Recently picked up for all North American rights and distribution by IFC Midnight, Warner Brothers (the international distributors) have released the first six minutes of the MANIAC REMAKE! Check it out below! The film premiered out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
Written by Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur, MANIAC is a reboot of director William Lustig’s 1980 cult pic of the same name.
Thomas Langmann, Aja, Levasseur and Lustig produced the remake, while Antoine de Cazotte, Daniel Delume, Andrew W. Garroni, Pavlina Hatoupis and Alix Taylor are attached as executive producers.
SYNOPSIS:
MANIAC stars Elijah Wood (THE LORD OF THE RINGS) and Nora Arnezeder (SAFE HOUSE). In the film, Wood plays the role of a serial killer who works at a shop that sells antique mannequins. Finding victims on the Internet, he stalks them like prey, all while suffering from hallucinations that throw him back into the past, when he was abused by his own mother. In his twisted mind, he gains a measure of revenge against his mother with each kill.
Ten new stills from the upcoming MANIAC remake based upon the Bill Lustig grindhouse classic of the same name have been released to the web.
Recently picked up for all North American rights and distribution by IFC Midnight, the film stars Elijah Wood as a psychopathic serial killer. The film premiered out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
Written by Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur, MANIAC is a reboot of director William Lustig’s 1980 cult pic of the same name.
Thomas Langmann, Aja, Levasseur and Lustig produced the remake, while Antoine de Cazotte, Daniel Delume, Andrew W. Garroni, Pavlina Hatoupis and Alix Taylor are attached as executive producers.
SYNOPSIS:
MANIAC stars Elijah Wood (THE LORD OF THE RINGS) and Nora Arnezeder (SAFE HOUSE). In the film, Wood plays the role of a serial killer who works at a shop that sells antique mannequins. Finding victims on the Internet, he stalks them like prey, all while suffering from hallucinations that throw him back into the past, when he was abused by his own mother. In his twisted mind, he gains a measure of revenge against his mother with each kill.
IFC Midnight has acquired all North American rights to director Franck Khalfoun’s thriller MANIAC, which stars Elijah Wood as a serial killer, Variety reports. The pic premiered out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
Written by Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur, MANIAC is a reboot of director William Lustig’s 1980 cult pic of the same name.
Thomas Langmann, Aja, Levasseur and Lustig produced the Maniac reboot, while Antoine de Cazotte, Daniel Delume, Andrew W. Garroni, Pavlina Hatoupis and Alix Taylor exec produced.
SYNOPSIS:
MANIAC stars Elijah Wood (THE LORD OF THE RINGS) and Nora Arnezeder (SAFE HOUSE). In the film, Wood plays the role of a serial killer who works at a shop that sells antique mannequins. Finding victims on the Internet, he stalks them like prey, all while suffering from hallucinations that throw him back into the past, when he was abused by his own mother. In his twisted mind, he gains a measure of revenge against his mother with each kill.
No reader of Backwoods Horror should be unfamiliar with Tom Savini’s work. Garnering at one time the Godfather of Gore, the King of Splatter, his special makeup effects work spans a great deal of the horror films we grew up with. FRIDAY THE 13th, FRIDAY THE 13th PART IV, DAWN OF THE DEAD, DAY OF THE DEAD, MARTIN, MANIAC, THE PROWLER, the list goes on and on. Something of a renaissance man of the film industry, though he’s known for his effects work, he’s also an accomplished stunt man, director, and actor. You name it, he’s done it. And now, finally, a documentary has been made about this incredible man.
Having succeeded with raising a few bucks with their kickstarter campaign, Jason Baker and MIJO Films present SMOKE AND MIRRORS: THE STORY OF TOM SAVINI, a film that delves into his early life, career, and legacy by not only interviewing the man himself, but everyone he’s worked with throughout the years, featuring interviews with Academy Award winning special effects make-up artists Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger of KNB EFX, Video Watchdog founder and film critic Tim Lucas, The Misfits’ Jerry Only, and legendary filmmaker George A. Romero among others…people who have considered him a lifelong friend. For those of you lucky enough to be at the Montreal Comic Con Horrorfest, Baker will be debuting the film on Saturday, September 15th, at 10:15pm with Tom, the man himself, in attendance. I am so incredibly excited that someone has finally made a documentary about a man whose artistry has changed the course of horror films forever and I can’t wait to see it.
