Summer camp for teenagers. The counselors and children sit around a campfire and, as usual, tell scary stories. Max is the last one to speak. He tells them that not far from the camp, beyond the woods, there once lived an ordinary farmer who drank a lot, fought in the local bar, and beat his children and wife. One day he went completely “crazy,” took an axe and chopped up his whole family, and then disappeared forever. Max adds that if you say the farmer’s name loudly, “Mad Marz,” he will appear out of the woods. One counselor jokingly shouts Marz’s name, after which everyone retreats to their rooms to prepare for bed.

According to the legend, a maniac shows up at camp and begins killing teenagers one by one…

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The wonderful slasher “Madman”, directed by Joe Gianonn back in 1982, can rightfully be considered one of the best works in this genre of that remarkable era. The picture is perfect in almost all parameters, and is sure to please all fans of the genre who appreciate the paintings of the “golden epic of slashers”.

The film tells the story of Marz, an ugly maniac who lives in the woods, where by an unfortunate coincidence a few young people find themselves, whom this maniac begins to methodically exterminate and carry out bloody massacres.

The film is incredibly atmospheric. The action takes place at a summer camp, which is by no means a minus (after all, the famous horror sagas “Friday the 13th” and “Sleeping Camp” and Tony Maylem’s awesome slasher “Incineration” are all set in a summer camp, too), but rather looks like a kind of love-cultivation for slasher films on the same theme.

The maniac is terrific. He’s big, bearded and ugly, and his name is Marz. He once lived on a farm not far from the camp, where scary stories are still told about him sitting around the campfire at night. He was an ordinary “hard worker” who fed his family, beat his wife and children, drank at the local bar, and led the life of a rough, rude farmhand with a difficult temper. Then one day Marz went mad, took an axe and hacked his entire family to death, then disappeared forever. Nothing has been heard of him since, but there is a belief that if you shout his name – Mad Marz – loudly, he will appear from the forest thicket and kill those who summon him. As a joke, one of the counselors shouts his name, after which everyone forgets about it and goes to bed. However, Marz shows up from the woods and starts killing teenagers…

So, the maniac is very successful. This is my favorite type – when you know who he is from the beginning, at first he presents himself as a creepy legend, but then it turns out to be true and he starts committing massacres. By the way, there’s a funny story about the role of the maniac: just at the time of shooting, the actor found out that his wife had given birth to a child, and rushed to the hospital, realizing on the way that he had forgotten to take off his makeup…

The direction is good, as has been written above, the atmosphere is excellent – the night, the camp, the woods, and the maniac who preys on the local youth. Joe Giannone, in addition, also wrote the screenplay, so that is also a definite plus.

The camerawork is also excellent – the camera does not turn away in the murder episodes, the tension is built up thanks to the many episodes that have already become iconic in the genre. Also, the camera doesn’t shake, nor is it static.

The music is also good – it serves as an excellent background for the narration, gloomy tracks prevail here, again, in the best traditions of the genre. The music perfectly complements the overall atmosphere and forms a perfect harmony with the picture.

Undoubtedly, “The Madman” is a film that all fans of old American slashers should watch. When you watch films like this, you understand where the modern representatives of the genre invariably get their inspiration and some of the key techniques that were first tried back then. Of course, “Mad Men” is not at all pioneering in terms of these very effects, but it belongs to an era when they were not yet as commonplace as they are now. It’s true that 1982 was the beginning of the eighties, hence the beginning, the heyday of the wonderful “slasher” genre in America. And “Madman” is one of those amazing, immortal films that now look like a true treasure of the genre. It’s a magnificent work!

Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (89.6 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
English: Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles
English SDH.