Wuchak
Joe Spinell as a fudged-up murderer in New York City
Psycho started a subgenre of films about mentally messed up people who go on killing sprees. For instance, the 70s brought us movies like Haunts, The Toolbox Murders, The Driller Killer and Dont Go in the House. Maniac comes in the tradition of these flicks while adding bits from the Dirty Harry franchise, Dawn of the Dead and The Warriors.
Its gritty in its depiction of the sometimes repugnant underbelly of the city, but IMHO focuses too much on the killer stalking his victims, particularly, the nurse in the subway and, later, the model in her apartment. These sequences are tedious, and I found my mind wandering. The 2012 remake with Elijah Wood in Spinells role transplants t...