10. Maniac (1980)
William Lustig's Maniac is grimy.
Not “prestige horror with a slightly dark color palette” grimy.
GRIMY.
The movie feels like New York itself has become diseased.
Joe Spinell's performance as Frank Zito is a huge part of that. He's disturbing, pathetic, frightening and strangely human all at once.
Then you've got Tom Savini's effects, which give the movie some unforgettable moments.
Interestingly, Maniac was remade in 2012 with Elijah Wood.
It's a very different movie.
And that's actually the perfect demonstration of the problem.
You can remake Maniac.
You can make it stylish.
You can make it technically impressive.
But recreating the exact grimy, sleazy, low-budget atmosphere of the original is much harder.
Sometimes the limitations of a production become part of its identity.
