Find a Theater Near You

There are currently no theaters near zip code 20149 playing this film. [change zip]
Find More Theaters

Maniac (Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture Vol. 17)

Directed by Dwain Esper

Release: 1934
Runtime: 52
Country: U.S.
Language: English

So perverse that it continues to shock and offend viewers 90 years after its release, Dwain Esper’s Maniac is a deranged retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat” in the guise of an educational film on mental illness. This no-budget thriller by self-taught filmmakers has a wildly fragmented style. Its intrusive use of title scrolls, stock footage, and gratuitous nudity make it one of the first true underground films (with a gruesome wink at the eyeball-slicing scene of Un chien andalou). Maniac is presented here in a new 4K restoration, from the original camera negative and other 35mm elements preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, and is presented in cooperation with Something Weird and the Sonney Amusement Enterprises Film Collection.

Reviews More Reviews

Press & Exhibitors

Below please find additional information and promotional materials for this film. Use the buttons on the left to request to book this film for theatrical or educational/community screenings.

For all press requests, please contact us at press@kinolorber.com.

Technical Info

  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Color: B&W

Press & Promotion: