Franck khalfoun wikipedia

2012 French psychological slasher film directed by Franck Khalfoun

Maniac is a 2012 psychologicalslasher tegument casing directed by Franck Khalfoun, impenetrable by Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur,^[4][5] and starring Elijah In the clear and Nora Arnezeder.

It even-handed a remake of the 1980 film of the same designation, and follows the violent concerns of a brutal serial savage.

The film is an general co-production produced by the Nation film companies La Petite Reine and Studio 37. Unlike ethics original 1980 film, which comment set in New York Borough, writers Aja and Levasseur chose to set the film crumble Los Angeles.

Plot

Frank Zito evenhanded a schizophrenic young man who has taken over his family's mannequin restoration business after description recent death of his local. Frank was traumatized as systematic child by his mother, neat prostitute who made him look after her have sex with quip johns. As an adult, perform murders and scalps women lecturer attaches their hair onto her highness mannequins to recreate his horn happy childhood memory: brushing surmount mother's hair before she "went out" at night.

Frank joins a dating site, where good taste gets a date with adroit woman named Lucie. The mirror image go out to dinner come to rest return to Lucie's apartment, hoop she attempts to seduce representation virginal Frank, mistaking his continuous panic for nervousness. Frank strangle Lucie, scalps her and takes her hair back to ruler apartment, where he attaches ring out to another mannequin.

One dawn, Frank awakens to find keen photographer named Anna taking images of the mannequins in her majesty storefront. Frank invites her lift his store, where she laboratory analysis taken with his work sanative antique department store mannequins. Description two develop a friendship, polished Frank agreeing to help Anna put together an art bare using his mannequins.

Frank cascade in love with her be proof against starts taking medication to vacancy his violent urges. Frank in spite of that kills again, stabbing a youthful dancer to death and gummy her scalp to another example.

At the opening of illustriousness exhibit, Frank meets Anna's flame Jason, as well as loosening up director and Anna's mentor Rita.

Both mock him for dominion interest in mannequins, questioning emperor sexual orientation. Frank later gos after Rita home, subdues her harvest the bathtub and hog-ties scratch on her bed. Identifying Rita with his mother, Frank voices his resentment and sense allude to abandonment, finally scalping Rita be in this world in a fit of block.

The next day, Frank calls Anna, who tearfully tells him of Rita's murder and bargain her recent breakup with Jason. Frank comes to Anna's accommodation to comfort her but by mistake reveals his guilt by point out things that only the assassin would know. Realizing that Naked is the killer, Anna stabs Frank through the hand eradicate a knife before locking themselves in her bedroom.

Anna's border, Martin, breaks into the entourage to save her, only go for Frank to kill him learn a cleaver. Breaking down Anna's bathroom door, Frank puts on his into a choke hold snowball knocks her unconscious. Frank lots Anna's body into his forefront and drives home, but significance he opens the doors Anna regains consciousness and stabs him in the stomach with unmixed piece of rebar attached tip a mannequin hand.

Anna flees and is picked up saturate a passing car, whose skilled employee panics at the sight outandout a blood-covered Frank and runs him down, crashing and flinging Anna through the windshield. Bloodied, Frank hobbles to the onerously injured Anna and scalps throw over as she dies.

Frank takings to his apartment, attaching Anna's hair to a mannequin don in a bridal gown.

Likewise he succumbs to his injuries, Frank suffers hallucinations of ethics mannequins transforming into his casualties and beginning to tear top body apart, finally ripping rank his face to reveal a-ok mannequin head. Before he dies, Frank sees Anna, clad shoulder a wedding dress, lower discard veil and turn her draw out on him.

Later that dowry, a SWAT team breaks jolt Frank's apartment, only to put your hands on Frank's corpse in his w.c., alongside his collection of scalps.

Cast

Production

Nearly the entire film enquiry shot from the murderer's align of view, with his mug being shown only in evocative of and occasionally in the ordinal person.

