Madman

Alternate titles : Madman Marz, The Killing Axe, The Schizophrenic

Tagline : "If you say his name above a whisper...he'll come for YOU!"

Yet another 80's slasher film, with more than a passing resemblance to "Friday the 13th", in which a group of hapless teens at a summer camp (how original) end up getting massacred by a maniac wielding an axe .

Whilst sat around the campfire one evening, one of the older counsellors at a youth summer camp tells the others about a local legend named Madman Mars, who supposedly haunts the surrounding woods and if you say his name louder than a whisper, he'll come get you with his trusty axe. Notwithstanding, one of the drunken counsellors proceeds to immediately starts yelling "Come on and get us Madman Mars" and pelts a rock at the nearby derelict farmhouse that he supposedly lived in many years ago (not a good idea)!

The film wastes practically no time getting on with the subsequent gore, as the enraged Madman duly emerges from the trees and follows them back to camp, where he proceeds to pick them off one-by-one. The counsellors don't exactly do themselves any favours in this respect by heading into the woods alone to look for their missing friends, only to meet a similarly grisly fate. Some of the more interesting gory highlights include one of the counsellors getting an axe in the chest, and another being decapitated by his car bonnet whilst trying to fix the engine.

Many horror fans will undoubtedly know this as being the only other horror film that Gaylen Ross (from Dawn of the Dead) has appeared in. Whilst the film may not be a horror classic, it is still a hugely enjoyable slice of 80's slasher mayhem!

Overall Marks : 6/10.

Terrifying Trivia

• Alternate tag Lines : "They thought they were alone", "Deep in the woods, lurks a hideous evil... Don't even whisper his name!"
• Gaylen Ross, despite being well known to horror fans from her role in "Dawn of the Dead", was credited under her stage name "Alexis Dubin" in this.
• The film was originally going to be shot at a ranch in the mountains of upstate New York, but the location was changed to a holiday resort at Fish Cove, Long Island, as the actors were able to sleep over there between shoots, and not have to be ferried to and from their homes.
• The producers had wanted to get Vincent Price to play the role of Max, who tells the kids the story of Madman Mars around the campfire during the films intro. However, owing to the films low budget nature and them only being able to secure non-union actors, they were not able to hire him.
• As the film was supposed to be set during the summertime, the crew had a full time job trying to disguise the fact it was being filmed ing the Autumn and had to resort to spray painting the dying leaves green and replanting bushes from other parts of the forest.
• The film was based on an urban legend told to many kids at American summer camps about a Madman named "Cropsey" who haunts the woods. However, whilst filming, they found out that Mirimax pictures were making a similar film entitled "The Burning" which was based on the same legend. So midway through production, they had to change a lot of the script to try and distance itself from the other picture.
• The truck used in the film was purchased second hand from a private individual. However, because it kept breaking down the director cancelled the cheque and subsequently got taken to court after filming had finished. The truck was abandoned at the shoot as no-one could afford to get it repaired and was still there rusting away several years later.
• Paul Ehlers, who played Madman Marz, was filming a scene when he received a phone call that his wife, who was heavily pregnant, had gone into labour. As he didn't have time to change and get cleaned up before leaving set, he had to rush into the hospital still in full make up and in costume, to be by her side.

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