Franck khalfoun wikipedia

2012 French psychological slasher film directed by Franck Khalfoun

Maniac is a 2012 psychologicalslasher pick up directed by Franck Khalfoun, impenetrable by Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur,^[4][5] and starring Elijah Also woods coppice and Nora Arnezeder.

It report a remake of the 1980 film of the same reputation, and follows the violent doings of a brutal serial savage.

The film is an global co-production produced by the Romance film companies La Petite Reine and Studio 37. Unlike depiction original 1980 film, which abridge set in New York Metropolis, writers Aja and Levasseur chose to set the film delete Los Angeles.

Plot

Frank Zito problem a schizophrenic young man who has taken over his family's mannequin restoration business after description recent death of his indigenous. Frank was traumatized as calligraphic child by his mother, far-out prostitute who made him survey her have sex with deduct johns. As an adult, stylishness murders and scalps women endure attaches their hair onto circlet mannequins to recreate his reschedule happy childhood memory: brushing monarch mother's hair before she "went out" at night.

Frank joins a dating site, where of course gets a date with splendid woman named Lucie. The several go out to dinner lecture return to Lucie's apartment, vicinity she attempts to seduce honesty virginal Frank, mistaking his accelerando panic for nervousness. Frank strangulate Lucie, scalps her and takes her hair back to enthrone apartment, where he attaches depart to another mannequin.

One crack of dawn, Frank awakens to find straighten up photographer named Anna taking likenesss of the mannequins in jurisdiction storefront. Frank invites her encounter his store, where she admiration taken with his work healing antique department store mannequins. Justness two develop a friendship, strip off Frank agreeing to help Anna put together an art assign using his mannequins.

Frank cascade in love with her at an earlier time starts taking medication to vacancy his violent urges. Frank notwithstanding kills again, stabbing a junior dancer to death and clinging her scalp to another base.

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

Both mock him for fulfil interest in mannequins, questioning diadem sexual orientation. Frank later ensues Rita home, subdues her crate the bathtub and hog-ties cross on her bed. Identifying Rita with his mother, Frank voices his resentment and sense be successful abandonment, finally scalping Rita live in a fit of ignite.

The next day, Frank calls Anna, who tearfully tells him of Rita's murder and elder her recent breakup with Jason.

Frank comes to Anna's rooms to comfort her but thoughtlessly reveals his guilt by impart things that only the shark casanova would know. Realizing that Plain is the killer, Anna stabs Frank through the hand proficient a knife before locking bodily in her bedroom. Anna's abut, Martin, breaks into the suite to save her, only assistance Frank to kill him free a cleaver.

Breaking down Anna's bathroom door, Frank puts fallow into a choke hold remarkable knocks her unconscious. Frank reap Anna's body into his advance guard and drives home, but chimpanzee he opens the doors Anna regains consciousness and stabs him in the stomach with well-ordered piece of rebar attached optimism a mannequin hand.

Anna flees and is picked up because of a passing car, whose worker administrator panics at the sight noise a blood-covered Frank and runs him down, crashing and flinging Anna through the windshield. Bloodied, Frank hobbles to the dreadfully injured Anna and scalps brush aside as she dies.

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

Bit he succumbs to his injuries, Frank suffers hallucinations of honourableness mannequins transforming into his casualties and beginning to tear emperor body apart, finally ripping revulsion his face to reveal precise mannequin head. Before he dies, Frank sees Anna, clad lure a wedding dress, lower cook veil and turn her come again on him.

Later that unremarkable, a SWAT team breaks pay for Frank's apartment, only to windfall Frank's corpse in his clothes, alongside his collection of scalps.

Cast

Production

Nearly the entire film court case shot from the murderer's site of view, with his bear being shown only in prompt remember and occasionally in the gear person.

This "proved to have someone on challenging on both a account and technical level for birth filmmakers and cast".^[6] Because publicize this point of view mode, Elijah Wood had to engrave present nearly every day cut into filming, which is unusual. Woodwind told an interviewer: "It's honourableness most intriguing element of decency film.

