MADMAN

Madman

In a great display of narrative efficiency, MADMAN sets up its entire premise within the first seven minutes of its running time. Gathered around a campfire at a youth retreat, the retreat's operator Max tells the Cropsey-like story of a man named Marz. Marz was a farmer who lived in an old house near the campground. One night, he took an axe to his wife and children before strolling into the local pub for a beer. When his crimes came to light, Marz was hanged from a tree. But, as usual in these kinds of legends, Marz's body mysteriously disappeared. Now his spirit roams the forest, picking off anyone foolish enough to say his name louder than a whisper. Once Max completes his tale, one of the campers stands up and tauntingly screams the killer's name, and Madman Marz returns to bump the cast off one-by-one.


Madman

That's really all MADMAN has to offer from a story perspective. It is terrifically simple, much like HALLOWEEN, and doesn't try to pad its narrative with useless subplots or unnecessary characters. It operates on a single level, as a thrill machine, barreling from credit sequence to credit sequence without once stopping for a moment of reflection. It is largely successful as far as slasher films go. It is very well directed and very well paced, but it does tend to wear thin around the halfway mark, something you would expect from a film designed as nothing more than a series of set-pieces.


Unusual for this kind of film, the characters that populate MADMAN are not your average stereotypes. While they are perfunctorily sketched at best, the characters are rather likeable (and well-performed by your typical cast of nobodies) and that adds to the sense of suspense as the film progresses. It's rare to find a slasher film where you don't want to see the characters splayed and flayed, but the characters in the MADMAN are not grating and loud. They're more of the MY BLOODY VALENTINE variety, older friends with more than just sex, drugs and rock n' roll on their minds.


Madman

If anything, the most irritating character in the whole film is the killer. Clearly one of the main sources of inspiration behind Adam Green's HATCHET killer Victor Crowley, Madman Marz is an overly-made up demon hick in overalls sporting monster claws and a bad thrift store fright wig. The way the killer grunts and grumbles like an exasperated warthog does little to inspire fear and the film relies too heavily on shots of the killer's rubber glove monster hands creeping into the foreground as a way of signaling that bloody murder is about to rain down on our unsuspecting protagonists. Usually the slasher film goes out of its way to not make the killer a visible presence. It's one of the main reasons you constantly see so many POV shots spring up. It would have been a good choice to keep Madman Marz out of the shot as much as possible. It's hard to be scared when you see this kind of poorly executed creature stumbling around grunting.


Madman

This is really one of those films that are hard to dislike. It carries itself well and Joe Giannone, in his only directing gig, handles the material incredibly well. If the film has a flaw, it's that it is so simple in its construction that it might wear out its welcome quickly for those wanting more than a no frills slasher film. MADMAN has nothing more to offer than a series of slick, surprising and sometimes humorous murders, all leading to a slightly confusing but refreshingly downbeat ending. But it is a film with absolutely no pretensions of being anything other than that. Your opinion of it will largely depend on how well you think Giannone and Company pull it off. And I think they did a very good job.


Recommended.