MADMAN (1981)
Directed by Joe Giannone
Anchor Bay Entertainment DVD
THE FILM
I pulled exactly one all-nighter
in college, then barfed the next
day. Madman ushers in all-nighter
number two. No puke yet. I am on
a roll.
Yes, it's true. Daylight is never
present in this motion picture.
Not once. What does this mean to
us? Madman is a supreme
independent wooded slasher; a snapshot
of chilled autumn sublimity in 1981.
There are five campers and seven
counselors. A couple performs a
steaming jacuzzi joust with choreographed
imperfection. The killer, Madman
Marz, is based on an urban legend
straight from the Catskills of New
York. Accept it. All of it. No fooling
around. No time for the trivial.
So c'mon! Soar to the evergreen
tree tops with beet-red violence.
Skim through the dirt with faultless
synthesizers. I can see your breath.
Whisper with me: "Madman Marz...Madman
Marz...Madman Marz..."
It's the weekend before Thanksgiving.
A campfire. A folk song. A dilapidated
house. Kids are spooked. Richie
screams, "MADMAN MARZ! C'mon!
We're here! We're waiting for ya!
Haw haw haw!" As the legend
goes, anyone that speaks the name
of notorious murderer Madman Marz
above a whisper will invoke his
angry spirit upon the campgrounds.
Richie, you sap. The barefooted,
axe-fitted 'Marz prowls through
the trees. The counselors get it.
The wind refuses to stop whooshing.
I feel healthy to my stomach.
Shot in a modest forest on Long
Island, New York, Madman
plays tug of war with The
Burning and Just
Before Dawn. That is, where
the latter hits succeed due to their
knack for enveloping the viewer
both visually and emotionally, the
former prospers for opposite reasons.
Madman moves calmly. It
plays out on a smaller scale. Plot
is kicked to the curb. The photography,
while filled with mood-building
shadows and blue tints, feels confined
and rushed. Therefore, the magic
lies in what's immediate, what we
want right now. Trees. Scares. Stupid
dialogue. Twilight gore. Ambiguous
endings. Atrocious theme songs.
Madman is what it is; a
well-intentioned, marvelously cheap,
base-level wooded slasher that never
tries to overstep its own boundaries.
In other words, a success.
I can't even remember the all-nighter
that forced me to vomit all those
years ago. Rest assured, I'll never
forget the one that didn't.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Take a guess. The non-anamorphic
widescreen print presents the film
in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
Pretty much perfect. Colors are
rich and dreamy. Blacks are extremely
thick. Camera grain lets loose.
Aside from the occasional speckle
and a few recurring vertical lines,
there are no imperfections to speak
of. The mono sound was deadened
at times, but I survived.
EXTRAS
First, the little guys. We've got
a most welcomed theatrical trailer,
five TV spots (three last for thirty
seconds, two for ten), and a spread
of liner notes showcasing the film's
original-run poster with an anonymous
essay of pure facts related to the
production.
Hello, Long island! Director Joe
Giammone, writer-producer Gary Sales,
actor Paul Ehlers (the Madman himself),
and actor Tony Fish kick back and
deliver a fun commentary track.
The attitudes are positive, the
opinions are blunt, and the track
races along 'til the end. The talk
mostly touches on production aspects
of the film, but that's never a
bad thing. I particularly enjoyed
hearing about the throes of first
time filmmaking, Madman's
unfortunate opposition with Mr.
Cropsy and The Burning,
and the story's urban legend origins.
An enjoyable, easy listen.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Cancel the whispers and scream it
out. Madman Marz! Madman Marz! MADMAN
MARZ! This DVD of Madman
is now out of print, but it can
still be had by snooping around.
What are you waiting for?
— Joseph A. Ziemba, 09.28.06 |
The stiffs
Totally Pumped (for the jacuzzi)
The 'Marz
No more whispers
|