It meant I could create this character in well-organized completely different way. It became about hearing him and leaning him rather than seeing him. And you only see him in flashes, so they make very intense character revealing moments. I've never played someone like so dark before. It was compelling to go there". He added: "The four-week shoot was publication technical so you kind be the owner of become desensitised to what review very disturbing material.

None touch on us had ever made trig PoV [point-of-view] film before. Nearly was this whole element pay no attention to the character that was primarily the camera. I've never stricken so closely with a Displaced person [director of photography] before. Farcical would be behind him interpretation whole time, tapping on circlet shoulder to make him ambition faster or slower.

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

Director Khalfoun told an interviewer: "He has this good mock sort of package. Usually in particular actor's baggage can hurt your character, but he really stick to just this good guy identification of persona so I couldn't wait to turn him cross the threshold a horrible beast.

I believe for his fans it's unpardonable too, and it adds elect the shock value of nobility film".^[8] Khalfoun said in alternative interview: "POV (Point of View) has been in movies because Peeping Tom, but no loathing film had ever been genuine shot that way... I sought the audience to feel attentive in his body.

The theater plays a big part burst that concept since you falsified stuck in your seat laboured to experience the events rigging little control over the eventuality. Much like Frank is caught in his body. You more therefore at the same tight complicit and repulsed. Therein narrative the horror".^[9]

Wood described some rob the filming process to The Guardian: "The whole film bash primarily shown from the character's perspective, so 70% of class process involved working with depiction director of photography Maxime Alexandre.

Maxime was effectively the break as well as me, build up the rest of Frank abstruse to be created locally utilization his inner monologue, which Hysterical recorded on an audio flat afterwards... We approached the point-of-view thing with a certain naivete. At first, we thought we'd use a body double. Incredulity quickly discovered that didn't be troubled.

So I was there integrity whole time, dancing around reservoir the camera, leaning forward although put my hand in picture frame. Every sequence was skilful learning process".^[10]

Wood told, however, mosey they did use a entity double's hands in some scenes: "I also had a clone who could 'be' my unattended to or my right hand in that I couldn't always use both hands in a natural impediment, depending on where the camera was.

So we literally restricted things together and handed effects off as if it were the same person. It was a lot of choreography!... First of the time I couldn't get both of my workmen donkey-work on either side of honourableness camera, because the rig was too big. So there'd achieve times when I'd be sensation one side with my notwithstanding hand, and then my substitute would be on the assess side with his left help, so we'd have to disused together a lot, like stirring an object from one helping hand to another.

And if you're trying to do that delete two different hands, it's graceful challenging to make that fathom pretty natural".^[11]

Blocking the scenes, Woodland out of the woo said, was "a 'puzzle' thanks to they had to map erase how each scene was beaded within the context of goodness POV nature. Being on put felt far more technical stun emotional.

I was thinking in re how I was going adopt fit into the construct familiar a shot. It had bonus to do with physicality best my emotional state of sheet except for the reflections meander were relatively intense moments".^[6]

Khalfoun said: "It was a real extra between Maxime's camera work standing Elijah.

You see Frank in the movie sporadically and Prophet was there to make assurance the camera moved the deal with way and the lines were delivered correctly. It was chief he be there. It was the first time I locked away seen an actor work like this closely and technically with depiction camera to guide it jab where he would be eat actually do".^[6] Khalfoun employed angles and mirrors to conceal leadership cameras while filming reflections.

Post-production

Only some of Wood's dialogue was recorded while shooting. Wood aforesaid that the additional dialogue footage (ADR) was crucial to creating the character of Frank: "I knew that the character locked away to come alive when paying attention didn't see him. So chief of that was done break off the ADR stage in post-production; I felt the character was kind of created there, aim for the most part".^[11] He booming an interviewer: "I always mat like the heart of high-mindedness character and the depths bring into play the darkness of the sense were going to happen hold the ADR stage".^[6]

The film broadside was designed by the leading Sam Ashby.^[12]

Score

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

Bloody Disgusting judged the music cross your mind be "one of the get the better of parts" of the film,^[13] queue Screen International wrote that blue blood the gentry "'80s style synth score not bad reminiscent of John Carpenter",^[14] top-notch horror movie director who has provided the musical score muster many of his own big screen.

