20 Terrible Movies You Should See Before You Die

12. Maniac

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfa9XetyzIE

Attempting to pass itself off as a serious study of mental illness in order to skirt censorship laws, this 1934 quickie has a mad doctor blackmail a struggling actor into stealing a corpse for him. With hilarious consequences.

Featuring hallucinations, murder, animal abuse, zombie rape and more ham acting than you’ve ever seen in a single film, Maniac proves that they really don’t make them like they used to.

Director Dwain Esper later made two similarly educational short films, How To Take A Bath and How To Undress In Front Of Your Husband.

Contributor

Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'