Watch Neon Maniacs For Free

Excellent but underrated film

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Yep, the 80s were so cool I spent the entire decade drunk! 'Baby lied when she told me...' - 'I love the choice you made...' - The battle of the bands ROCKS man. 'We've had enough' sing the grotesque hair-metal band.The ending ruins it for a lot of people. Many of my buddies who I forced this film upon all expressed disgust at there being no attempt at an explanation/resolution. Fair enough. Me? I don't mind.But be honest folks - all the fuss about 'Rosebud' in Citizen Kane!!! Why do YOU think the Neon Maniacs came into being? Maybe some university somewhere will have eggheads debating in pretty much the same manner as the Welles film. :) Donna Locke was a pretty young girl who would have grown up nicely. I wonder where she is now. My investigations tell me she's out of the biz. Shame, because her acting was rather good - as was most of the cast, to be fair.For the record: Archer is my favourite maniac!

As bad films go, this one's pretty enjoyable.Anchor Bay, not long ago, released a wonderful widescreen DVD of NEON MANIACS. But you can also enjoy this on tape, because VHS copies are still floating around at used video stores. And perhaps an old VHS tape might be better for generating that 80's feeling... This is the infamous low-budget horror flick from 1985 that boasts a gaggle of weird, oozing monsters--each with a different look and method of killing--who come out at night, ready for action. The movie takes place in San Francisco--and the monsters actually make their home under the Golden Gate Bridge (!). Sure, why not? It could happen. The title monsters are NEVER referred to as "Neon Maniacs" by any of the characters. A narrator has a brief speech early on in the film and says something like "The children's path shall be darkened...by the SHADOWS of the...NEON MANIACS." (Yeah. Whatever.) But that's the only time you hear the term, and as a justification for the title, it's flimsy at best. AND, as noted by many, the monsters are NEVER explained in any way. At all! Near the end of the film there is a climactic scene at a high school costume dance featuring an astounding "Battle of the 80's Bands" (one a Rick Springfield knockoff, the other a lame heavy metal group) that will have you squirming and your face contorting into various peculiar grimaces and scowls. Yow! This is a time capsule film. You watch it to see what things looked like, what was going on twenty-odd (very odd) years ago. But please take care: What you see, you may find upsetting.80's horror had its own very unique and pointless stamp, and this is one of the best examples of an endearingly BAD 80's horror film--just as THE BREAKFAST CLUB is one of the best examples of an endearingly good 80's teen film. That is to say, NEON MANIACS, despite how awful it is, is memorable. It gives you a strange warm happy feeling inside when you watch it. And when it's over, you think about it--chortle to yourself over it. You might even recommend it to your friends. And you know perfectly well that it's not a good movie at all! That it's one of the worst movies you've ever seen!! See it tonight! Yes, it's crap. Yes, it's fun.

This movie seemed to have quite a lot of potential. It jumped out of the gates swinging, but in the end it turns into a bit of a dud. This movie starts out with a guy finding these playing cards with pictures of monsters and stuff on them. The monsters end up being real and they go on a killing rampage. What are they and what is their purpose I don't think is ever revealed. They quickly go kill some kids and I am thinking it was better than what people said. Then comes the standard cops do not believe a thing scene that usually appear in movies of this sort and then a rather interesting dream sequence. Then there is a whole lot of nothing going on. The movie turns into a total snooze fest, as some teens try and figure out what is going on. Then the end comes and it doesn't match up to the beginning and it is just a real letdown after the brisk pace that it started out with. Also, how come these monsters are a problem at all? They happen to have a rather lame weakness that is really quite easy for anyone to use. All in all a movie with potential that falls flat.

~Spoiler~ Neon Maniacs-where do I start? We've got an archer, a samurai, an indian, a doctor, a biker, a soldier, a hangman, an ape-man who reminded me of Lou Ferrigno's Hulk, and one guy who looks like the Toxic Avenger's ugly brother. They comprise the Neon Maniacs. The problem with the film is that we're given no backstory on the creatures. "Neon because they can only be seen in the dark; Maniacs because they kill at will." That's what the box reads. What I want to know is where in the hell did this motley crew come from? Why do they each have a spooky tarot card in their likeness? Also, If these monsters can only be destroyed by water, then why in the hell would they live inside the Golden Gate Bridge? Real geniuses, huh? Alas, these questions will never be answered. In fact, the problem we're presented with is never even resolved. The film is very open-ended and there is no sequel. I'm willing to forgive this I suppose because the writer went on to draft a screenplay for some little movie called Pumpkinhead. It also had some standout scenes including the first appearance of the maniacs in the park. Lots of gore here and good make-up. Neon Maniacs reminded me a lot of The Spookies in that in made no sense, but it was still enjoyable in all it's ridiculousness and fun to watch. "Neon Maniacs-just add water for edge-of-your-seat suspense and terror!" Note for genre buffs: Andrew Divoff is credited as the Doc and it's his first movie role.