Maniac (2012)
In the deeply disturbing and stylized horror remake Maniac (2012), Elijah Wood delivers a chilling performance as Frank, a withdrawn mannequin store owner with a dark, murderous obsession. Haunted by childhood trauma and driven by a warped connection to his deceased mother, Frank prowls the streets of Los Angeles by night—hunting women, murdering them, and scalping his victims to “preserve” them in twisted displays.
Told largely from a haunting first-person perspective, the film blurs the lines between predator and prey, making viewers uncomfortably complicit in Frank’s descent into madness. But when he meets Anna (Nora Arnezeder), a kindhearted photographer who sees beauty in his work, Frank’s fractured reality begins to unravel—leading to a violent and tragic spiral.
Brutal, unsettling, and visually striking, Maniac is a psychological horror ride that explores loneliness, obsession, and the monstrous side of the human psyche.