Madman features some of the more not even completely laughable but just awkward/amateur acting in a horror movie of its time (Gaylen Ross the obvious exception), while simultaneously featuring incredibly gruesome kills via superb make-up and fx, with a careful and surprisingly intense level of suspense and build-up (sometimes with Creeping-up-on-You synth music, sometimes not), and a killer who I enjoyed immensely as what Ill forever call "Farmer Yeti".
When it comes to what people pay their tickets (or buy their Vinegar Syndrome remastered blu-rays for), it delivers more than expected. This filmmaker - his one and only credit, and I wish we could've seen more of what was in store - has the right stuff when it comes to shooting at night (a number of horror grindhouse trash from this period looks underlit as garbage) and for getting us invested in these genuinely grisly and gritty set pieces.
He also does well by hiding Madman Marz through much of it - perhaps because he has a mask that isn't completely believable sticking to his face once we get to it near the end. So I can largely look past things like that one actress who is still smiling/acting calm(!?) after discovering one of the bodies, or whatever that undressing/sex scene is with the hot tub. I almost look at it as being part of the... charm of the whole thing.
It's a first movie, and looking back on that scale it makes its mark as a memorable slasher; I don't know if it's among the best, but it's very far from a bottom tier. And aside from its own theme song and a title card referencing how these are "gifted children" at this camp (are they on loan from Professor Xavier?)... There is a rare twist for this kind of story in the Final Girl scenario, which gives the ending more of a dark sense of gravity that it does earn. Bottom line here is: I don't know the story as to why Gaylen Ross isn't credited under her name for the movie (I may re-edit this once I watch the documentary) but if it's because she wasnt happy with how it turned out, she might want to give it another look some day.
When it comes to what people pay their tickets (or buy their Vinegar Syndrome remastered blu-rays for), it delivers more than expected. This filmmaker - his one and only credit, and I wish we could've seen more of what was in store - has the right stuff when it comes to shooting at night (a number of horror grindhouse trash from this period looks underlit as garbage) and for getting us invested in these genuinely grisly and gritty set pieces.
He also does well by hiding Madman Marz through much of it - perhaps because he has a mask that isn't completely believable sticking to his face once we get to it near the end. So I can largely look past things like that one actress who is still smiling/acting calm(!?) after discovering one of the bodies, or whatever that undressing/sex scene is with the hot tub. I almost look at it as being part of the... charm of the whole thing.
It's a first movie, and looking back on that scale it makes its mark as a memorable slasher; I don't know if it's among the best, but it's very far from a bottom tier. And aside from its own theme song and a title card referencing how these are "gifted children" at this camp (are they on loan from Professor Xavier?)... There is a rare twist for this kind of story in the Final Girl scenario, which gives the ending more of a dark sense of gravity that it does earn. Bottom line here is: I don't know the story as to why Gaylen Ross isn't credited under her name for the movie (I may re-edit this once I watch the documentary) but if it's because she wasnt happy with how it turned out, she might want to give it another look some day.