Not altogether hysterical as in non-stop laugh-out-loud, but absolutely hysterical in the hyperactive, brain-bendingly eventful nonsense sense. Esper attempts to impose an 'educational' frame, regarding the tragedy of mental illness, onto what turns out to be a complete and priceless tour of exploitation in the 'territories' era. Two guys playing the same beardy, chest-beating mad scientist provide a very, very tentative through line as we amble between stupid detectives, animated topless corpses, ham actors imitating simians while hopped up on adrenalin, repeated and heartfelt acts of unspeakable cruelty against cats, women ripping their clothes off while stabbing each other with hypodermic needles, and, my favourite, the dorm party of some wisecracking and utterly irrelevant dames with silent-movie voices. There's even a "Police Squad"-style non-freeze frame at the end. Absolutely priceless. Also notable as the only motion picture ever covered by Husker Du ("How To Skin a Cat").
Review of Maniac
