Maniac (1934 film)
1934 film by Dwain Esper / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Maniac (1934 film)?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Maniac (also known as Sex Maniac) is a 1934 American black-and-white exploitation horror film directed by Dwain Esper[1] and written by Hildagarde Stadie, Esper's wife, as a loose adaptation of the 1843 Edgar Allan Poe story "The Black Cat", with references to his "Murders in the Rue Morgue".[2] Esper and Stadie also made the 1936 exploitation film Marihuana.
Maniac | |
---|---|
Directed by | Dwain Esper |
Written by | Hildagarde Stadie |
Based on | "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe |
Produced by | Dwain Esper Louis Sonney Hildagarde Stadie |
Starring | William Woods Horace B. Carpenter |
Cinematography | William C. Thompson |
Edited by | William Austin |
Production company | Roadshow Attractions |
Distributed by | Hollywood Producers and Distributors |
Release date |
|
Running time | 51 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $7,500 (est.) |
The film, which was advertised with the tagline "He menaced women with his weird desires!", is in the public domain.
A restored version was made available in 1999, as part of a double feature with another Esper film, Narcotic! (1933). John Wilson, the founder of the Golden Raspberry Award, named Maniac one of the "100 Most Amusingly Bad Movies Ever Made" in his book The Official Razzie Movie Guide. Maniac has received negative reception since its release, being the first film considered the worst ever made and is an oft-cited example of pornographic films.