Review of Neon Maniacs (1986) by Bruce B — 15 Nov 2007

Fun slice of 1980s cheese. Lots of fromage with this flick. It was very fun though. I enjoyed it a lot. A monster movie mixed with some slasher elements so it's a little of both. And of course, unintentional comedy.

The skillful acting of Allan Hayes stole the show. You may remember Allan Hayes from Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. He played Paul, the dude that got stabbed in the weenie with a speargun after finding the hot Judie Aronson naked & dead in Crystal Lake. He plays the lead here as Steven & is likeable despite not too great acting.

The score to this movie is hilarious. It's so 1980s. And the bands that played during the climax, The Outlaws & Jaded, were also pretty hilarious. The Outlaws were Steven's band & were a pop/rock band. Jaded was a metal band with a flaming singer. The battle of the bands never got decided but I'm going with The Outlaws because Allan Hayes is a rock n roll love machine.

The Neon Maniacs were pretty cool. My favourites were Doc(Andrew Divoff), Soldier, Punk Biker, & Samurai. Punk Biker had this cool fight with a biker kid in the park. The biker kid actually kicks his ass some only for Punk Biker to snap his leg. Haha.

It had a fair share of gore but nothing really over the top. Two arm chops, an ugly girl getting decapitated, an arrow to the back of the head through the mouth, a slit throat, & Doc performing open heart surgery on a fat security guard...or was it the janitor?

My only gripe with this is that it didn't have any type of origin for the Maniacs. They were just kind of there. We never knew how they came to be or anything. We just know that they come out at night & that water hurts them. I guess it's up to our imaginations.

Pick this one up if you like fun 1980s horror movies & have an open mind. If you're expecting something like Casablanca....just go out & buy Casablanca.

PS.

This movie also features the asshole cop from Boyz N The Hood that gave Tre & Ricky shit although they didn't do anything. He plays...a cop that is riding Paula's bike. He gets killed but sadly it's off screen.