MANIAC Icons of Suspense: Hammer Films

U.K. | 1963 Directed by Michael Carreras Starring Kerwin Mathews Nadia Gray Donald Houston B&W | 88 Minutes | Not Rated Format: DVD (R1 - NTSC | 3-disc set) Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Hold your mouse pointer over an image for a pop-up caption

		EC Home Review List Coming Soon Downloads
		Review by Troy Howarth Film:4 DVD:9

NOTE: DVD Rating is for entire 6-film set

Jeff (Kerwin Mathews), a wayward American painter drifting through France, becomes involved in a grisly plot involving an acetylene torch-wielding maniac (Donald Houston)...

Henri Georges Clouzot's Les Diaboliques (1955) was a surprise hit on both sides of the Atlantic; it remains one of the seminal thrillers, and its influence can be felt to this day. Always looking to capitalize on a trend, Hammer Studios began producing variations on this black and white shocker with 1960's Scream of Fear. When it, too, proved to be a success, it inevitably lead to a string of similar, sting-in-the-tail thrillers. Maniac followed on the heels of the Freddie Francis-directed duo, Paranoiac (1962) and Nightmare (1963), and by this point the formula was starting to wear thin.

Writer/producer Jimmy Sangster regarded these thrillers as a welcome change of pace following his run of Gothic horrors for Hammer — the success of The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Horror of Dracula (1958) made his reputation, but he found himself becoming bored with the formula of such fare and enjoyed working in a more contemporary milieu with his so-called 'mini-Hitchcock' pictures. Sangster was never the most inspired of screenwriters, but his best work reveals an ability to work well within tried-and-proven formulas. His contribution to the success of Hammer's horror films should not be underestimated, and while his thriller screenplays would become tired through repetition, the best of them are compact and well-plotted. Alas, Maniac is not one of his better offerings. The screenplay is loaded with the sort of lazy contrivances that typify so many thrillers of its ilk. Characterization is nil, and relationships are established purely for the purpose of advancing the mechanics of the plot. In lieu of a well developed set of characters designed to engage audience interest, the film is forced to rely on the style and skill of its director...

...Which brings us to Michael Carreras. Carreras was the son of Hammer chairman Sir James Carreras (and the grandson of the company's co-founder, Enrique Carreras); his role in the company's evolution and eventual decline is worth considering. By his own admission, he was no great fan of the horror genre — but this was also true of many of the company's key creative personnel, including writer/producer Anthony Hinds. What Carreras did possess was an ability to think big — his plans for Hammer proved unrealistic in the long run, but he did make an earnest attempt to elevate the company beyond their poverty row origins. Like so many father/son relationships bound up by business matters, he clashed violently with his father — a brilliant showman with zero interest in the practical side of film production — and attempted to strike out on his own. His work as a producer is often undervalued, with the eventual disintegration of Hammer typically blamed on his poor managerial qualities, but he oversaw some fine productions for the company and did his best to steer a sinking vessel as the British B film went into decline in the 1970s. Carreras tried his hand at writing and directing, but he never revealed a great deal of talent in these areas. The two sides of his persona are much in evidence in Maniac: on the one hand, it's a film with handsome production values and location photography; on the other, it labors terribly under his unsteady direction. Other directors like Seth Holt (Scream of Fear) and Freddie Francis managed to make Sangster's scenarios work, but Carreras proves unable to do so. Like the majority of his films as a director, the film moves at a snail's pace and only comes to life for brief periods of time. He would later redeem himself with the deliriously goofy The Lost Continent (1968), but that would prove to be the exception rather than the rule.

Carreras is also ill-served by his cast — or is that the other way around? Kerwin Mathews (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad) was popular in Ray Harryhausen fantasies and adventures, but he makes for a bland and unappetizing hero in a more realistic context. He is unable to make the character's thin motivations seem at all plausible, and thus the film suffers from a void at its center. Nadia Gray brings earthy eroticism to her role as the cougar-like Eve, but the majority of the supporting players are squandered. Imposing Donald Houston (Where Eagles Dare) is good casting as the murderous Georges, but his characteristic Welsh burr is obscured by a bland dub job designed to make him sound more convincingly French. Stalwart character actors like George Pastell (The Mummy) and Norman Bird (Hands of the Ripper; he's dubbed here by Andre Marrane, best remembered as Francois in the Pink Panther films) struggle gamely in underwritten roles.

Maniac certainly looks good due to Carreras' ability to put the money on the screen — the widescreen black and white photography by Wilkie Cooper makes the most of the attractive locations and moody interiors, and individual shock scenes are effective. On the whole, however, it's a lesser Hammer thriller and is recommended for completists only.

Maniac makes its DVD debut as part of Sony's Icons of Suspense: Hammer Films set. It is paired on the set's second disc with The Snorkel. The 2.35/16x9 transfer looks very good. There is some minor edge enhancement evident, but this is only a minor distraction. Print quality is excellent, with only minor signs of deterioration, and detail is very sharp. The mono soundtrack is in great shape, really showing up the post-synching for some of the supporting players. A 2.35/16x9 theatrical trailer is also included. 5/04/10

HOME | REVIEWS | TOP