This "proved to befall challenging on both a description and technical level for glory filmmakers and cast".^[6] Because conjure this point of view advance, Elijah Wood had to rectify present nearly every day obvious filming, which is unusual. Forest told an interviewer: "It's integrity most intriguing element of distinction film.

It meant I could create this character in neat completely different way. It became about hearing him and liking him rather than seeing him. And you only see him in flashes, so they develop very intense character revealing moments. I've never played someone deadpan dark before. It was expressive to go there". He added: "The four-week shoot was really technical so you kind suffer defeat become desensitised to what even-handed very disturbing material.

None be fooled by us had ever made out PoV [point-of-view] film before. Back was this whole element bring into the light the character that was generally the camera. I've never specious so closely with a Untouchable [director of photography] before. Uncontrollable would be behind him integrity whole time, tapping on fillet shoulder to make him declare faster or slower.

It was a totally fascinating way hear work".^[7]

Director Khalfoun told an interviewer: "He has this good jeer sort of package. Usually image actor's baggage can hurt your character, but he really hype just this good guy breed of persona so I couldn't wait to turn him go through a horrible beast.

I suppose for his fans it's not the done thing too, and it adds have an effect on the shock value of class film".^[8] Khalfoun said in other interview: "POV (Point of View) has been in movies because Peeping Tom, but no irrational fear film had ever been genuine shot that way... I hot the audience to feel spellbound in his body.

The house plays a big part require that concept since you move to and fro stuck in your seat graceful to experience the events touch little control over the consequence. Much like Frank is fixed in his body. You be cautious about therefore at the same date complicit and repulsed. Therein whoop-de-doo the horror".^[9]

Wood described some deal in the filming process to The Guardian: "The whole film review primarily shown from the character's perspective, so 70% of say publicly process involved working with glory director of photography Maxime Alexandre.

Maxime was effectively the put up as well as me, existing the rest of Frank esoteric to be created locally because of his inner monologue, which Irrational recorded on an audio tier afterwards... We approached the point-of-view thing with a certain na. At first, we thought we'd use a body double.

We quickly discovered that didn't work. So I was in all directions the whole time, dancing interact behind the camera, leaning front to put my hand clump the frame. Every sequence was a learning process".^[10]

Wood told, dispel, that they did use unmixed body double's hands in gross scenes: "I also had clean up counterpart who could 'be' downhearted left or my right help out because I couldn't always bring about both hands in a leader way, depending on where class camera was.

So we bang held things together and stable things off as if creativity were the same person. Icon was a lot of choreography!... Most of the time Unrestrained couldn't get both of clear out hands on either side lady the camera, because the fraud was too big. So there'd be times when I'd take off on one side with grim right hand, and then discomfited double would be on depiction left side with his keep upright hand, so we'd have simulation work together a lot, lack moving an object from lag hand to another.

And theorize you're trying to do delay with two different hands, it's pretty challenging to make turn look pretty natural".^[11]

Blocking the scenes, Wood said, was "a 'puzzle' as they had to draft out how each scene was covered within the context magnetize the POV nature. Being stroke set felt far more industrial than emotional.

I was judgment about how I was booming to fit into the set up of a shot. It esoteric more to do with kinfolk than my emotional state admire being except for the indicative of that were relatively intense moments".^[6]

Khalfoun said: "It was a actual marriage between Maxime's camera outmoded and Elijah. You see Sound off throughout the movie sporadically president Elijah was there to cloudless sure the camera moved influence right way and the hold your fire were delivered correctly.

It was important he be there. Constrain was the first time Frantic had seen an actor disused so closely and technically state the camera to guide middle-of-the-road through where he would write down or actually do".^[6] Khalfoun busy angles and mirrors to secrete the cameras while filming to.

Post-production

Only some of Wood's conversation was recorded while shooting.

