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15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Madman works!, December 2, 2001
This review is from: Madman (DVD)
I'm not sure what attracted me to this movie, but whatever it was, I'm glad I checked it out. I've always been a fan of slasher flicks (maybe it has something to do with the fact that I was born in 1980, around the time the founding fathers of slasher flicks were releashed -- Halloween and Friday the 13th). The slasher genre is probably my favorite because there are so many films from which to work when reviewing a slasher. Madman takes place at a camp, complete with kids, teenage camp counselors, and the old guy who's supposed to be making sure the teenagers are watching the kids and not having sex with one another all of the time. The old guy's name is Max (Carl Fredericks) and we start out listening to one of his "campside stories." The story he spins for everybody is that of Madman Marz. A number of years ago, Max tells us, a farmer butchered his entire family and then went to the tavern for a beer. Although the town hanged him for his crimes, Marz escaped into the woods and was never heard from again. Max warns his camp not to say the name Madman Marz above a whisper or else they'll piss Marz off and he'll come to get them. At this point, your classic punk stands up and starts mocking the whole story, screaming out "Madman Marz!" The Max character is weird because he doesn't act like your typical old guy -- he doesn't mind the teens drinking beer, he doesn't mind scaring the hell out of the little kids, and he always seems to know more than he's letting on. I've wondered whether or not Max was actually Marz. By the end of the movie, I was still not convinced that he wasn't. Max and Marz were played by different actors, but could there be a secret in the storyline that link Max and Marz? There's also a few scenes that place Max too far away from camp to be Marz while all of the killings are taking place. You'll see this weirdness about Max that I'm talking about if you check this film out. The gory scenes in this movie are quite good. The killer uses an axe as his murder weapon, but we also see one of the teens' heads chopped off under the hood of a pickup truck. Pretty unique, huh? There are obvious similarities beyond the gore to Friday the 13th and Halloween. The music used throughout the film is the most obvious. Others include the "woods" and "camp" themes common in nearly all of the Friday movies. These similarities do not make Madman a "ripoff" -- Madman certainly has qualities that make it standout. For example, in the beginning of the movie, Marz is introduced to us as someone very human -- Max tells us that Marz goes to the tavern and drinks a beer after slaughtering his family. Can you imagine Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees sitting down for a beer after one of their kills ... Exactly! With all good slasher movies, there's the issue of the killer's face. In the beginning of the film, we see Marz in silhouette, revealing only his wild hair and large body. Eventually we see his face shot from several darkly lit and obscure angles. In fact, his face isn't "clearly" seen until near the end of the movie. And even then, it's shot from a moving camera looking up, a technique that has the tendency to conceal whatever it's filming. Another commonality in slasher films is the sparing of at least one of the teens. This way, someone gets to tell their story to the cops or whoever ends up coming to rescue the camp when it's all over. My guess was that Betsy (Alexis Dubin) would be spared because of her savior-like role. I won't tell you if my assumption turned out to be true, you'll have to find out for yourself. The actress who portrayed Betsy was credited in this film as Alexis Dubin, but she previously appeared in the horror classic Dawn of the Dead as Gaylen Ross. She does an excellent job portraying the smart one of the bunch, even though she makes a few stupid decisions here and there. If I had to pick a smart one, though, it would definitely be her! Without reservation I add Madman to my list of favorite 80's slasher movies. The DVD quality is excellent -- I only witnessed one scene in which the scream doesn't match up with the victim's mouth. This little error is forgivable considering the wonderful quality that's been preserved in this DVD. Check this one out, folks! Rating: 4 / 4. SMITH TALKS: The Future of Movie Reviews ...