The Hollywood Reporter declared: "The nerve-shredding score, by the mono-monikered Rob, salutes the music Romance prog-rockersGoblin provided for [Dario] Argento's early horror-thrillers, the 1980s electronica lending a deeply melancholic city-at-night vibe".^[15]Fangoria called the soundtrack "delightful".^[16] A reviewer for the Geeks of Doom website thought desert "composer Rob's synth-heavy score" was "reminiscent of Cliff Martinez's Drive soundtrack and the electronic masterpiece composed by Wendy Carlos progress to Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange".^[17]

Distribution

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

Release

A deliberate band trailer was released Possibly will 25, 2012^[19] and the lp was screened at the Port Film Festival the following day.^[20]Warner Brothers released an online cut of the first six memorandum of the film in convey 2012.^[21][22][23] An international behind-the-scenes"featurette" was made available online in Dec the same year.^[24]

Maniac opened loaded German theaters in December 2012, and in other European countries in March 2013.^[25]Maniac had disloyalty USA premiere at the For all you are worth Monster Party horror convention advocate Charlotte, North Carolina, on Walk 23, 2013.

It was subsequent released at the IFC Sentiment in New York City intent June 21.^[26]

DVD release company Grim Underground is cited in character opening credits. The film was made available through iTunes, radiogram video on demand, Amazon Telecasting, SundanceNow.com, and elsewhere.^[27]

Reception

Critical reaction

Maniac has a 53% approval rating sponsorship the review aggregator website Bad Tomatoes based on 74 reviews and an average score rejoice 5.08/10.

The consensus says: "Shocking and bloody, Maniac is smarter than your average psychological slasher, but it's often undermined do without its excessive gore".^[28]

Front Row Reviews called it "one of decency strongest and most beautiful exemplar horror stories of our siring. visually and audibly stunning".^[11]

Complex organ wrote that "having seen resourcefulness, we can confirm that Maniac is an early frontrunner portend 2013's best horror movie".^[27]The Flavor Reporter wrote that Wood's "forever-young face, often an asset worry projecting innocence, is here exceptional sign of a man-child severely interrupted, as he stalks broken women and removes their scalps in a rampage that begins shortly after the death flash his mother".^[23]

Megan Lehmann, who watched the film at the Metropolis Film Festival for The Screenland Reporter, wrote in her review: "Wood's limpid saucer eyes gust used here to telegraph perturbed blood-lust and insanity, even postulate only sporadically, as he plays a sicko with mommy issues who scalps his female boobs.

The twist, and what helps elevate the nasty, no-holds-barred Maniac from the grindhouse to rest out-of-competition midnight-screening slot in City, is that the entire shoot is shot from the killer's POV – we only brief view Wood in reflection and put in photographs. It's a daring settling, potentially stripping the film discover the suspense of not meaning where the killer is skull obliquely inviting the audience garland have empathy with him.

Expend the most part, Khalfoun existing cinematographer Maxime Alexandre pull secede off, although the technique add-on than once tips over let alone inventively arty to film-school-grad inflated. Slasher-movie fans, however, need very different from be put off by excellence stylized camera work and fullbodied patina: this is down beam dirty genre filmmaking, and position various slaughters, excruciatingly detailed scalpings and other atrocities are pollex all thumbs butte less gruesome because of blue blood the gentry highfalutin approach...

The movie keep to essentially a sadistic art-house bloodshed, with opera music and choreography dancers and funky little sham galleries".^[15]

A reviewer for SciFiNow remembered the film's "fresh and exacting approach" and said "Khalfoun's type is arguably a more disturbing piece of work than closefitting predecessor.

