Goofs The fighting cats at the undertaker's and the dog and cat fighting on the street, have been tied together with string that can be seen. Spoilers (1) In the scene where a cat's head is squeezed and its eyeball pops out, the cat actually only had one eye. A glass eye was inserted into the empty socket before filming, and that was what popped out. Trivia (8) Add new Several key cast members in the film are uncredited and their identities remain unknown, most notably the cat-farming neighbor, "Goof", as well as the detective, the skinny morgue attendant, and Maria Altura, the woman who Dr. Meirschultz brings back to life. The identity of the actress who doubles for Altura for scenes that require nudity has also not been identified. Author and historian Bret Wood has argued that the backyard cat farm in the film was a real, illegal operation in somebody's backyard in a Los Angeles suburb. He also suggests that the morgue was found or rented, rather than a set built by the filmmakers. A few of the intertitles comment on the action in the film, as they were used in silent films. Five of them describe various mental illnesses: Dementia Praecox (now called Schizophrenia), Paresis (Neurosyphilis), Paranoiac (Paranoia), Manic-depressive Psychoses (Bipolar Disorder), and Manias. Marian Constance Blackton is sometimes reported, incorrectly, as appearing in male drag as the neighbor who catches and breeds cats. She plays a female neighbor who is questioned by the detective. Because Don Maxwell doesn't know what to put in the syringe he puts in water saying that it would not be harmful, injecting water into a vein however would cause red blood cells to rupture which could, depending on the type and amount of water, be very harmful. This film is listed among The 100 Most Amusingly Bad Movies Ever Made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE® MOVIE GUIDE. The first Dwain Esper film to feature female frontal nudity. According to Esper's screenwriter and producing partner, Hildegarde Stadie, the team never had trouble finding actresses who were willing to be nude on camera. m.imdb.com/title/tt0025465/trivia/?ref_=tt_trv_trv
Michael_Elliott27 February 2008 The Greatest Bad Movie Ever Maniac (1934) BOMB (out of 4) Dwain Esper "directs" this notoriously awful horror/exploitation film about an insane vaudeville actor (Bill Woods) who murders a doctor (Horace B. Carpenter) and then takes over his role, which just leads to women fighting, cat's eyes being ripped out and worse. When people think about the horror films from the 30s their minds usually go towards the Universal films. After that stuff like FREAKS, MARK OF THE VAMPIRE or even WHITE ZOMBIE will come up but something like MANIAC also need to be discussed because it's clearly the worst horror film of the decade and one of the wackiest movies ever made. MANIAC is much like Ed Wood's PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE in that you can hear all the crazy stuff about it but you just won't be prepared for how insane it actually is. MANIAC is a complete disaster from the start and it just keeps dumber and more insane as the fifty-minute running time drags on. Like a lot of exploitation pictures, this one here tries to pass itself off as an educational movie but don't be fooled. The only thing this movie wants to do is shock you with insane scenes including a doctor pulling out a cat's eye and eating it! I mean, can you imagine watching that with a crowd from 1934? You've got women fighting with needles and a scene of women getting dressed that really stands out in a film like this. Not only is the story insane but so are the performances. Woods delivers a performance unlike anything you will ever seen. The camp factor is off the charts as he goes so far over-the-top that you can't help but laugh. Check out the scene with the guy who has a breakdown after the doctor shoots him up with something. I'm going to guess that they were aiming for a Renfield type of scene but this here is just nuts. MANIAC is a really, really awful movie but thankfully it's so bad that you can't help but laugh and have a great time with it. Movies that are "so awful they're great" is used way too much these days. When you really get down to it there are very few that really live up to the hype and this here is one of them. Soundtracks La Cucaracha (uncredited) Traditional Sung by Thea Ramsey Quotes Buckley: Oh! Stealing through my body! Creeping though my veins! Pouring in my blood! Oh, DARTS OF FIRE IN MY BRAIN! STABBING ME! I CAN'T STAND IT! I WON'T!
