As Good As It Gets

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

There are some actually really good obscure slasher movies from the 80s. This is not one of them.As much as I love watching these films, this one didn't finish well for me. Which is a little odd because there were some good gory scenes, but I think what might've ruined it for me is the monster-like element in "Madman Marz". Every time he's in a scene you pretty much see his inhuman creature-like hands, and he makes stupid noises in his scenes. The acting also wasn't the best from some of the cast.This could totally just be me though. I mean, it wasn't terrible. While I won't recommend it, I totally say you can give it a try. I can't ignore that there were some good gore scenes to see.

This time capsule from the Golden Age of slasher movies utilizes every single touchstone of the genre with such abandon that anyone who has seen a handful of offerings from the era can probably predict every step of the action before it unfolds. But thanks to a suitably intimidating killer and a generous dollop of gore, Madman has enough spunk to be a fairly entertaining diversion.The film opens with our future victims huddled around a campfire hearing the tale of the film's titular Madman, and while this exact same set-up appears in nearly every "teens in the woods" splatter movie from the period, it's worth noting that since Madman was released fairly early in the cycle (1982), this establishing scene had not yet been rendered cliché. For what it's worth, this is the only slasher film I've seen in which the killer's legend is actually SUNG by one the characters, so Madman certainly scores a few dubious points for originality there.Once the ball gets rolling, everything else pretty much runs by the book. The victims-to-be are a bevy of uninteresting counselors at a camp for "gifted children", and after we've been filled in on the baritone back-story, they pair off to have sex and/or pointless conversations before finding increasingly foolish reasons to wander off into the woods alone.Madman Marz is the hulking behemoth the hapless counselors encounter amidst the trees, and in terms of sheer size, he is certainly an imposing presence. Unfortunately, the glimpses we get of him seem to suggest a sasquatch on the loose instead of a deranged killer. His bloody handiwork is a bit more impressive than his furry jowls, however, so that aspect of the film ably delivers the goods.Along with the grue, the film also boasts some priceless moments of unintentional hilarity. A definite high-point is that one of the male counselors is named T.P., a moniker he's apparently so proud of that he has it printed on his belt buckle. This buckle is a prominent feature in the funniest scene in the movie, which features a lugubrious montage of him and his lover slowly disrobing for a dip in the jacuzzi, accompanied by the most atrocious soft-core porn music you've ever heard.Certainly, this wasn't the first or last slasher movie to feature an ensemble of overwhelmingly brain-dead characters, but the zeal with which this crew invites their own demises is often astounding here. The general train of thought which sets up most of the murders is essentially, "some people are missing, and now the people who went looking for the missing people are missing too, so we should split up and go search the pitch black woods for them by ourselves." Later in the film, an even sharper lad bumps into his hysterical girlfriend, who has just seen the mountainous Madman appraising the decapitated body of his latest victim. His brilliant and comforting solution is to have her take him to where the killer is so that he can see exactly what she saw and "make sure". You can probably guess how that turns out.But wait, there's more. The same hysterical girlfriend, while being chased later in the film by the rampaging murderer, finds the most novel and sensible place to hide that I've ever seen utilized in a horror film... inside a refrigerator. I already knew refrigerators were useful for many things, including keeping food fresh and protecting Indiana Jones from atomic explosions, but it never occurred to me that they also offered perfect safe havens from pursuing mass murderers. Even better, Marz is about ten feet away from his shrieking prey when she loudly removes the contents from the unit to make room for her, and despite his proximity and the scattered food strewn all over the ground, the Madman apparently doesn't think to look inside the fridge. Yes, locking herself inside a refrigerator actually SAVES her. This is a plot twist I never saw coming, especially in a film this paint-by-numbers, so kudos to Madman for offering at least one big surprise. Sure, she eventually catches an axe to the chest, but that's what she gets for leaving the safety of the oxygen-less icebox.To the film's credit, the stereotypical final confrontation between the killer and the lone female survivor doesn't adhere to the same stringent formula that the rest of the movie does. Though the last frames before the credits are decidedly silly, the very fact that the film-makers did things a bit different is certainly admirable.I know it sounds like I'm being hard on poor, monkey-faced Madman Marz, but since the movie is just a big slice of pure, dumb fun, it's only fitting to celebrate the more ludicrous aspects of it. The best part of many of the early '80s slasher pics was how rife they were with accidental humor, and Madman offers up a healthy dose which ultimately only makes it more entertaining. If you love that period of cinematic history as much as I do, this is definitely one you should add to your list.

Exceptional cinematography (blue and black always works in backwoods slashers), raw death sequences (all about the NASTY hanging of T.P.!), cheesy moments (all about the kitsch romantic dance followed by sex inside a jacuzzi!), a creepy villain, a spooky song about the legend of Madman. Those are the principal elements that make this slasher a winner.Although cheesy and at some points slow-moving, "Madman" deserves a chance because it surely is a damn entertaining slasher. Sure, it steals plenty of moments from "Friday the 13th" but also delivers unique moments of madness. WTF? about the girl hiding in the fridge?! This moment can be ignored when Madman pays tribute to "Black Christmas" (you know, the "eye" scene).What about showing the demises of all the characters when a guy is singing the spooky song around a campfire?! Neat!I recommend this one for those who love slashers flicks. I can't say more.P.S. R.I.P. T.P.!

The major box office success of "Friday the 13th" naturally beget a handful of cash-in copies that include "The Final Terror," "Sleepaway Camp," "The Burning," and "Madman." Interestingly enough, "The Burning," "Sleepaway Camp," and "Madman" were all shot in upstate New York. In fact, both "The Burning" and "Madman" were inspired by a popular local folkloric New York summer camp legend know as the Kropsy Maniac, a creepy Catskills Mountains boogeyman figure who was the true stuff of spooky campfire tall tale fodder.Granted, the thoroughly hackneyed and derivative story isn't anything special: A camp counselor tells the frightening tale of Madman Marz, a mean-as-they-come hometown psycho who got strung up by a lynch mob after he butchered his family. The legend goes that if anyone says Madman Marz's name out loud, the vicious backwoods lunatic will embark on another killing spree. Of course, some smartaleck punk kid does precisely that, so our burly, grunting, scraggly-haired, overalls-wearing, ax-swinging, none too friendly or hospitable villain proceeds to bump off the cast in assorted gruesome ways (the infamous decapitation by pick-up truck hood rates as the definite grisly highlight). Surprisingly, Joe Giannone's competent direction manages to wring a sizable amount of tension and spooky atmosphere from the shopworn premise while the well-developed characters are more engaging than usual (Gaylen Ross of "Dawn of the Dead" fame is especially appealing as spunky heroine Betsy). James Momel's divinely crisp and eerie nighttime cinematography delivers several genuinely striking images such as the stunningly composed shot of Marz's scary shadowy figure watching the counselors while perched atop a tree. Moreover, we also get an unintentionally hilarious hot tub sex scene complete with an uproariously sappy love ballad mewling away on the soundtrack while an amorous young couple does just what you think and a first-rate folk theme song that plays over the ending credits recapitulating Marz's ghastly exploits along with accompanying hideous visuals. And let's not forget our pertinent morality lesson for the day: Some urban legends are certainly grounded in genuine fact and thus should be treated with respect because of their grim authenticity. Beware the Madman Marz!