Wonderful character development!

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The title is "Maniac" and there is a maniac character in the film of course. However, much of it is filmed prettily in sunshine with lovely stars engaged in romantic activities. In the lovely French countryside on beautiful days.Oh, and did I mention that there is a little horror element included? Well not enough of it and it is not directed in a really suspenseful manner although the horror subject matter itself is horrific. Very leisurely, you might say Euro-style or even slow, this film cannot build up any suspense to give the brief horror activities enough punch.The characters stand around a lot, drink at the bar, talk and picnic and seemingly have nothing to do, and so we really can't develop much interest in them, although they are undeniably attractive.Quite a contrast to the nail-biting suspense of "Psycho" or the wacky unpredictability of Joan Crawford's "Strait-Jacket", both from the same era.Beautifully filmed, but that's about it.

Overlong and Overwritten, this is a Plodding and only Occasionally Interesting Psycho-Drama from Hammer Studios. it is Definitely a Lesser Film than the Other Psychological Pictures they made around this Time.After a Lurid and Effective Beginning things become Tedious with some Unnecessary Scenes and the Movie takes the Longest Time Setting-Up the Suspense and the Twist Filled Ending. The Middle Bit with all that Scenery makes for an Atmosphere of Expanse and is there, it seems, to be nothing more than Languishing on Location.The Ending too Suffers from the Ill-Advised and Badly Used Catacombs that do nothing but Distract from the Necessity of Piecing Together the Novel Conclusion. It all is Rendered Rather Routine the way the Climactic Confrontations are Played Out, as is Probably the Case of the Audience by the Time all is Said.

Maniac is one of the lesser known of Hammer's "psychological thrillers" made in black and white around the 1960's. It's not fiendishly clever enough to be really memorable but it does have a few interesting twists. Basically the plot sees Kerwin Mathews stranded in a small French town where he books into a hotel and starts to feel attracted to the owners sexy young step-daughter. Soon after this, he also starts feeling attracted to the more mature but still sexy step-mother as well! Apart form this love triangle, there is a further problem, in that the missing family member in this scenario is the father, who is currently locked up in an asylum for a violent blow-torch murder committed years ago…now but he wants out, and our hero is about to be roped into aiding in his escape! The film doesn't hang together very well for the beginning hour or so, sadly mainly due to Kerwin Mathews' wooden performance. Seeing him flirt with the daughter and then casually drop her and turn to her mother left me feeling quite disconnected from the plot as I found him a very unlikeable character. However when the plot to spring the insane killer gets going, things get to be more fun, and its after this point that a few nice twists start being revealed. I didn't guess the ending, which I am glad to say.The movie is nicely shot, and makes a lot of use of it's location, with some very nice location filming, especially a very odd ruin/cave which features in the finale. Although why it's set in France at all is of no consequence, they really could have used the exact same plot and just stayed put in England. Anyway it's nice to see these old movies again, and luckily this is out on DVD. It's worth a look.

Hammer films are usually enjoyable, so I take the time to tune in to what promises to be an interesting story.I don't know much about Liliane Brousse (Annette). She only made 12 films in a short period, and this was the next to last one. She plays a young girl who helps an artist (Kerwin Mathews ) who is stranded in town.Her stepmother Eve(Nadia Gray) has plans for the young man. Plans that involve her incarcerated husband.Plenty of double-crosses to keep you interested, but you are left wanting something that is not provided.