I stumbled onto this bad ass mother by accident one night, when I landed on IFC. In slow motion, a big burly man lept on a car hood to deliver one of the gnarliest shotgun head blasts I've ever seen. Needless to say, I was hooked.

Maniac takes the time to build supsense. The dude in question likes to scalp chicks and put the hair on mannequins. He murders in many other ways as well, like with piano wire and the above stated double barrel action. In the commentary, Lusting reveals that they started with $48,000 and shot on 16mm, which they hoped to keep a secret, for fear of people not taking it seriously. This is a completely independent movie, made by horror fans who just wanted to create something they'd want to see. Such motivation does not always lead to quality, but in this case it does.

The gore FX are great. Tom Savini shows his abilities at great length, especially in the stomach churning ending. And with a such a special feature laden DVD, Maniac belongs in every true horror enthusiast's collection.