On Demand Everywhere September 26, 2023

I first saw Megalomaniac at Grimmfest ‘s October 2022 event and loved it (the whole event, AND Megalomaniac) and its great to see that many months later- the rest of the world will be getting a chance to see the film.  Looking back at my site, I gave it a really short review which you can see HERE and to be honest, Looking back the words that I wrote back then. I didn’t do the film justice. Thankfully as time goes on, I do make my thoughts and reviews on films a little lengthier and so here goes with my redux thoughts on Megalomaniac.

Going into the film, back in October 2022, I knew three things about Megalomaniac. I knew that it was directed by Karim Ouelhaj, who was in attendance at Grimmfest (lovely guy the way but more in that later on). The second thing I knew was the films title, and the third thing I knew was that at least 3 people (including the director of the film) were indicating that this film was going to be gritty and tough to watch (but in a good way im sure)   When I mentioned to some of the Grimmfest staff that I was planning on fitting Megalomaniac into my viewing day (I was very busy at Grimmfest with interviews, and filming crowds etc) they went ‘ohhhhhhh’ as in the sort of ‘ohhh’ when you tell someone your going to go skydiving at the weekend.  It was those ‘ohhhhs’ that really peaked my curiosity more for the film, and finally when before the film Karim said to the audience ‘good luck’ then that cemented my ‘oh my god what am i about to see’ feeling for Megalomaniac.

I remember sitting in that packed auditorium as the film opened and whilst at that moment I wasnt witnessing anything super brutal, the feeling I got reminded me of the same feeling I got many years earlier when watching for the first time The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, now I’m not saying that Texas Chain Saw and Megalomaniac are twins. But the feeling I got whilst going through the experience of Megalomaniac reminded me of the feeling I got when watching the Tobe Hopper classic. Megalomaniac is dark, its gritty, its raw and the world its set in feels super grimy, like the world that David Fincher’s Se7en was set in. where you can also most smell the nastiness or feel the need to wipe your hands when looking at some of the locations in the film.

Writer Director Karim Ouelhaj also does a wonderful thing in the movie in that you will constantly find your sympathy with characters changing, one minute you like them, next minute you hate them, then another few minutes later, you dont like them, but do understand them, then your back to liking them again.  I loved it! I love it when a filmmaker plays with an audience, but not in that HA- I’m going to confuse you sort of way, I love it when they keep your emotions flip flopping as the story goes on. 

The cast are also fantastic in their roles especially Eline Schumacher as Martha and Benjamin Ramon as Felix the two leads in the movie. I don’t really want to or need to go into too much plot details with Megalomaniac as that would take away much of the excitement of seeing where this story leads but I will say that if you love your horror films, and Im not talking PG-13 horror, Im talking horror films like Se7en, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and even the darker side of horror such as Martyrs and A Serbian Film. You know the sort of horror films that if you showed to a ‘lightweight horror fan’, your end up being guilted into paying their therapy bills for a few years. 

Then I highly recommend checking out Megalomaniac.

I also after the film, as id mentioned, Had a chance to talk with the films writer director (co hosted by Grimmfest Steve Balshaw) You can listen to that podcast episode here