(1981)
Staring: Alexis Dubin - Tony Fish - Harriet Bass - Seth Jones - Jan Claire and Introducing Paul Ehlers as Madman Marz
Directed by: Joe Giannone
"They Thought They Were Alone."
DVD INFORMATION:
Anchor Bay Entertainment - Anamorphic Enhanced 16x9 Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 - Dolby Digital Mono -Writer, Producer, Director and Stars Tony Fish and Paul Ehlers Commentary - Theatrical Trailer - T.V. Spots and a reproduction of the original theatrical poster on the inside insert production booklet.
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Shhh...Legend has it that if he hears you say his name, he will come for you.
I have been waiting for this one for sometime now. This is the story of Madman Marz. It previously has been long out of print and one of the most sought after horror/slasher films of all time.
The Legend of Madman was born following the success of such films as Friday the 13th and Halloween. Many horror films were created in the wake of this success such as: "Sleepaway Camp", "Mother's Day", "My Bloody Valentine", "Happy Birthday To Me", " The Burning"...and the list just goes on and on. Joe Bob Briggs calls Madman, "One of the All-Time Drive-In Movie Classics".
The Story of Madman begins at a summer camp. A group of counselors are sitting around a campfire on their last night at the camp. The tale of Madman is told and unfortunately for us is sung as well, by one of the counselors.
Madman Marz was a local farmer who had gone mad and slaughtered his entire family one by one. With an axe in his hand he butchered his wife and children. When the town folk found what he had done they took him out and hung him on a tree. The next day when they went to cut him down...Madman Marz was gone. Disappearing into the woods forever, you must not say his name above a whisper. If you do, he will come for you. And that is exactly what transpires.
After getting a fright from this tale, one of the counselors questions the authenticity of this folk tale and begins shouting out to Madman. The counselor who had told the tale warns him to stop, but the cocky counselor continues to shout his name, "MADMAN"...."MADMAN MARZ"...
In the depths of the woods a form is seen rising and so Madman is reborn. The group of counselors..looking more like the group from the T.V Show "Survivor", all head back to their cabins after hearing this chilling tale. On the way back to their cabins, our counselor who conjured up Mr. Marz hears something in the woods and leaves the pack to go in search of the strange sounds he hears. Meanwhile, the others are back at the cabins. They have dinner..celebrate their last night at the camp...then go off to engage in some heavy petting. When they finally realize that one of the counselors is missing they go in search for him.
The "body count" then begins.
The ferocious bloodshed takes place and one by one our counselors are slaughtered and mutilated.
The murders that take place in this slasher are campy and flawed to the point of laughter.
One scene in particular that's more amusing then suspenseful shows one of the female counselors in the woods looking for her co-worker. She spots someone on the ground. As she kneels down right in front of the body she says "Are you alright?" At this moment the body pops up headless.
Another scene shows a decapitation via a car hood.
This film may not be at all original in plot and is a rip off of "Friday The 13th", but it's fun to watch. I think that the more current films have borrowed a little...for instance, "The Blair Witch Project" with it's plot line of an urban legend of a witch in the woods.
Madman was filmed in Southhampton, Long Island, N.Y. at, "The Fish Cove Inn". With cold weather setting in the cast and crew rushed to make and complete the film. This film had gone on to be nominated for best low budget picture of the year by the Ninth Annual Academy Of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films Awards and made the top 10 Variety list after one week of it's New York opening.
Some say it's one of the best in slashers films, and I have to agree.
DVD Information:
Anchor Bay releases "MADMAN" on both DVD and VHS. The DVD is what i saw and all i can say is that Anchor Bay does it again! Any big fan of the film will be very pleased with the results. Since the only other release that had been in circulation was back in the 80's by Thorn/Emi on VHS. The picture was less then stellar and very poor. Anchor Bay does it's best to bring MADMAN to it's full glory in picture quality. The film is super low budget so there are some dark scenes that contain grain with some that have less saturated colors then others. All in all it is still a very nice picture.
This is most likely the best we will ever see "MADMAN", considering the fact of the films budget and age.
Anchor Bay includes some nice extras on this DVD including an Audio Commentary by the Director, Writer, Producer and two of the actors of the film. We will have an update on what we thought about this later. A Theatrical Trailer that is a little beat up. 5 Television Spots that are fun to watch and a insert booklet containing production notes as well as a reproduction of the original theatrical poster. I love Anchor Bay, I think that a lot of companies need to learn from their production values. They show that they care about collectors wants in their DVD's, especially in films like "MADMAN". You will be very pleased with this Anchor Bay addition. I know I am.
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