala, who swings his big-ass sword and decapitates them all. He is also shown to have some magic powers as he shoots friggin' laser beams from his hands. Toastyyyy.

Three laughs: The Ark of the Sun God

It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most "quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing to you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart.

Three laughs case file #23:
The Ark of the Sun God (I sopravvissuti della cittá morta), Italy/Turkey, 1984
Director: Antonio Margheriti (as Anthony M. Dawson)

The Italian director Antonio Margheriti grew his career on a couple of early horror films, Danza Macabra and The Long Hair of Death in the 1960's. A workman-like director, he dabbled in various genres, even though could not repeat the success of his early works. By the 1980's, he was doing Italian ripoffs of popular action movies, which resulted in some notably wild and crazy works (such as Car Crash, starring John Travolta's brother Joey, and Yor: the Hunter from the Future that married together Conan-like Barbarian pictures and Star Wars -like fantasy-scifi). I am certain to speak of him again in this column.

The Ark of the Sun God is, of course, an Indiana Jones rip-off. Margheriti has an eye for interesting and quirky characters, and thus the treasuire is sought after the likes of a fat businessman, a wino who happens to have a magic amulet, a safe-cracker, a snooty upper-class Brit and a villain whose accent makes him sound like Ren Höek (calling his minions "eedjits"). The minimal budget is used quite well on a couple of notable sets, and the car chases have been done with miniatures. The film is not Margheriti's best work either in terms of quality or as far as wild rides go, but there's still plenty to be enjoyed here.

Three laughs (SPOILERS):

1. The film has an ear-worm of a theme ("Adventure, adventure", it repeats). It also pops up quite unexpectedly. When we're introduced to the wealthy Mohammed (Ricardo Palacios) it is also shown how he likes the ladies and likes to party. So, we're treated to a disco scene where the fat guy boogies to the film's main theme. Everyone involved in this film seems to have a good time.

2. As mentioned, the car chases are mostly done with miniatures, and it's always fun to see these Matchbox cars in action. There are two major car chases, both of which are over way too soon. It seems thay have been mostly created with remote-controlled cars, with suitable reaction shots of the actors behind a wheel plastered in between. The first one has a car jump through a hole in a train, while the latter one in the desert has a more explosive ending.

3. Oh no! Mohammed is my favorite character in the film and in one scene thugs seem to circle around him and shoot him in the gut. But once police come to inspect the secne, the body is nowhere to be found. But later when the film's hero  Rick Spear (David Warbeck) inspects the sewer (with plenty of sharp-toothed rubber rats to go, he discovers that Mohammed is still alive. His explanation given is that the bullet got stuck in his wallet. With some overnight nursing, he's ready to travel to a desert to find a lost city of gold!

Three laughs: Hologram Man

It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most "quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing to you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart.

Three laughs case file #22:

Hologram Man (1995)

Director: Richard Pepin

Hologram Man is one of the cheapo direct-to-video films made by PM Entertainment Group. A lot of their oveure are pretty basic action movies that run like clockwork, delivering plenty of explosions and gunfights for the buck. In the mid-90s a lot of films tried to go futuristic with cyberspace and -punk themed movies aplenty. Hologram Man seems to have been made after seeing the trailer and production stills for Strange Days.

I reality, the film plays more like an even dumber version of Demolition Man without any of the satire from the script of that one. Basically, it is a crime / revenge story that holds futuristic technology as close as magic. People die, but live on as vengeful holograms that may get plastic skin to pass off as living once again. There are bug-ugly hair aplenty and a surprising number of character actors getting an easy paycheck by popping by the film.

In a futuristic LA a terrorist called Slash Gallagher (Evan Lurie) is sentenced to a cyberspace prison wherein he becomes a hologram. But five years in, his goons release him as a (gasp) deadly hologram. Now it’s up to renegade cop Decoda (Joe Lara) to stop Gallagher’s terrorist plans and his holographic form from wreacking revenge on him and the tech company that created him.

Three laughs (SPOILERS): 

1. In the beginning this may seem like any other LA-set action movie, with a chase scene shot at the reservoir at dawn. Slash Gallagher and his goons hijack a bus á la Speed and cop cars chase them. But since they had no budget to do them all, it's borderline amazing when some cars appear, set-dressed to look like Death Race 2000 vehicles. But they explode in huge fireballs all the same. Even the costuming seems to be half modern Terminator 2, half dystopian Mad Max with eyepatches and silly-looking plastic garb especially on Tiny Lister's character throughout.

