Great Film overall

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Virginia (Jenny Wright) works at a used book store and is into horror novels when she discovers an engrossing book from an estate sale. It is called "I, Madman" and it is about an insane doctor (Randy Cook) who cuts off people's noses, ears, and hair and puts them on his face to please a girl he likes.This film never achieved a wide audience in its day, which is unfortunate, and is not as well remembered as the other film featuring the collaboration of Randy Cook and Tibor Takacs, "The Gate". Heck, writer David Chaskin had previously done "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge" and "The Curse" (with Wil Wheaton), so he has a good pedigree, as well. Maybe with the new Scream Factory release, this will change.The movie is a lot of fun, with all the slasher touchstones, plus some excellent cinematography that brings out a variety of lights, darks and vibrant colors (particularly in a flashback scene). Even early on, we have some visual cues to "Nosferatu" which were clearly intended: the mad doctor who looks like Max Schreck, and the hotel employee going up the stairs following his own shadow... not to mention Cook "ripping off Lon Chaney" (his words) in the creation of a villain.The special features on the Scream disc really show how much work and love went into this. A short (roughly ten minute) behind-the-scenes feature has Randy Cook explaining how he had to act, apply his own makeup, and also be responsible for the animation. So after hours on set, he would still be up until two in the morning working on making the creatures fit the scene just right. It is impressive, especially the Jackal Boy, and shows a real dedication (no wonder the man has three Oscars).If that alone was not good enough, there is also a full commentary track with Cook and interviews with various people involved with the picture. Scream has taken a better than average slasher film and made it one of the must-own Blu-rays of 2015: any horror fan will delight in seeing (and hearing) how films such as this are made.

In Los Angeles, the librarian and aspiring actress Virginia (Jenny Wright) works in a bookstore of used books with her friend Mona (Stephanie Hodge) and her boyfriend is the police detective Richard (Clayton Rohner). Virginia is reading an horror book called "I, Madman" written by Malcolm Brand (Randall William Cook) and is impressed with the creepy story of Dr. Alan Kessler, a deranged doctor that takes pieces of his victims. Soon Virginia realizes that the book is non- fictional and everything that she read really happens. She tries to warn Richard, but his superiors believe that Virginia is nutty. But she is frightened since Dr. Kessler's next victim is her. "I, Madman" is a cult-movie with a original story and the gorgeous Jenny Wright from "Near Dark" in the lead role. The movie deserved a better conclusion but anyway is a great horror movie with a wonderful music score. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): Not Available in DVD or Blu-Ray

Well back in the day when I was an impressionable teenager, I couldn't even tell the difference between such things as fact or fiction. That being said I always knew a pretty decent horror movie when I saw one.This little gem first caught my attention when I caught the trailer prior to it's initial release, and much like many a movie with a decent trailer I just knew that I had to see it.The trailer I saw courtesy of Entertainment in Video announced the title as 'Hardcover' Of course I never realised that the movie was actually called 'I Madman' which was the better title, and which currently graces my MGM retail release which is sitting right by my side as I write these very words.The 1980's were a good time for horror movies, and they were also a good time for me when it came time for me discovering the many gems that sprawled themselves across the videostore shelves, I still remember hiring the likes of 'Pumpkinhead' 'Killer Klowns From Outer Space' 'Retribution'.As with most movies that I liked and revered down through the years there have been some that haven't quite stood the test of time, 'Society' springs to mind, that being said, certain elements of 'I Madman' have always remained within my memory.Having just watched the movie prior to writing these words, it struck me just how visually stunning the movie was and more importantly just how good the script written by David Chaskin was.Filled with many a wonderful set piece, director Tibor Takacs really knew what to do with the camera, and aided superbly by the acting talent he had to work with, Jenny Wright as Virginia the bookstore clerk who begins to find herself immersed within the hideous world of the mad scribe Malcolm Brand, always had a very distinct acting style, very distant but always alluring, a prime example of this was her star turn in Eric Red's ultra cool 'Near Dark'.Also on hand and acquitting himself admirably was Clayton Rohner, (who I'll always remember from Nigel Dick's 'P.I. Private Investigation')as Virginia's detective boyfriend, who can't quite bring himself to believe anything that Virginia's tells him, as he attributes her flights of fancy to her taste in reading material written by the villain of the piece Malcolm Brand.If truth be told one of the best performances in the movie comes from Murray Rubin as Brand's publisher Sidney Zeit, the way he talks, his mannerisms and the interior of his office just encapsulate that closed in world of the low rent publisher.Kudos also must go to Randall William Cook, who not only does he appear as the titular on screen villain, but he also doubled as the special effects creator, truly rocks as the lovesick Brand, who'd do just about anything for the love of his life(and if you haven't seen the movie, just wait and see and wait for your jaw to drop when you see what he's done to his facial features).Director Takacs might not have directed anything of note in the last decade of so, but this movie along with the original 'The Gate' stand as a testament to his directing talents and as for scriptwriter David Chaskin, yes he might have been lambasted for his scripting of 'Nightmare On Elm Street 2' but through this movie he truly showed that he really had an ear for good dialogue and attention to detail when it came to setting a good gore laden set piece.It really is too bad that the MGM release doesn't have a director's commentary attached to it, as it would have been nice to hear how the movie was financed and put together.This movie would make a good companion piece with John Carpenter's 'In The Mouth Of Madness' and as a stand alone feature, this horror movie really delivers upon the promise of it's trailer and it's artwork cover, plus it's a true testament to it's abilities to chill and entertain twenty plus years later.Loose yourself in this great little horror curio tonight, you'll be awful glad you did! Without hesitation, 10/10

The setup here is a typical fold. An actress has a day job in a book store. She reads horror books and imagines herself in them. One day, she comes across an author who, when writing, had the story and real life merge. In reading the books, they "come alive."Her actor and book friends (plus a pianist) are murdered to provide parts of the writers face. This is such a clever idea that it attracted me to dig out this old project. The writer even understood the redhead thing: the first murder is to get the red hair of an actress we see playing Desdemona. Natch, the boyfriend is a police detective assigned to the case.What we see is simply turning the crank, but when do poor production values bother kids? The idea is the thing. It isn't a folded gialli, instead a dim reference. But its better at root than "Stay Alive," a similarly folded kiddiething with which I saw this.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.