Madman (1981)

So much average

Did you people see the same film I saw?

Absolutely brilliant

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

A campfire horror story come alive! Madman Marz has a great back story, original song, and some awesome kills. And I haven't even mention the awesome synthesizer every time he's spotted. Can someone please perform some maintenance on the camps vehicles!?

Not as popular even as it is a straight slasher made in the full bloom of hack 'n slash. But it still has it's fan base and it's worth picking up for the effects used. But the story is rather simple and the ending isn't the next big thing.It do contains the typical elements of a slasher and I was surprised that Gaylen Ross (Besty) of Dawn Of The Dead (1978) fame went naked but it's rather slow and doesn't make sense all of the time. But if you are a slasher geek then it's a must see and you need this in your collection. A typical example of a slasher.Gore 1,5/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 2,5/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

This 1981 horror film stars Gaylen Ross, Tony Fish, Carl Fredericks and Paul Ehlers. This begins in the woods where a group of camp counselors tell spooky stories to some of the kids by the fire. Max (Fredericks) decides to tell one about Madman Marz (Ehlers), a crazy, deformed farmer who killed his family with an Axe. Soon, the story becomes real when Marz begins hunting and slaughtering the counselors one by one. Ross (Dawn of the Dead) plays Betsy and Fish plays T.P., her boyfriend. This isn't a bad slasher flick following in the footsteps of "Friday the 13th" and "The Burning" with gruesome deaths and a creepy score. Fans of the genre may want to check it out.

The movie begins around a campfire with an older man telling a scary story about Madman Marz, a psychopath who killed his family years ago in the area. Here's the kicker - he escaped capture and legend says if you call out his name in the woods, he'll hunt you down and kill you. Of course, one of the happy campers yells out "Madman Marz" and it isn't long before all hell breaks loose. After a camper goes missing, our main camp counsellor characters go out and search for him one after the other. And as per rules of slasher films, they are murdered when they go out in the woods leaving us with a remaining female counsellor.So the plot sounds a bit similar to Friday the 13th, and it is (except for the legend of Marz). Madman is an above average backwoods slasher, it's flaws are some unrealistic things such as why are their only ten kids at the camp...and why, after seeing shadows of a large creepy guy, would the characters go out into the woods and into Marz's creepy deserted house? And about those characters; They seemed so out of place for this movie. The counsellors looked to be in their thirties playing supposed twenty year olds and most of the campers were older teenagers who looked way too old for camp. The gore is decent, I may have watched a cut version though. We get some beheadings and some broken necks, but none of the gore is too over the top. What I liked about Madman was the use of shadows and the glimpses of Marz that were shown just before he'd attack. I thought that was done well. There was of course a big chase scene like in almost every horror movie. This one involved Marz chasing Ellie through the entire woods and back to the campgrounds where she hid in a refrigerator. I thought it was pretty cool. There were some awkward moments like the "jacuzzi sex scene", the cheesiest music ever used in a slasher, and some of the interactions between the counsellors and the campers. The acting wasn't good at all from pretty much everyone. But while it doesn't provide the higher quality of The Burning or Friday the 13th, Madman is an enjoyable camp slasher film that should be seen by every horror fan at least once.7/10