So that long rumored Maniac remake may happen after all!
Fangoria caught up with director Bill Lustig on their radio show recently and asked what the deal was with the remake. “The MANIAC remake keeps threatening to happen,” Lustig told us. “I’ve
been talking [with various parties] for nine months to untangle the
rights. I think it will happen.”
Two things, though. They will NEVER be able to make a poster even close to as perfect as the original was (pretty sure the MPAA would have a problem with a raging boner and decapitated head); and they will NEVER be able to find someone as creepy (or as sweaty) as Joe Spinell for the lead.
Lustig seems to agree with that last bit. “I can’t imagine anyone else in that role,” he told Fango.
While Maniac was Bill Lustig’s first film it is still his masterpiece, a film that made me feel more squeamish and just plain dirty after watching it than any before. Hopefully they’ll remake this the right way and delve more into the mind of a killer, rather than turn it into just another slasher flick.