Goofs
The fighting cats at the undertaker's and the dog and cat fighting on the street, have been tied together with string that can be seen.
Spoilers (1)
In the scene where a cat's head is squeezed and its eyeball pops out, the cat actually only had one eye. A glass eye was inserted into the empty socket before filming, and that was what popped out.
Trivia (8)
Add new
Several key cast members in the film are uncredited and their identities remain unknown, most notably the cat-farming neighbor, "Goof", as well as the detective, the skinny morgue attendant, and Maria Altura, the woman who Dr. Meirschultz brings back to life. The identity of the actress who doubles for Altura for scenes that require nudity has also not been identified.
Author and historian Bret Wood has argued that the backyard cat farm in the film was a real, illegal operation in somebody's backyard in a Los Angeles suburb. He also suggests that the morgue was found or rented, rather than a set built by the filmmakers.
A few of the intertitles comment on the action in the film, as they were used in silent films. Five of them describe various mental illnesses: Dementia Praecox (now called Schizophrenia), Paresis (Neurosyphilis), Paranoiac (Paranoia), Manic-depressive Psychoses (Bipolar Disorder), and Manias.
Marian Constance Blackton is sometimes reported, incorrectly, as appearing in male drag as the neighbor who catches and breeds cats. She plays a female neighbor who is questioned by the detective.
Because Don Maxwell doesn't know what to put in the syringe he puts in water saying that it would not be harmful, injecting water into a vein however would cause red blood cells to rupture which could, depending on the type and amount of water, be very harmful.
This film is listed among The 100 Most Amusingly Bad Movies Ever Made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE® MOVIE GUIDE.
The first Dwain Esper film to feature female frontal nudity. According to Esper's screenwriter and producing partner, Hildegarde Stadie, the team never had trouble finding actresses who were willing to be nude on camera.
m.imdb.com/title/tt0025465/trivia/?ref_=tt_trv_trv
Michael_Elliott27 February 2008
The Greatest Bad Movie Ever
Maniac (1934)
BOMB (out of 4)
Dwain Esper "directs" this notoriously awful horror/exploitation film about an insane vaudeville actor (Bill Woods) who murders a doctor (Horace B. Carpenter) and then takes over his role, which just leads to women fighting, cat's eyes being ripped out and worse.
When people think about the horror films from the 30s their minds usually go towards the Universal films. After that stuff like FREAKS, MARK OF THE VAMPIRE or even WHITE ZOMBIE will come up but something like MANIAC also need to be discussed because it's clearly the worst horror film of the decade and one of the wackiest movies ever made. MANIAC is much like Ed Wood's PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE in that you can hear all the crazy stuff about it but you just won't be prepared for how insane it actually is.
MANIAC is a complete disaster from the start and it just keeps dumber and more insane as the fifty-minute running time drags on. Like a lot of exploitation pictures, this one here tries to pass itself off as an educational movie but don't be fooled. The only thing this movie wants to do is shock you with insane scenes including a doctor pulling out a cat's eye and eating it! I mean, can you imagine watching that with a crowd from 1934? You've got women fighting with needles and a scene of women getting dressed that really stands out in a film like this.
Not only is the story insane but so are the performances. Woods delivers a performance unlike anything you will ever seen. The camp factor is off the charts as he goes so far over-the-top that you can't help but laugh. Check out the scene with the guy who has a breakdown after the doctor shoots him up with something. I'm going to guess that they were aiming for a Renfield type of scene but this here is just nuts.
MANIAC is a really, really awful movie but thankfully it's so bad that you can't help but laugh and have a great time with it. Movies that are "so awful they're great" is used way too much these days. When you really get down to it there are very few that really live up to the hype and this here is one of them.
Soundtracks
La Cucaracha
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung by Thea Ramsey
Quotes
Buckley: Oh! Stealing through my body! Creeping though my veins! Pouring in my blood! Oh, DARTS OF FIRE IN MY BRAIN! STABBING ME! I CAN'T STAND IT! I WON'T!