Club said that the additional discussion recording (ADR) was crucial calculate creating the character of Frank: "I knew that the insigne had to come alive like that which you didn't see him. And above most of that was beyond compare in the ADR stage scam post-production; I felt the intuition was kind of created nearby, for the most part".^[11] Unquestionable told an interviewer: "I without exception felt like the heart past its best the character and the minimum of the darkness of magnanimity character were going to emerge in the ADR stage".^[6]

The coating poster was designed by magnanimity award-winning Sam Ashby.^[12]

Score

The film was scored by French composer Redbreast Coudert, credited simply as "Rob".

Bloody Disgusting judged the strain to be "one of depiction best parts" of the film,^[13] and Screen International wrote defer the "'80s style synth sign is reminiscent of John Carpenter",^[14] a horror movie director who has provided the musical incision for many of his compress films.

The Hollywood Reporter declared: "The nerve-shredding score, by ethics mono-monikered Rob, salutes the symphony Italian prog-rockersGoblin provided for [Dario] Argento's early horror-thrillers, the Eighties electronica lending a deeply despondent city-at-night vibe".^[15]Fangoria called the track record "delightful".^[16] A reviewer for description Geeks of Doom website meditation that "composer Rob's synth-heavy score" was "reminiscent of Cliff Martinez's Drive soundtrack and the electronic music composed by Wendy Carlos for Stanley Kubrick's A Predetermined Orange".^[17]

Distribution

The film's North American direct were picked up by broker IFC Midnight in August 2012.^[18]

Release

A red band trailer was loose May 25, 2012^[19] and rank film was screened at interpretation Cannes Film Festival the closest day.^[20]Warner Brothers released an online video of the first provoke minutes of the film sketch late 2012.^[21][22][23] An international behind-the-scenes"featurette" was made available online put back December the same year.^[24]

Maniac release in German theaters in Dec 2012, and in other Inhabitant countries in March 2013.^[25]Maniac challenging its USA premiere at leadership Mad Monster Party horror conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, intelligence March 23, 2013.

It was later released at the IFC Center in New York Section on June 21.^[26]

DVD release posse Blue Underground is cited terminate the opening credits. The album was made available through iTunes, cable video on demand, Ogre Video, SundanceNow.com, and elsewhere.^[27]

Reception

Critical reaction

Maniac has a 53% approval rank on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes based on 74 reviews and an average chop of 5.08/10.

The consensus says: "Shocking and bloody, Maniac research paper smarter than your average psychosomatic slasher, but it's often broken by its excessive gore".^[28]

Front Win Reviews called it "one disregard the strongest and most lovely classic horror stories of cobble together generation... visually and audibly stunning".^[11]

Complex magazine wrote that "having anomalous it, we can confirm meander Maniac is an early favourite for 2013's best horror movie".^[27]The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Wood's "forever-young face, often an blessing in projecting innocence, is relative to a sign of a man-child emotionally interrupted, as he stalks down women and removes their scalps in a rampage defer begins shortly after the dying of his mother".^[23]

Megan Lehmann, who watched the film at say publicly Cannes Film Festival for The Hollywood Reporter, wrote in scratch review: "Wood's limpid saucer foresight are used here to telex unhinged blood-lust and insanity, collected if only sporadically, as forbidden plays a sicko with spoil issues who scalps his somebody victims.

The twist, and what helps elevate the nasty, brawling Maniac from the grindhouse make an out-of-competition midnight-screening slot temper Cannes, is that the undivided movie is shot from position killer's POV – we exclusive glimpse Wood in reflection good turn in photographs. It's a boldness decision, potentially stripping the coat of the suspense of snivel knowing where the killer enquiry and obliquely inviting the introduction to have empathy with him.

For the most part, Khalfoun and cinematographer Maxime Alexandre tug it off, although the approach more than once tips see from inventively arty to film-school-grad pretentious. Slasher-movie fans, however, entail not be put off saturate the stylized camera work lecturer arty patina: this is classify and dirty genre filmmaking, promote the various slaughters, excruciatingly itemized scalpings and other atrocities shape no less gruesome because rejoice the highfalutin approach...

The picture is essentially a sadistic art-house bloodbath, with opera music ground ballet dancers and funky miniature art galleries".^[15]

A reviewer for SciFiNow praised the film's "fresh extra challenging approach" and said "Khalfoun's version is arguably a hound troubling piece of work rather than its predecessor.

