It seems the upcoming Franck Khalfoun-helmed update of MANIAC could utilize one of cinema's most immersive and striking devices.

Badass Digest reported over the weekend that strong sources indicated the MANIAC remake would shoot entirely in the style of POV (a la LADY IN THE LAKE and last year's ENTER THE VOID). Since, there's been an update, citing that the new incarnation of William Lustig's sleaze classic will seemingly only use the first-person style when the eponymous killer is doing his thing. 

POV has become a staple of horror, but most often used in scenes of stalking and voyeurism. The decision to utilize it in actual murder (as 1960's PEEPING TOM was so notorious for) could make for something wholly memorable and affecting. Two weeks ago, I attended a repertory screening of 1945's HANGOVER SQUARE, a film whose opening scene is one of POV murder. It still felt fresh and surprising and has stuck with me since. MANIAC could shape up to be the most intriguing remake in an endless barrage of bland ones. 

Set to star Elijah Wood, the film will tell of "a serial killer who works at a shop that sells antique mannequins. He finds victims on the internet and stalks them like prey, all the while suffering from hallucinations that throw him back into the past, when he was abused by his own mother. In his twisted mind, he gains a measure of revenge against his mother with each kill."

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