Hoezo in KINO

On April 26th, Cult Status will take a deep dive into the career of legendary yet scarcely known actor, Joe Spinell. The New York City based character actor’s IMDb is absolutely stacked and even if his name doesn’t immediately ring a bell, we guarantee you the man has graced your screen many times with his grizzled features and imposing physique. The main feature of the night is Maniac, perhaps the grimiest and most vile of the late 70’s ‘Fear City’ (NYC’s nickname as the city descended into decay during that era) exploitation flicks, presented here from director William Lustig’s personal 35mm print, imported from the US especially for this single screening. In Maniac, Spinell plays the titular serial killer prowling the mean streets with such deranged gusto it’s hard to think of him outside of this role, but our pre-show will try its hardest to display the versatility of the man. Maniac is a notorious cult classic from the director of the Maniac Cop series, that owes its reputation in no small part to the audacious SFX by industry legend Tom Savini and sporting a film poster so offensive, it commanded the morbid curiosity of many seasoned video store dwellers of yore. Be warned, this film is not for the faint hearted.