''Maniac'' is an American short

slasher film A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic ...

, directed by

Shia LaBeouf Shia Saide LaBeouf ( ; born June 11, 1986) is an American actor and filmmaker. He played Louis Stevens in the Disney Channel series ''Even Stevens'', a role for which he received Young Artist Award nominations in 2001 and 2002 and won a Dayt ...

. It was released for free on

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, on October 31, 2011. The short film stars American rappers Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi and Chris "Cage" Palko as French-speaking

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

s. Mescudi and Palko also co-wrote the film with LaBeouf.

Synopsis

A filmmaker (

) documents the exploits of two serial killers ( Scott Mescudi and Chris Palko).

Background

first directed a

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for New York-based rapper

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in 2009, for his track "I Never Knew You": "I'm 22 and I'm directing my favorite rapper's music video," LaBeouf told ''

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'' of the project, "This shit is better than riding unicorns." It was through that project that he met Cleveland-bred rapper

Kid Cudi Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ; formerly stylized as KiD CuDi), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Clevelan ...

, which led to LaBeouf filming and directing Kid Cudi's video for "

Marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

", which was shot at the 2010

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Cannabis Cup in

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. LaBeouf subsequently went on to collaborate with Cudi and Cage on a

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

titled ''MANIAC''. Kid Cudi first spoke of the short film on March 5, 2011, via his

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feed, when he announced: " hemaniac horror short will be released on

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, rager short this summer,

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video this spring. i got you guys, no worries." The short film was inspired by Cudi's song of the same name, from his 2010 album '' Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager'' and is an homage to the 1992 Belgian

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crime mockumentary, '' Man Bites Dog''. In an interview with ''

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'', Cudi went into detail about the short film, as he discussed how Shia LaBeouf reached out to him to do the project, playing the role of a killer, funding the video and why was it in French: "It was me creating the back story for this person in my mind. What you see just seems like senseless acts of crime happening but in my character’s mind it was always justified. When you watch it, it’s like, ‘Why are these things happening?’ You want answers but there's no answers really given. When I was in character, it was always justified for me." He also added "When it came time to shoot, it was as real as possible and you were scared of this character. I literally transformed into this person. I didn’t talk much on set, didn’t crack many jokes, I kept to myself."

Release

On June 3, 2011, Kid Cudi released the first trailer for the short film. On October 31, 2011, in the spirit of

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

, Kid Cudi released the short film via

Cast

* Scott Mescudi as Twisted Killer * Chris Palko as Dark Killer *

as The Director *Ron Ayers as Sound Man *Ariel M. Carlson as Murdered Woman in Park *Jeremy Cook as Pedestrian *Erika Hoveland as Waitress *Bill Lumbert as French Diner Stud *Sydney Lumbert as Hallway Girl *Melissa Marra as Restaurant Patron *Eric Adam Swenson as Diner Patron *Bryan Valko as Shotgun Murder Victim *Laurie Valko as Murder Victim *Johnny Marra as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)

References

External links

* * {{Cage 2011 short films 2011 films 2011 horror films American black-and-white films 2010s French-language films Films shot in Michigan American serial killer films American slasher films 2010s slasher films American mockumentary films Films directed by Shia LaBeouf Films with screenplays by Shia LaBeouf Films set in France Films about snuff films French slasher films American horror short films Cage (rapper) Kid Cudi 2010s American films 2010s French films