The Maniac was produced and released in 2012 and is a Psychological - Slasher Horror about a young man who murders and scalps women in a state of revenge for his mothers treatment of him before her death.
Inspiration
Frank Zito is a mentally disturbed young man who has taken over his family's mannequin business after the recent death of his mother, who was also a prostitute. Frank's childhood experiences of seeing his mother bring home clients has left Frank unable to enter into meaningful relationships. Struggling to come to terms with his mother's treatment of him, and spurred by memories of his mother brushing her hair before going out at night, Frank stalks, murders, and scalps women before attaching their hair to a mannequin that he then keeps in his bedroom. This particular storyline led our group to consider a killer who has a particular fetish when killing people that is a result of a traumatic childhood experience. We then came up with the idea that the killer was a fire victim and therefore intends to get revenge by burning other young girls using petrol and matches.
Victims
- His victims are all women with long hair as this is a clear reminder of his mother before she used to leave him alone in their apartment.
- All victims are female which conforms to the common conventions of women being weak and vulnerable.
Evaluation
I think the use of a killing fetish within this film is very effective and makes the protagonist and the storyline more interesting and effective. Also the idea of removing hair and placing it on a mannequin suggests mental illness and childhood trauma which is a common convention in Psychological - Slasher films. This is clearly shown when the removal of young girls hair is linked to the fact that his mother used to brush her long hair before leaving him alone of a night time.
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