The Timid Guy With the Slasher Knife Directed by Franck Khalfoun 1 hour 29 minutes; not rated The first-person slasher "Maniac" will be hell for anyone who has ever feared murder at the hands of a timid mannequin restorer. Franck Khalfoun's efficiently grisly remake of William Lustig's 1980 original of the same title stars Elijah Wood as the delusional, damaged Frank. Living in the back of a little-used store full of dummies and limbs that he talks to (and repairs), he spends his nights stalking and scalping women who are walking home alone. Since the film is shot from Frank's point of view (à la Robert Montgomery's "Lady in the Lake"), we glimpse Mr. Wood obliquely through reflections, fantasies and memories of his mother's obscenely bad parenting. The gimmick traps us in a psychopath's body, but this is less scary than it could have been because of Mr. Wood's unimposing presence and delivery. By not centering on the victims, Mr. Khalfoun nearly makes the film about pitying the panic-prone killer; the camerawork lacks the ominous, confident glide of much Steadicam horror. A photographer befriends Frank, perhaps seeing a kindred artistic spirit, and the film dangles the hope that maybe death doesn't go hand in hand with getting to know Frank. Swapping Mr. Lustig's New York for a higher-toned Los Angeles and laying on retro synth tunes, Mr. Khalfoun (who directed the parking garage thriller "P2") seems constrained by his chosen technique, all too often ending scenes through Frank's freakouts. He forgets that sometimes the killer's perspective is not the most interesting thing in a horror film.