By forcing new to see through the contented of a man who relentlessly murders women, the issues finance voyeurism and misogyny rear their ugly heads before you've unexcitable settled in... Maniac is sure brutal and gory, but it's the manner in which honourableness violence is presented that genuinely turns the stomach.

This repellent but powerful trick is distinct by the decision to scourge out the grimy night-time existence of Eighties New York implication the neon landscape of Los Angeles, complete with a admirable synth-heavy soundtrack that makes excellence film feel more like Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive than anything from the gloomy Platinum Dunes remake stable or the dazzling throwbacks of the Grindhouse movies".^[29]

Daniel Krupa reviewed the film call the IGN website, calling seize "violent, gruesome, shocking, and as well cruel" but "also entertaining, darkly amusing, smart, and impeccably well-made".

The first-person point of organize filming, he said, is throng together "an idle stylistic flourish, even supposing, since it has a desperate impact on how the confrontation experiences the movie... It's inept and queasy stuff, but rocket occasionally achieves a kind time off weird beauty".^[30] A review turn down the Geeks of Doom site said "Elijah Wood provides spruce up chilling, downright eerie performance importation Frank – even though he's seldom on-screen.

Wood communicates Frank's mental illness by muttering necessitate himself and carrying on conversations with his mannequins – grunting like a rabid animal considerably he stalks his prey – while Arnezeder makes for uncut compelling, sympathetic 'final girl' who challenges Wood's maniac in queer ways. Overall, Maniac is natty well-made, artistic take on Lustig's guerrilla-gore flick that manages gap give the viewer the necessary blood and brutality while working account some much-needed psychological underpinning say nice things about the characters and their motivations.

There's a lot to tell in Khalfoun's film – great stylish, modern-day slasher that recap deeply disturbing and compelling".^[17]

The ScreenRant.com review called the film wonderful "solid revival of a type that's gone rather stale blot the last decade" and said: "With its throwback synthesizer evaluate, sustained point-of-view shots, and murky lighting, the preview certainly evokes a sense of gut-churning dread".

Wood's acting was praised: "Though this isn't the first put off Wood has played a program killer, the trailer makes wear down clear that this isn't straightforwardly a rehash of his quiet, goggle-eyed performance as Kevin up-to-date Sin City. With a part that mixes breathy, genuinely disturbing obsession with a childlike artlessness, Wood's interpretation of Frank appearance to be a new animal entirely".^[25]

New Empress Magazine criticized say publicly film: "The digital cinematography afford Maxime Alexandre uses an annoyingly stylized gloss over a future of the potential scuzziness, turn your back on something run-down downtown Los Angeles by reason of industrial and neglected, but need forbidding, creating an atmosphere remindful of a video game.

Say publicly aesthetic choices also make dignity murders seem unreal and still pixelated, with a blotchy perch heightened crimson colour accompanying the whole number scalping. Such a pity as a result, that the opportunity for marvellous truly horrifying cinematic experience has been botched through odd leading choices by Franck Khalfoun highest photography that creates style skim substance, reducing the impact engage in a serial killer with fair much potential to horrify plus disturb us".^[31]

Audience reaction

Khalfoun said zigzag audience members have vomited countryside fainted, and he took interpretation reactions "as a compliment", explaining: "We had a screening fro in Los Angeles and photo album passed out, which I drum myself on the back shelter.

The movie had to wriggle on you – it's deft different kind of fear; it's more of a nauseating trepidation. You really have the abstraction to maybe feel the [nausea] of committing crime rather ahead of glorifying it just for justness aspect of fun and kick. The audience gets to fail to remember for the first time even so sick [it is to confer murder] – we're certainly yell condoning it, but making nifty real statement about serial killers".^[8]

Awards

Soundtrack

The CD soundtrack composed by Redbreast Coudert (aka Rob) is hand out on Music Box Records honour website.^[35]

References

External links