I, Madman (1989)

Gothic nightmares collide with gritty realism in this "stylish horror thriller [that] pulls you in and makes you pay attention" (Los Angeles Times)! Laced with sly humor, this "imaginative, scary" gem packs "a wow of an ending" (Leonard Maltin)! After a spine-tingling paperback captures the imagination of bookstore clerk Virginia (Jenny Wright), she seeks out the author's second book, I, Madman. But once she opens the cover, its eerie tale of obsessive love comes to life,catapulting a disfigured, scalpel-wielding killer from the world of fiction onto the streets of Hollywood with one demented goal: to win Virginia's love, one murder at a time!

An unknown horror classic!!!

Blood and Rain
Blood for the Masses


Originally published at SavageNight Ezine.

I Madman
Directed by
Tibor Takacs

Reviewed by
B.L.Morgan

5 Stars

This is one of my favorite horror films. Released in 1996 this story is about a young woman who finds an obscure author's books and while she's reading one the murders described seem to be happening int the real world. I Madman is creepy and atmospheric and poetic in a strange way that I don't want to tell you about because it would spoil some of the story for you.

Good acting from all the actors keep this movie from ever looking like a low budget schlock-fest. The lead heroine Jenny Wright, is a bit on the dizzy side but she makes it seem funny and sexy. Her boyfriend, a police detective, tries to believe her when no one else does and is believably torn between his job and her. The bad guy, now he is one twisted sick puppy who you don't feel sorry for when he gets his.

This is a fun movie. See it!
September 23, 2008

Come Back To Us, Jenny Wright!...

When I saw NEAR DARK, I remember being mesmerized by this young, talented, and yes, beautiful actress named Jenny Wright. Years later, I found her again in this film, I, MADMAN. She is again fantastic, as once again her character's coy, gentle nature shines through the dark horror around her. Ms. Wright plays Virginia, a woman obsessed w/ a gruesome novel about a murderous maniac who will stop at nothing, including brutal homicide and self-mutilation, to prove his "love" for the woman of his desire. Virginia is drawn into not only the story, but the life of it's author, Malcolm Band as well. She soon discovers that the book has somehow come into reality, and people she knows begin dying in awful ways! I, MADMAN is a solid creeper, with some humorous touches throughout. I expected the killer to be a sort of Freddy Krueger clone / parody, rather than the truly malevolent force he turned out to be. Cook is wonderful in this tortured, demented role. Yep, I, MADMAN is a perfect little spooker. Jenny Wright should have been the queen of her generation's horror movies, instead of disappearing like Candace Hilligoss! I can only imagine the work she could have done... May 28, 2008

I mad woman like I, Madman.

This is interesting film that's been tip-off to me. I thought Canadian genre director Tibor Takacs, (more well-known for The Gate ), done a great job with this film. I, MADMAN is a loving salute to the days when movie monsters had hearts. For those who don't know this film is about a second-hand bookstore clerk Virginia Clayton becomes absorbed in the book `I, Madman' by Malcolm Brand. In the book the deranged, deformed Dr Kessler is obsessed with beautiful actress Anna Templar and kills victims, sewing part of each victim's face onto his own. But as Virginia continues to read, someone starts to emulate the killings in the book, targeting the people around her.

Takacs includes some wonderfully grisly scenes in which he injects himself with Novocain and slices off his own facial features with a scalpel to send as love gifts to the heroine and then cuts up the people in her life and reattaches their facial parts to himself. There is a tragic Phantom of the Opera -like to the villain's love, although this doesn't perhaps get as much airing as it should. One would have preferred if Kessler were allowed to speak - what expression such a character would have.

The atmosphere of this film is very good like others has mention here and the moody moments was inviting. The most intriguing aspect of the film is its double-structure, flipping between the plot of the book and the reading heroine's life with both heroines being played by the same actress. It is filled with all manner of fascinating small details - the way a rose knocked over in the book is mirrored in the real world; how when a tea kettle is placed on in the book one starts whistling in the real world even though we never saw Jenny Wright put one on when she entered the apartment. And although Kessler is given a nominally rational explanation, by the end of the story we are never entirely certain whether it was Brand or Kessler that has been pursuing the heroine - certainly the explanation that would rely on it being Brand offers no explanation of how the abovementioned incidents of meta-fictional synchronicity occurred.

Less effective is Takacs's cast. Jenny Wright is obviously a sweet heart but seems distant and not really emotionally involved at times. Clayton Rohner lacks any conviction at all, looking hardly old enough to be out of college let alone a seasoned detective. The climax of the film is let down by Randall Cook's unconvincing stop motion animation. Takacs shoots in Canada - like many other Canadians he attempts to give the impression the film is American-made and in one wonderful false move we have a downtown bus that is just labeled `Los Angeles'. Besides that "I, Madman" is worthy of our attention and fear but sadly underrated.

