Equal parts drama, comedy, horror and psychological thriller, MANIACTS is an extremely well-done film, a large part due to leads Jeff Fahey and Kellie Waymire. The opening scene, where the police break into a house to apprehend Joe (Fahey) is creepy, especially with all the dead bodies about, reminding me of those slasher movies from the 80's. He's taken to a prison/asylum where he does these really morbid-and hilarious-practical jokes on the inmates and staff. They keep on punishing him but to no effect. He eventually meets Beth, who is a bit delusional and psychotic, and they fall in love. He escapes but she's stuck inside and is tortured by the prison workers. Unable to live without her he makes his way back in and frees not only her but all the inmates. They eventually make their way to an old farmhouse run by a crazy-old man, and could lead a quiet life. But Beth, who has the belief that she's descended from royalty, wants to see the Queen of England when she's visiting a nearby town. Things don't go the way they expect them to. What I liked best about MANIACTS is that the characters really do seem insane--and that they are likeable anti-heroes. If all the movies released under the new REDRUM label are as good as MANIACTS then horror fans will have something to rejoice about. Check out www.mtivideo.com for more info.
Equal parts drama, comedy, horror and psychological thriller, MANIACTS is an extremely well-done film, a large part due to leads Jeff Fahey and Kellie Waymire. The opening scene, where the police break into a house to apprehend Joe (Fahey) is creepy, especially with all the dead bodies about, reminding me of those slasher movies from the 80's. He's taken to a prison/asylum where he does these really morbid-and hilarious-practical jokes on the inmates and staff. They keep on punishing him but to no effect. He eventually meets Beth, who is a bit delusional and psychotic, and they fall in love. He escapes but she's stuck inside and is tortured by the prison workers. Unable to live without her he makes his way back in and frees not only her but all the inmates. They eventually make their way to an old farmhouse run by a crazy-old man, and could lead a quiet life. But Beth, who has the belief that she's descended from royalty, wants to see the Queen of England when she's visiting a nearby town. Things don't go the way they expect them to. What I liked best about MANIACTS is that the characters really do seem insane--and that they are likeable anti-heroes. If all the movies released under the new REDRUM label are as good as MANIACTS then horror fans will have something to rejoice about. Check out www.mtivideo.com for more info.
