Madman (1981)

I've always said that I like all the old slasher movies. The ones produced and unleashed in the glorious splattery original period. A time when teens and young adults were routinely dispatched by lumbering assailants. When partying kids paid the ultimate price for having illicit fun. Religious guilt still clung to most of us, and deep down we felt we were damned for drinking, getting high, and indulging in erotic play.

There are some pretty good slasher flicks: My Bloody Valentine, The Prowler, Happy Birthday To Me, and The Burning. As well as, of course, the Big two: Halloween and Friday the 13th. There are some mediocre slasher movies. Then there is the rock bottom sludge.

Madman sits directly in the middle. Released in 1981, it beat a lot of the competition to the punch. The cliches are present: Camping kids partying, an urban legend, and a mute, somnambulant killer picking off the hapless brats.

I do like Madman, but I find it as lifeless as a cold teen hanging from a tree. The young players are even more nondescript than the norm. The blood looks like it was supplied by Sherwin-Williams and the killings are clumsily executed. No Savini or Yagher on the crew, that's for sure. The cringey Madman Marz songs do little to improve the viewing experience.

Madman is competently shot, which is almost to its detriment. It's not bad enough for campy enjoyment, and not good enough to be truly entertaining.

I wasn't particularly impressed by Madman when I saw it back in 1981. Watching it in a hardtop theater didn't help. This is a movie that is greatly benefited when washed down with a couple six packs of cheap beer.

Still, like an old friend who got on my nerves now and then, I feel affection toward Madman Marz and his untalented victims.

The Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray looks good, but there are some blemishes on the print. It's not in the same league as a Synapse restoration. That doesn't bother me. Movies like Madman do not need to look pristine.

I enjoyed watching the movie this weekend, but as I snapped the case closed I realized that this is goodbye to poor old Madman Marz. There was no sequel for him, and I think I am finished watching his exploits. The Blu-ray will end up on one of my vendor tables at a con. Despite my dubious enjoyment of the picture, shelf space is limited, and there simply isn't room for him. After all, I have to have space for The Mutilator, Hell Night, New Year's Evil, The Initiation, and of course the inimical Mountaintop Motel Massacre.

Written by Mark Sieber