November 19, 2007

4.5 Stars. The Neverending Horror Story. I, Madman knows how to set the mood.

I, Madman has great mood and atmosphere and is an all around fun horror film. With 24 out of 26 reviews at this time being 5 or 4 stars, 12 each, I don't feel this is underrated as far as who views it, those who see it like it or love it. However I don't think enough people, including myself (until recently) saw this film, this is definitely a hidden gem. I highly recommend this film to horror fans looking a good fun time.

So, back to the film and the great mood and atmosphere. Virginia a bookstore clerk who is reading a horror book in her cozy homey apartment on her couch with a blanket while it thunders and rains outside, what a great set up, we as viewers are getting that warm cozy feeling ourselves. She gets nervous but soon her police officer boyfriend comes over and turns on the lights and all is good again. This gave me the feeling of when your a kid and you rent some horror films for a sleepover with friends maybe you exchange some stories about oh did you hear about this house or what happened to this kid, or perhaps your watching a double feature on cable when all of a sudden your mom comes in and starts vacuuming, essentially vacuuming the ghosts and it gives you a break from that rush you are getting.

Virginia is not a teeny bopper she's an independent woman with as I said a nice warm apartment. Her job at a bookstore is one of those antique mom and pop stores that would be rare to get a job at, not some Barnes and Noble where you work with 50 other people and nobody has a personality. Virginia would have fit right in with the girls from Sex and the City. She has one co worker in this Bookstore who works a lot and seems to really like her job as well, she's a funny and good person as are most of the people in this film, filled with positive vibes. At this antique bookstore with great character her friend/co-worker even takes in a stray cat to add to the warmth of the shop.

I refer to The Neverending Story as the kid is in the attic of his school while a storm is going on and reading a book by candlelight wrapped up in a blanket the story starts becoming real, as does this story. Did I say real?

So, like Virginia we get all ready to be cuddled up and scared, as she reads her horror book and we watch our horror film. Sometimes a fun campy horror film gives you a warm feeling, it is just a film and you are nice and safe in your house, can give you a feeling of security with some excitement. For Virginia her fun doesn't last long, and oh, what is that thing in the attic of the bookstore, the big box with holes in it for something or someone to breathe?

I would have given I, Madman 5 stars but the ending gets a bit ridiculous, but that's fine this is a fun movie from start to finish with great atmosphere and mood with likable good characters who we root for. A great 80s slasher horror movie. So if your gonna have a little horror film marathon with some friends or a significant other get a blanket, dim the lights, wait for a thunder storm , pop some popcorn, and make I, Madman the first one you watch to set the mood right for some good fun scares. August 28, 2007

Love makes us do foolish things, Virginia

Bookstore clerk and aspiring actress, Virginia (Jenny Wright), has a taste for lurid pulp horror. Her latest bizarre book find, entitled "Much of Madness, More of Sin," spins the tale of an insane doctor and his mutant jackal boy creation. Virginia is so taken with the book that she sets out to find author Dr. Malcolm Brand's only other published work, a book called "I, Madman." Instead, the book finds her.

Waiting for just the right reader to release him from the pages of his 30-year-old book, the deranged Brand escapes into the real world to recreate the gruesome murders of the text. Virginia becomes Brand's primary witness to the murders and the focus of his obsessive love. Reality slips sideways as Virginia finds Brand stalking her at her bus stop and at the book store where she works--even gaining entrance to her apartment.

Malcolm Brand (Randall William Cook) is both a frightening and pitiful villain. In his book, Brand is obsessed with "Anna," a beautiful actress who will have nothing to do with him because she finds him so physically unattractive. Believing Virginia to be "Anna," Brand slices off his facial features so that he can replace them with more classically beautiful ones that he culls from Virginia's friends and acquaintances.

Trying to make sense of the madness she is witnessing, Virginia tracks down the small company that published the deranged doctor's books. Virginia discovers that the books were published as works of "nonfiction" at Brand's insistence. The author believed that the characters in his books were real and were acting independently by refusing to do what he told them to do. Brand wound up having a complete nervous breakdown and was committed to a psychiatric facility--where he later died. Some of the film's darkest humor comes from when Virginia tries to convince her boyfriend, Richard (Clayton Rohner), a reality-grounded police detective, that the recent spate of horrific murders are the work of Malcolm Brand, the long dead author.

The film has a retro/pulp comic book sensibility to it--with deep shadows, exaggerated camera angles and vivid paint box color gels--much like those in the "Tales from the Crypt" series or the "Creepshow" movies. I found the movie to be a lot of fun, with odd and imaginative twists throughout. The special effects may not be state of the art (the clay animation scenes looked downright funky), but the makeup prosthetics on the demented Malcolm Brand's butchered face will make your hair stand on end.

Special features on the DVD are minimal, consisting of the original theatrical trailer, scene selection and subtitles in French, Spanish and English. September 27, 2006

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