You're gonna be bothered by how cool I am.

You know, a lot of New Yorkers (and others) complain about how vanilla New York is now. That it used to be cool back in the 70s and 80s when it had a lot more edge and wasn't so "safe." I've even done some of that myself, half wishing that I could have lived here in the Taxi Driver or 9 1/2 Weeks era, when Times Square was seedier and instead of Applebee's and Madame Tussaud's on 42nd Street between Broadway and 8th (currently my least favorite block in the entire city) there were grindhouse theaters and peep shows.

But I was looking around tonight for a trailer and some information about a 1980 film called Maniac (inspired by the recent Mondo Tee's poster for that film and a few others by the same director, Bill Lustig). Maniac, it must be said, is a film I am kind of afraid to see - and I've seen A Serbian Film, so that should tell you something. I wasn't even aware there was a creepy mannequin element before tonight, just that it was incredibly violent and that many women have huge problems with this film and with Lustig as a filmmaker in general. But I found a short clip of an interview with Lustig, where he talks about his inspirations for Maniac. He mentions another movie called Tourist Trap (another film I am afraid to see - I'm afraid to even watch the trailer a second time) and its creepy use of mannequins, which inspired his use of mannequins as a key story element in Maniac.

But then he tells *this* story. [ETA: WARNING - VERY DISTURBING] Apparently, back in the 70s, there was a case where a couple of prostitutes had been murdered in a hotel in Times Square. Not just murdered, decapitated. Being unable to identify who the girls were, the police took their bloody clothes and put them on a couple of mannequins, and they set those mannequins in a glass case in the little police kiosk in Times Square (presumably the one that's next to the subway entrance?) in the hopes that some street people would recognize the clothes and be able to identify the murdered girls. Because, you know, mannequins TOTALLY AREN'T CREEPY ENOUGH.

Let me tell you, friends... the next time I get the urge to complain about how "Disney" Times Square has become, I'm going to think about that story and blow a kiss to that horrendous Disney Store that has been plopped down on Broadway. And the M&M Store and the public bathrooms. And all those chavvy kids who hang out in that area on the weekends, walking around like they're the shiz-nit. Sure, I wish there could be a happy medium between the gritty New York of yore and the family friendly New York of today. But if those are my only two choices, I'm glad I'm in the relatively safe and sane version of this city.

I still hate that block of 42nd, though.