Mania

Canada 1986
produced by
Ilana Frank, Ray Sager
directed by John Sheppard (segment See No Evil), David M. Roberton (segment The Intruder), Paul Lynch (segments Have a Nice Day, The Good Samaritan)
starring segment See No Evil: Wayne Robson, Deryck Hazel, David Peterson, Susan Sneath, Paul McGaffey, Paul Whitney, David M.Robertson, Angela Bilawey; segment The Intruder: Richard Monette, Cheryl Wilson, Graham McPherson, Kevin George, Christine McInnis, Bob Koons; segment Have a Nice Day: Deborah Grover, Bill Croft, Rikki Lynn Wosnack, Elan Ross Gibson, Derek D.Lewis, Vladimír Valenta; The Good Samaritan: Stephen Hunter, Lenore Zann, Stan Kane, Dwight McFee, Dan Lehman, Dwayne McLean
written by John Sheppard

review by
Mike Haberfelner

• See No Evil: Steve (Wayne Robson) sees a murder occuring right in front of his house, and he even gets a good look at the killer. True, he could have done nothing to save the murdered woman, but at least he could have called the police - but didn't because the dead woman was a prostitute (Angela Bilawey) who has just paid him a visit, and he's engaged to be married in just a few days. Thing is, now the killer plays a game of cat-and-mouse with Steve, until he has the police find the murder weapon in his possession. Still, his lawyer (Paul Whitney) tells Steve the police have nothing on him, really, and he'll get him out in no time, and Steve even believes it - until he recognizes the judge (Deryck Hazel) presiding his case himself to be the killer ...
• The Intruder: Much to his dismay, Jack's (Richard Monette) wife Ruth (Cheryl Wilson) has bought a guard dog ... and Jack is terribly afraid of dogs since having been attacked by one in his childhood - though he has never told Ruth that. When Ruth goes away for a few days, Jack decides to poison the dog, and it's only when he finds the animal more dead than alive in the kitchen that he feels remorse and brings the dog to the vet (Bob Koons). It's only when Jack has come back home without the dog whom he had to leave at the vet that he notices the dog hasn't even touched the poisoned steak Jack tried to kill him with. Then the vet calls and tells him the animal was actually choking on human fingers he seems to have bitten off - which means an actual intruder (minus two fingers) still has to be in the house ...
• Have a Nice Day: Shortly after Kelly (Deborah Grover) has sent her daughter Hillary (Rikki Lynn Wosnack) off to school, she receives a call from a man (Bill Croft) telling her he has kidnapped the girlr, and the more often he calls, the more he convinces her, until she agrees to hand over all her jewellery just to save her daughter. A few minutes after the handover, Hillary comes back home - only she has never been kidnapped but just spent the morning in school like she was supposed to ...
• The Good Samaritan: At a subway station, Dan (Stephen Hunter) saves Julie (Lenore Zann) from an attacker (Dwight McPhee), but the attacker is not willing to let her go, so Dan takes her to his house and they barricade themselves in - and still, the attacker finds a way in. Dan fights it out with the man and is about to be defeated when Julie brutally stabs him in order to save Dan. It's only then that Dan realizes it was actually Julie who attacked the man at the subway station in the first place, not the other way round, and now she's standing next to him holding a knife ...

Nothing special, but four nice if a tad predictable short stories, all competently brought to screen even if lacking any real imagination - and while this anthology film is certainly no masterpiece, and none of the stories a real highlight within the movie, it's still very ok entertainment as a whole in an old-fashioned sort of way.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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