Maniac  | 1980 | USA | William Lustig

Arguably one of the sleaziest, grimiest and thoroughly uncomfortable serial killer flicks of the 1980s, this slasher from William Lustig stars Joe Spinell and Caroline Munro in one of the most engaging pair-ups of the era. Lonely and overweight, the significantly psychotic Frank Zito lives a sordid existence in the city, murdering random women and scalping them to add to his macabre home display of mannequins. After meeting the gorgeous photographer Anna, Frank’s reality is immediately softened and redemption seems within reach, only for the dark shadow of his mother’s abusive trauma to reignite upon seeing other scantily-dressed victims. Featuring some of the darkest character work and the most depraved violence in tandem with Tom Savini’s special effects, Maniac’s stateside controversies were so egregious that police forces in the UK were sure that the film was video nasty material, seizing it during raids in both Greater Manchester and Lancashire.