Horror Challenge #58: "Maniac (2012)"

So this is a remake of the classic 80s horror film "Maniac."  I suppose that should have been obvious, but I didn't even know they were making a remake of "Maniac," so I just thought this was going to be your average serial killer movie or something, and then much to my delight, I heard the eerie theme music (a reworking of the rock song "Maniac" which was the theme for the original movie).  I like the original "Maniac," but I've always thought there were many things that could be improved on, and this movie takes a stab at doing that (hee hee hee, stab) and it works well.

So this movie stars Elijah Wood as a kid with a terrible childhood that left him pretty messed up, and because of his neglectful mother who was a prostitute, he's not a big fan of women.  So he spends his time restoring antique mannequins in his mother's shop, and in his spare time he stalks women and kills them and scalps them and staples their scalps to the heads of his mannequins.  Nice guy, right?  The movie puts us in his head completely, because the entire movie is shot from his point of view, and his face is only ever seen in reflections, so it's actually pretty ambitious and artful for a slasher movie.  Not to worry, though, this isn't a pretentious piece of arthouse bullshit or anything, since it actually has a storyline as well as its ambitious plot, and there's plenty of gore to keep gorehounds occupied.  It's well worth checking out.