Madman (1982)Directed by Joe Giannone
Writing credits Joe Giannone
Gaylen Ross.... Betsy (as Alexis Dubin)
Tony Fish.... T.P.
Jan Claire.... Ellie
Harriet Bass.... Stacy
Seth Jones.... Dave
Every part of my being is telling me I should like this movie. All the pieces are there for a good time in slasher movie land. There is a madman with an ax, a summer camp full of idiots, stalking and slashing galore, but I just can't give into its charm. Even by slasher movie standards, the acting is unbelievably terrible. I mean horrendous. Every person at this camp was a blank slate. I couldn't wait for them all to get killed. Madman, take them away.
I think it was the scene in the hot tub that blew me away. Bug eyed Betsy and a guy who looks exactly like Chris Kattan are in a hot tub, twirling around it in slow motion while some puke inducing love song is playing. ARRGH! Where's the Madman when I need him?
The rest of the movie was no better. So the Madman is loose and wants to kill. There were some interesting kills. I like the hood of the car kill. But I despised all the actors so I was rooting for the Madman to end the movie. Just like a porno movie, you know exactly how it's going to play out. Normally I appreciate the predictability of slasher flicks, but this time I was disconnected from the movie by the 15 minute mark and was begging for it to end.
One last thought, how does this 300 pound oaf of a Madman sneak up on everybody?
SCORE: 1.5 out of 4 madmen who love axes
NOTE: The picture above is not from the movie. If you don't know what movie it's from, rent all of Stanley Kubrick's flicks until you find it. It'll be a much better use of time than watching this "Madman".
3 comments:
NO. One of the best slasher films of the early eighties, when horror was a bitch and had litters of them.
"Madman" was definitely the runt of the litter. Although horror was a bitch in heat in the eighties.
"Maniac" was one of the best 80's slashers. "New York Ripper" was up there too.
Madmen is a fascinating artifact, the last gasp of indie regional horror before the big studios took over everything, circa 1984. It's bad, yes, but "bad" in a special way, like a grade-z porno or an Andy Milligan film. And those Long Island accents - wow! Priceless.
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