Maniac

"I warned you not to go out tonight!"

1980 1h 28m EN

😐

6.4

MID

★6.4TMDB · 514

Horror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A psychotic man, troubled by his childhood abuse, kills and mutilates young women and local models on the streets of New York City.

“I warned you not to go out tonight!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Joe Spinell
Frank Zito
Caroline Munro
Anna D'Antoni
Abigail Clayton
Rita
Denise Spagnuolo
Denise
Billy Spagnuolo
Billy
Kelly Piper
Nurse
Sharon Mitchell
Second Nurse
Rita Montone
Hooker

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: William Lustig
Writers: Joe Spinell, C.A. Rosenberg, Joe Spinell
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

88 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $10M — a 28.6× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

46 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by William Lustig, shot by Robert Lindsay. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Jay Chattaway. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Larry Marinelli shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Joe Spinell and Caroline Munro and Abigail Clayton carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

William Lustig directs. Robert Lindsay behind the camera. Jay Chattaway scores. Larry Marinelli cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

188 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $0.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
3Grossed $10M — a 28.6× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
446 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
5Directed by William Lustig, shot by Robert Lindsay. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Jay Chattaway. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Larry Marinelli shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Joe Spinell and Caroline Munro and Abigail Clayton carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "I warned you not to go out tonight!".
10IMDB entry: tt0081114 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 14 themes, including "mannequin", "sadism", "shotgun", "murder of prostitute".

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Lindsay
Original score: Jay Chattaway
Editing: Larry Marinelli
Makeup / hair: Rob Bottin
Sound: Rick Dior
Stunt coordinator: Tom Savini
Runtime: 88 min · 1h 28m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $350,000
Box office: $10,000,000
Return: 2857% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Maniac (1980)

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William Lustig

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What people are saying

Wuchak2025-11-14
★ 5/10
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 “Don’t 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.” It’s 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 Spinell’s role transplants the events to Los Angeles and is way more creative with interesting psychological elaboration. It's also more hypnotic and you find yourself developing sympathy for the nutjob, unlike here. Notables on the feminine front include Rita Montone (hooker), Caroline Munro (Anna) and Gail Lawrence (Rita) It runs 1 hour, 27 minutes; and was shot in The Big Apple in the last three months of 1979 along with the first couple of weeks of January, 1980. GRADE: C

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