John Waters is quoted in Hoberman & Rosenbaum's "Midnight Movies" (1981) as saying, with "Multiple Maniacs" he had finally flushed all the remaining religion out of his system, and that his intent was to "scare the world." In 1970, he likely did so with this. One shudders to ponder what he'd have to come up with Today, to achieve the same goal.
However, when one considers the parade of human failure and misery that willingly allows itself to be showcased in a weekly strip's worth of Jerry Springer episodes, Waters' Dreamlanders, not only in "Maniacs," but in "Flamingos," "Female Trouble," and "Desperate Living" too, come off as a misfit bunch of lovable zanies.
However, when one considers the parade of human failure and misery that willingly allows itself to be showcased in a weekly strip's worth of Jerry Springer episodes, Waters' Dreamlanders, not only in "Maniacs," but in "Flamingos," "Female Trouble," and "Desperate Living" too, come off as a misfit bunch of lovable zanies.