Violent movies don't usually bother me but the sound effects while he's scalping the girls almost made me vomit. Reading other reviews people seem to say that this movie was beautifully shot and had some type of symbolism. In my opinion it was a gory waste of my time.

Surprisingly visceral, this is a seriously violent and gory horror that is not a little worrying. A remake of the grubby 80s film of the same title, I had rather expected the ghastliness to be toned down here. I thought the days of US produced horror of this magnitude were well gone and would be left to the French or maybe Koreans. In fact, of course, screenwriters here, Aja and Levasseur were responsible for the earlier, sublime, Haute Tension, so perhaps we should not be surprised that we will be surprised at just how nasty things will get. The film opens in great style but perhaps aware this emphasis upon sparkling night lights and shop window reflections the director then begins to emphasise the grubbiness of the streets and the danger round the corner. As the film progresses it is clear that director, Frank Khalfoun is not quite able to merge the various views of the environment and indeed Elijah Wood's character. And it is the occasional jerkiness that prevents this from being a repeat of the sheer class of the French classic. Never let it be said, however, this is not a bloody and nasty affair. At one point I actually looked at the clock to see how much longer I had to endure but then things calmed down a little and I'm not sure the languorous, even if ghastly, ending was helpful. Maybe I was in a state of shock!

I am not writing a review because unlike the others (not pointing fingers and i apologize if i offend) i don't want to spoil anything and don't want to say anything majorly about the story I see that people rate it for something it isn't and i feel like that is a problem. I just feel like people should know at least what I gathered from this film. I have not watched the original but what i have understood is that people seemed irritated that some "proffesional" reviewers wrote it off as a women hating, violent movie and nothing more.Now i have read some of the reviews for this and a lot of people say the same thing. Just a violent nasty and judges/rates it on that. IT Isn't. In fact this is one of the saddest movies i have seen. I think its wrong to say that it isn't violent. It has violence that makes you want to turn away. But its not about that. It doesn't rely on violence. The main character is a troubled man that tries to live his life, dealing with his issues. He doesn't have anyone and doesn't know how to deal with them alone.Its a 1st person drama/thriller with a sad but beautiful techno music to blend in with the neon lighted feel of this movie. The acting of Elijah wood is brilliant in that he mostly needs to act with his voice and not his face. The story is sad and i cant help but feel sad for the main character much like The Voices staring Ryan Reynolds. The movie focuses so much on there psychological problems that it just comes of as tragic and sad. This isn't a horror movie with no story and disposable characters. This is a character built, character driven sad movie that is beautiful both visual and story wise.

Well if you like gore and want to know what our little Hobbitsis friend has been up too now that he's a 'Maniac' (see what I did there? The film is called maniac so I......oh never mind) with a slightly unhealthy relationship with his mother.No I'm not talking about M.J either.But seriously, if you would like to squirm and look away, well I bet you do it at some point during it - then this might be for you. I like to say this film fits into a surreal context due to his imagination and as other dear reviewers point out - the streets seem empty when he's on the prowl.Definitely underrated and one to watch.