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The forgotten cult classic, March 3, 2001
This review is from: Madman (DVD)
The first time I saw Madman was on a bad quality VHS release from a South African backdoor video store. It scared me then and it still scares me now, twenty years later. This is a sound horror flick with creative art direction and cinematography. From homage to direct creative theft, this motion picture is a best-of compilation with the most effective cinema tricks beautifully orchestrated to create a truely horrific motion picture. The down side is the "pornographic" acting and very weak dialogue. The characters all seem a little like clubbed seals and by the end of the flick, you are cheering the villain for putting them out of their misery. In parrallel to the cult classics, bad acting never seems to hamper a film's success or bottom line- especially in the Horror genre. This is a DVD any self-respecting horror fan should own. I would have preferred a better remaster and possibly more special features. The sound quality is fair as is the picture. Hopefully the studio can get it together for a more impressive 25th Anniversary edition.. I'll buy both.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Get Cha A** To Marz!, February 5, 2011
Over the years I've seen Madman gain momentum and become a much more popular horror film. Not within the mainstream of course(Madman isn't a household name by any means), but in the horror community. Thanks to DVD and the internet. I remember reading about this movie in a horror film review guide in my early teens, and it took a few years until I finally came across a used VHS copy(as a cult/horror film fan, the only thing I miss about the old VHS days is the thrill of the hunt and the satisfaction of finally getting my hands on something "special"). I wasn't blown away, but I enjoyed the movie, and now I have found as the years pass that I like it more with each viewing.
Being part of the early 80s slasher boom, it's dismissed by critics and moviegoers as just another violent Friday the 13th clone. Though Madman and it's brethren owe their existence to Friday the 13th, most slasher films do indeed have their own styles and personalities. Madman, though it follows the typical slasher film slice-and-dice dynamic, has it's own unique touches and it's own character to seperate itself from the pack. Like FT13TH, it takes place at a summer camp, but where FT13TH's mayhem was before the camp's opening, Madman's is on the final night. The spooky campfire tale of Madman Marz and his legendary massacre soon become reality for the campers and counselors as the legend himself makes an appearance(thanks to an arrogant kid disobeying the Madman Marz rule of not speaking his name out loud). So with axe in hand, Marz takes out everyone in his path and stores their bodies in his farmhouse. Only Gaylen Ross seems to have the guts to stand up to the guy. One of the cool things here is that Madman Marz is more of a boogeyman rather than a psycho taking bloody revenge for some tragedy from years before. Though it never comes out and truly explains, we get the notion that Marz is in some sense supernatural, yet flesh and blood. The scenes showing Marz are very well done. He's shown in quick, shadowy cuts. Whether he's running through the woods or peering in windows, we get a good idea of what he looks like without the camera showing us too much of him, yet at the same time showing him frequently. This way he's never boring and never seems to wear out his welcome. One of the creepiest shots in the film(or in any slasher film for that matter), is a silhouetted shot of him in a tree, spying down on the campfire, with one of the campers noticing him. Pretty cool(but it certainly doesn't make sense why this one kid would see this, say nothing to anyone, break from the rest of the group and wander off to explore the Madman Marz farmhouse alone!).
It's really a well done and fun slasher film that thankfully is getting some recognition now(unfortunately after the director's death).
Code Red has given us a documentary on this anniversary edition, and the sucker is almost an hour and a half long! It covers a lot of bases and talks to cast members and numerous fans. Unfortunately it also informs us of a......you guessed it-Madman remake in.......you guessed it-3D!! Though this remake will be done by folks involved in the original film, it's still not very good news...to me anyway. I mean, am I the only one who thinks this whole remake and 3-D fad is the tackiest thing in film history?? But that's a rant for another time.
We also get a bonus feature that shows us music inspired by Madman. This ranges from variations on the Madman theme song to S.O.D-like tributes and such. Not bad, but not essential either. The documentary is the real gem and worth the moola to buy this one. I haven't listened to the commentary yet, but I'm sure that'll be interesting as well.
It's strange because years ago I thought I was hot poop for having that cruddy VHS tape, and I never thought it'd get better than that. Never thought of DVD, let alone an "anniversary" DVD. Hell, I thought the movie would fall into almost total obscurity! Well, praise to Code Red for making me eat my hat.
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