Maniac (Sex Maniac) poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Marcel André, Jennie Dark, Ted Edwards, Celia McGann, Thea Ramsey ... see more see more... , Bill Woods , Horace B. Carpenter , John P. Wade , Phyllis Diller , William Woods

Produced and directed by exploitation specialist Dwain Esper and written by Mrs. Esper, Hildegarde Stade, this ultra low-budget "educational" melodrama not only defied logic but broke virtually every ... read more read more...rule of narrative film-making. That would not necessarily be a detriment to a film ostensibly warning about the dangers of untreated insanity, but Maniac is so badly handled in an obvious attempt to both horrify and titillate that it defies description. Vaguely based on Poe's The Black Cat and referring in several scenes to the same author's Murders in the Rue Morgue, Maniac told a rambling, sometimes incoherent story of a vaudeville impersonator turned lab assistant to an insane scientist. Like most Mad Medicos, Dr. Meirschultz (Horace B. Carpenter) is attempting to bring dead tissue to life but this particular scientist is accidentally killed in the process. His assistant (Bill Woods) takes over his persona, walling up the dead doc in the process. The protagonist's increasing dementia -- which threatens to engulf the viewing audience as well -- is depicted via inserts from silent films such as Benjamin Christensen's classic Witchcraft Through the Ages and Fritz Lang's Siegfried. There is plenty of gratuitous feline footage and at one point the fake Dr. Meirschultz actually devours a cat's eye! ("Why," he exclaims, "It's not unlike a grape or an oyster!") For unexplained reasons, the faux doctor examines a couple of women in various stages of undress. The presence of these women remains vague and they never appear again. There is also a deranged person (Ted Edwards) who believes he is the re-incarnation of the orangutan killer in "Rue Morgue"; a couple of women fighting with syringes; and various shots of girls lounging about in their underwear for no apparent reason other than audience titillation. Like most exploitation melodramas, Maniac is cast with a mix of has-beens and unknown beginners who remained unknown. Poor Horace B. Carpenter, a silent era producer/director/actor who played whitehaired Western characters in sound films, was made a complete fool in a role perhaps written for the too-expensive Bela Lugosi. Bill Woods and Ted Edwards, as the vaudeville performer and the orangutan wannabe respectively, saw their careers go nowhere but down after Maniac.The Latter's wife, incidentally, was played by one Phyllis Diller, a starlet who had absolutely no connection to the later comedienne of the same name; and Marian Blackton, the sister of the film's assistant director and daughter of screen pioneer J. Stuart Blackton, appears in male drag as a cat-catching neighbor. Despite all that, Maniac actually delivered a lot less than it's lurid art-work promised, a fate it shared with the vast majority of exploitation melodramas. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

Flixster Users

38% liked it

775 ratings

Critics

89% liked it

9 critics

R, 1 hr. 7 min.

Directed by: Dwain Esper

Release Date: January 1, 1934

Invite friends to see

 

Stats: 75 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

None yet... Got one?

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (75)

  • SirPant
    December 8, 2010
    SirPant
    So bad it's...really quite good! I have to admit that among the awful acting, laughable 'Science' and odd descriptions of mental health issues (with wonderful upbeat accompanying music) there is so much to admire. It was made in 1934 and yet, I feel I've seen much of this before,... read more that is how influential it has been over the years. The blueprint to many a horror/exploitation film, I can't help but find myself immediately fond of it.
  • ajv2688
    September 21, 2010
    ajv2688
    Sometimes I liked this movie, and sometimes I hated this movie. First of all, I love cats! Second, this movie is really outrageous, over the top, and somewhat funny, and that's what I liked about it. Third, this movie feels like an experimental film at times, for example, the ... read moresuperimposed devils. I didn't like the experimental feel it had, it could have been a great horror movie, but it tries too hard to define what the word maniac means, it even quotes experts. It's an interesting movie to watch, but I don't recommend it.
  • 366weirdmovies
    August 22, 2010
    366weirdmovies
    An on-the-lam vaudevillian kills and impersonates his mad scientist employer and is suddenly afflicted by every psychosis in the book, which leads him to accidentally create an orangutan-man rapist, eat cat eyeballs, and lock women in his basement to fight with syringes. 1934 au... read morediences looking for sleaziness had their appetite sated by the shocks and pre-Code nudity, but today it's admired for the deranged performances and the insane inventiveness of the plot; the result is a jaw-dropping oddity that must be seen to be believed.
  • fb100000185301014
    October 19, 2011
    fb100000185301014
    Stupid as film that doesn't need to be watched
  • CHILIcheeseDONUTSwithTUNAonTOP
    September 4, 2009
    CHILIcheeseDONUTSwithTUNAonTOP
    Insane! You will either think its a masterpiece or total crap. I am with the former. Its simply an amazing early horror/exploitation film with nudity and gore! Yes, the year is correct - one of the nude scenes was even during a violent rape! How did they get this out in the theat... read moreers, you ask? They inserted title screens giving information about metal disorders and billed it as an educational film! I don't know how that worked, because most of the "educational" shock films from the day (Reefer Madness probably being the most famous) were done to ward people away from drugs or sex or whatnot because of their dangers. I don't know if this one was trying to warn people away from metal illness because of its dangers, but I guess thats the angle they took.
  • Karez2much
    November 25, 2008
    Karez2much
    I was very shocked that there was nudity in a movie that came out in the 30s but there it was. The part with the cat was very disgusting but didn't have a negative effect on the movie and I loved how insane the lead character really became by the end. Also liked the fact that som... read moree of the story was incorporated from Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat.
  • sykora259517
    September 15, 2007
    sykora259517
    I doHope I chose the proper movie poster for this... This looks like the guy in it, but I do not remember Phillis Diller.

    well its about 50 minutes, I don't like Cruelty to animals (but let's hope that none were harmed) so minus points for that. & I never thought that they sho... read morewed nudity in the 30s in movies!! its VERY brief but there

View All Maniac (Sex Maniac) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
October 17, 2011
Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movies

A truly wretched film that I enjoyed, partly because of and partly in spite of its excessive excrescence. Full Review

Rob Gonsalves
July 6, 2010
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com

A true trash masterpiece. Full Review

Fernando F. Croce
March 13, 2010
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

Dwain Esper's stupefying parody Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
January 7, 2004
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

It's a campy shocker that is so bad that it might just appeal for that very undeniable reason. Full Review

Shane Burridge
February 24, 2003
Shane Burridge, rec.arts.movies.reviews

It's impressive how every new player brings their own bad acting technique to the picture

Ken Hanke
December 1, 2002
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Whoa! Even seeing it isn't believing!

Jake Euker
March 18, 2006
Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)

No review available.

Emanuel Levy
August 11, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Alan Simpson
November 23, 2003
Alan Simpson, Sex Gore Mutants

No review available.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

More Like This

This list looks lonely.
Add a suggestion!

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Maniac (Sex Mania... : Watch Free on TV

Maniac (Sex Maniac) Trivia

  • Robert Englund had started working in the 70s as a sex crazed maniac in what movie ?  Answer »
More Maniac (Sex Maniac) Trivia

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for Maniac (Sex Maniac). Want to create one?

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add Maniac (Sex Maniac) to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?