This early 80's horror junk is exactly what you expect it to be: completely unoriginal and it probably never would have existed if it weren't for the unexpected success of Sean S. Cunningham's "Friday the 13th". Writer/director Joe Giannone wanted to cash in on this "classic" horror film's earnings and quickly thought up a similar premise with the same amount of gruesomeness and sleaze. Yet, I feel no shame in saying that I really enjoyed watching "Madman" and I would even recommend it to other slasher-freaks as much as possible. There's something about this film that simply makes it irresistible... The movie starts with what perhaps is the biggest cliché in the genre but it sure works: a group of teenagers sitting around a campfire, attempting to scare each other with spooky tales. One of the tales revolves on a local legend and introduces "Madman Marz". An unstable farmer who butchered his family with an axe before vanishing into the dark woods. If one speaks his name and I quote "above a whisper", the legend states that Madman Marz comes for you. And of course there's some cocky teenager who immediately yells out his name over the campfire. So far the basic premise of this film that proves just how easy it was to come up with an horror screenplay in the early 80's. But what follows is a surprisingly suspenseful film with effective shocks and good cinematography (it's lovely to see how the camera moves through the woods at night). The sound-editing is great and the opening/end score is darn chilling! The maniac Marz is a reasonably scary horror icon and his vile acts are repulsive enough to make gorehounds' mouths water...The bloody highlights of Madman include multiple decapitations and a really ugly hanging! The acting performances are weak (what else did you expect) and the climax is rather disappointing, unfortunately. And sure there are many, many flaws to detect everywhere but why would you hate a slasher like "Madness" for its ineptness? Love it for what it is: a adrenalin-rushing gore flick!