2. After the shootout, we have a sex scene that comes from out of nowhere. It's as graphic as the one in The Room, and ends just as abruptly. We had to get the vital information about our hero Kurt Decoda. Mainly, that he's good at fucking.

3. All the "science" in the movie is highly suspectible. But you don't need me telling that it's totally silly they make prisoners into holograms. Instead, the movie has Blade Runner's William Sanderson as an evil tech expert with a truly goofy hat. When Gallagher's hologram is released, there's a silly scene where he demostrates liquid polymeric plastic by dipping his arm into it. Of course there's a molding machine for Gallagher that creates a sort of fake skin for him. Wouldn't you know that this machine is a true Chekhov's gun and a baddie gets tossed into it in the finale?

"What about Slash?" "He's slashed to me."

Three laughs: Cool as Ice

It is hard to rate some trashy films. Films can be really good entertainment in spite of the quality of the filmmaking. In fact, it might be even harder to create unique trash that keeps surprising you than most "quality" films with which you know what you are going to get. It certainly is an even better pleasure to watch them. My friend says that he knows a trash film is worth something if it gets three laughs out of me. I mean proper, good belly laughs when you just can't believe what the film is showing to you, scene after scene. That's as good a rating as any for these movies. Any film that has these three laughs has a special place in my heart.

 

Three laughs case file #21:

Cool As Ice (USA, 1991)

Director: David Kellogg

I am trying to explore more genres in this column. One I haven’t touched upon yet is the musical melodrama, a vanity project for an up-and-coming star to showcase his talents and perhaps show a few more the general audience never knew about. It becomes funny when the man at the center of attention is someone most people would prefer to just forget. Case in point: Vanilla Ice.

Since white people have tended to steal the best ideas from black music throughout the decades, once rap started to get mainstream, they tried to do the same for hip-hop. Vanilla Ice’s biggest talents are on his looks, but I do find some goofy charm of his totally producer-mandated music and today hilarious-looking clothing and dance moves as well. But would rather not listen to it for too much. Then, I’m in luck with this film as the scenes featuring Ice performing are very scarce. Most of his songs are background music, and with good cause. The film takes more inspiration from The Wild One and Rebel Without a Cause than most music pictures, though Purple Rain and some of Elvis’ films are obvious influences as well.

Vanilla Ice plays the club-dwelling and motorcycle-driving bad boy Johnny van Owen, who falls for a honor student (Kristin Minter). His family objects initially, as does her asshole boyfriend, but as Johnny tries to be good, they allow him to date their daughter. But the family dad’s mysterious past starts to catch up to them.

Three laughs (SPOILERS):

1. The film opens with a very 90’s dance song that’s being performed by supermodel Naomi Campbell. Sweaty, blue characters rave around. Vanilla Ice dances to the opening credits and would get all the ladies in the house, if not his crew who entice him to get on the road. They drive on all through the night until in the morning Ice sees a pretty girl riding a horse. So of course he jumps the fence with his motorcycle and startles the horse, which drops the girl. Nothing like first impressions, eh? We now know that Johnny is a show-off and a total wanker who should stay a safe distance from any women. In general, the film's ideas of "romance" and wooing a lady are as misguided and borderline psychotic that they remind of The Room.

2. There’s a trope of a scene in rock ’n roll films of old where rockers come to play at some unexpected place in the country where no one has heard of the music. But they always manage to drive the kids wild. This film’s version sees Ice and his friend start a hip hop dance routine at a rural bar, but instead of getting everyone along, the gaped maws and shocked silence is more akin to the audience having just seen Springtime for Hitler. For a good reason, too. Ice’s performance must’ve been out of the times even back in 1991.

3. The entire movie has seen shadowy figures follow our main couple around. But once the threat materialized to the Nintendo-hooked little brother, it turns out that the thugs are bumbling gangsters in the vein of Home Alone. Nevertheless, the Mario-brained youngster is so inefficient in keeping away from them, he gets kidnapped easily. Macauley Culkin never had to put up with this shit.