Review: I, Madman (1989)
By William Pattison
This time I got a freaky slasher/noir film that delves into
the thin line between reality and fantasy…
Virginia works at a used book store. She's really into
horror novels and discovers a really good book. It's called "I,
Madman" and it's about an insane doctor who cuts off people's noses, ears,
and hair and puts them on his face to please a girl he likes. Only Virginia
discovers that the book is nonfiction, and every time she picks up the book to
read it, she sees him. The insane doctor from the book has escaped the book
into our reality.
This is a very excentric film that is brilliant because of
it it’s oddness.
Though this film was made in the 80s, it harken back to
films of the 50s and even has a scene that is pure Hitchcock. Also, it is at
times classic noir, right down to the music.
Randel Williams plays the part of the killer while also
being the guy who created all the makeup FX for the film, much like Lon Chaney
Sr did with the films he was in. How this happened was that the person the
director hired to play the killer backed out at the last minute. Williams knew
the script by heart, and was a very creepy person anyway. So he was offered the
part and he happily took on the double duty. He actually became the standout in
the film, well, next to the stop motion hyena boy. William’s voice and gestures
add a lot to the character.
Jenny Wright is the perfect choice for actress/book fan Virginia.
She adds just enough vulnerability and quirkiness to make the audience actually
care about her fate. The only weakness I find in her storyline is that it is
her boyfriend who is the lead detective, played by Clayton Rohner,
investigating the murders. In the real world he would have to bow out because
of his relationship with his lead witness. But this is I, Madman and it runs by
its own rules.
Also, we come to the most freakiest decision of this
freakshow of a movie, The Hyena Boy. This is one of the most freaky and unrealic
part of the film. This thing is called the Hyena Boy, but it doesn’t look like
a boy or a hyena or even a high red of
each. This gray skinned thing looks sort of like a monkey, dog mix. It
doesn’t help the sound department used monkey squeels. Any other film this “thing”
would be a disaster, but in this film it’s
charming.
This film is very unique and is a creature of it’s own. It is a film I’ve gone back to over a hundred times because each time I find some new newance or little thing that adds to the oddity that is this film. And, it is this aspect that makes this film AWESOMETACULAR!!!