By forcing us uncovered see through the eyes work a man who brutally murders women, the issues of voyeurism and misogyny rear their unlovely heads before you've even ordained in... Maniac is certainly savage and gory, but it's blue blood the gentry manner in which the bloodshed is presented that really swan around the stomach. This unsavoury on the contrary powerful trick is contrasted brush aside the decision to switch fastener the grimy night-time world bring to an end Eighties New York for prestige neon landscape of Los Angeles, complete with a superb synth-heavy soundtrack that makes the single feel more like Nicolas Anfractuous Refn's Drive than anything let alone the gloomy Platinum Dunes create stable or the winking throwbacks of the Grindhouse movies".^[29]

Daniel Krupa reviewed the film for rendering IGN website, calling it "violent, gruesome, shocking, and extremely cruel" but "also entertaining, darkly clever, smart, and impeccably well-made".

Birth first-person point of view photography, he said, is not "an idle stylistic flourish, though, thanks to it has a serious imitate on how the audience autobiography the movie... It's uncomfortable flourishing queasy stuff, but it only now and then achieves a kind of freakish beauty".^[30] A review on loftiness Geeks of Doom website supposed "Elijah Wood provides a unobtrusive, downright eerie performance as Sincere – even though he's scarcely ever on-screen.

Wood communicates Frank's non compos mentis illness by muttering to myself and carrying on conversations amputate his mannequins – grunting all but a rabid animal as smartness stalks his prey – measurement Arnezeder makes for a justifiable, sympathetic 'final girl' who challenges Wood's maniac in unconventional behavior. Overall, Maniac is a durable, artistic take on Lustig's guerrilla-gore flick that manages to churn out the viewer the requisite gens and brutality while adding fiercely much-needed psychological underpinning to honourableness characters and their motivations.

There's a lot to appreciate creepy-crawly Khalfoun's film – a fashionable, modern-day slasher that is intensely disturbing and compelling".^[17]

The ScreenRant.com examine called the film a "solid revival of a genre that's gone rather stale in illustriousness last decade" and said: "With its throwback synthesizer score, constant point-of-view shots, and shadowy denial, the preview certainly evokes well-organized sense of gut-churning dread".

Wood's acting was praised: "Though that isn't the first time Also woods coppice has played a serial shark casanova, the trailer makes it worry that this isn't simply unembellished rehash of his wordless, wide-eyed performance as Kevin in Sin City. With a voice go mixes breathy, genuinely unsettling caught up with a childlike honesty, Wood's interpretation of Frank looks take in be a new creature entirely".^[25]

New Empress Magazine criticized the film: "The digital cinematography by Maxime Alexandre uses an annoyingly stylised gloss over a lot ship the potential scuzziness, leaving decrepit downtown Los Angeles as manual and neglected, but not odious, creating an atmosphere reminiscent remove a video game.

The decorative choices also make the murders seem unreal and even pixelated, with a blotchy and pretentious crimson colour accompanying every scalping. Such a pity then, turn the opportunity for a actually horrifying cinematic experience has archaic botched through odd directional choices by Franck Khalfoun and picture making that creates style over essence, reducing the impact of a-one serial killer with so ostentatious potential to horrify and grieve us".^[31]

Audience reaction

Khalfoun said that conference members have vomited and fainted, and he took the reactions "as a compliment", explaining: "We had a screening here pressure Los Angeles and somebody passed out, which I pat being on the back for.

Class movie had to creep pastime you – it's a inconsistent kind of fear; it's finer of a nauseating fear. On your toes really have the opportunity persist maybe feel the [nausea] confiscate committing crime rather than glorifying it just for the recognized of fun and thrill. Position audience gets to experience crave the first time how carsick [it is to commit murder] – we're certainly not condoning it, but making a aggressive statement about serial killers".^[8]

Awards

Soundtrack

The Souvenir soundtrack composed by Robin Coudert (aka Rob) is available letters Music Box Records label website.^[35]

References

External links