I was lucky enough to meet Tom Savini in Asheville, NC at a small lecture he was giving about his career in makeup and special effects to a theater class at UNCA. I wasn’t a part of the class and so was not allowed to attend as there were only 12 or 13 seats, but he came walking out of the room before the lecture and saw me standing there with my EVIL DEAD t-shirt on and began talking to me about what an awesome film it was. Then he introduced himself, as did I while also telling him I knew exactly who he was and what a fan I was of him and his work but wasn’t allowed to attend the lecture. Not only did he get me in, and right at the front row, but he signed my copies of his Grande Illusions books, A rare DAWN OF THE DEAD poster book, and was nice enough to take a photo with me. He’s an incredible man who has done some incredible work both behind and in front of the camera, and this documentary has been a long time coming.
The first sales art promo from Cannes for the MANIAC remake has hit the web. Obviously, it isn’t anywhere near as enticingly exploitative as the poster art for the original MANIAC, but this is only sales art and I have my doubts the finished product will be anywhere near as bland. Though, honestly, if I saw Elijah Wood in my rearview mirror, I’d probably be afraid. That impish little hobbit creeps me out. (I keed, I keed….mostly)
Directed by Franck Khalfoun (P2), and written by Alexandre Aja (THE HILLS HAVE EYES remake,HAUTE TENSION) with his producing/writing partner Grégory Levasseur. MANIAC stars Elijah Wood (THE LORD OF THE RINGS) and Nora Arnezeder (SAFE HOUSE). In the film, Wood plays the role of a serial killer who works at a shop that sells antique mannequins. Finding victims on the Internet, he stalks them like prey, all while suffering from hallucinations that throw him back into the past, when he was abused by his own mother. In his twisted mind, he gains a measure of revenge against his mother with each kill.
Last week a partial teaser for the MANIAC remake trailer hit the web. Whether released purposefully or not to raise interest, certain horror sites received cease and desist notifications after posting it. Not us, so we left it up. Not long after all the lawyering, however, an official complete NSFW trailer was released that begins in much the same way as the original leaked teaser but then things really get interesting with more insanity, violence, blood, and nudity which, needless to say, has us here at Backwoods Horror finding ourselves incredibly excited for the film.
That’s right, boils ‘n ghouls, we’re excited about a REMAKE! Elijah Wood simply oozes maniacal rage and insanity and this trailer doesn’t hold back on the goods. There are few remakes that can even hold a candle to the original, but if this trailer is any indication of what’s in store for Franck Khalfoun’s take on William Lustig’s masterpiece, this film may join the ranks of such remakes as THE THING and THE FLY.
SYNOPSIS:
Directed by Franck Khalfoun (P2), and written by Alexandre Aja (THE HILLS HAVE EYES remake, HAUTE TENSION) with his producing/writing partner Grégory Levasseur. MANIAC stars Elijah Wood (THE LORD OF THE RINGS) and Nora Arnezeder (SAFE HOUSE). In the film, Wood plays the role of a serial killer who works at a shop that sells antique mannequins. Finding victims on the Internet, he stalks them like prey, all while suffering from hallucinations that throw him back into the past, when he was abused by his own mother. In his twisted mind, he gains a measure of revenge against his mother with each kill.
In honor of the Cannes premiere, the remake of William Lustig’s serial killer opus MANIAC, directed by Franck Khalfoun (P2), now has a (incomplete) teaser trailer. As much as I generally despise remakes (excepting of course Carpenter’s THE THING, and Cronenberg’s THE FLY), I’d have to admit that this teaser intrigues me. I had my doubts concerning Elijah Wood’s (THE LORD OF THE RINGS, FLIPPER) turn as the titular psycho killer, but having seen his work again in SIN CITY recently, my fears had begun to wane a bit. And now, with this new trailer, I have a feeling we may see a very interesting performance from a man perhaps best known for playing Frodo Baggins. I’m also very intrigued by the decision to portray the entire film essentially via the POV of a serial killing madman. Lustig’s MANIAC was intended to view the world from the killer’s perspective originally, attempting to give the audience a glimpse into madness, and Khalfoun seems to have taken the idea and run with it. Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur (HAUTE TENSION, THE HILLS HAVE EYES REMAKE) wrote the screenplay and are producing the film, returning once again to remake territory. While I’d like to see the dynamically French duo once again work on original work, as their remakes have been hit and miss, they do possess the talent to potentially make this film stand out amongst the remake crowd.
Synopsis:
Wood plays the role of a serial killer who works at a shop selling antique mannequins. He finds victims on the Internet and stalks them like prey, all the while suffering from hallucinations that throw him back into the past, when he was abused by his mother. In his twisted mind, he gains a measure of revenge against his mother with each kill.
We’ll have a more complete teaser trailer up and more news on the film when it becomes available, so stay tuned boils ‘n ghouls!
