Madman

1981 Directed by Joe Giannone

Halloween Marathon Day 12 Film 18

In an endeavor to embrace the slasher genre and remove any modern sensibility I'm going right to the beating heart of the golden age of the genre. 1981 saw the release of many slasher classic sequels like Halloween II and Friday the 13th Part II to My Bloody Valentine and The Burning- to name a few.

The film starts with a jarring title sequence and groovy musical theme to set the tone from the get go- campers telling spooky stories around a campfire. It's a great frame story to set up a meta narrative as the urban legend of the Madman Marz is delivered with grislily foreboding detail. Of course one of the teens tempts fate by shouting his name out into the woods- and it's the suspense of the dark of those woods that puts into the audience's brain that something may really be out there.

One thing about these slasher films is the corduroy costumes and drab hair stylings.. no one really dresses that fabulously in these films. They're everyday characters- with the same sexual tensions of having hormones- either being called a slut for enjoying their sexuality or being repressed. The innuendo is there - from bubbling up Jacuzzi's and close ups of pants and thrown clothes before sex. This becomes an important aspect of an 80s slasher- creating an audience expecting that any moment of sexual connection equals death. A juxtaposition of typical date night anxiety and snuggling up close to comfort from fear.

By the time Madman Marz comes into frame there's never really a full display of his figure. The shadows make him seem even larger than the bigfoot like menace he gives off. Once the kills start they are punctuated like an amusement park ride- often creeping up to the top of suspense and rolling down with dashes of gore. Much like Psycho- the patience in waiting as the audience shouts at the screen makes the fear escalate- as if you could change their fate!

Here the killer brandishes a few variations on this, making it a twisted thrill ride as heads are torn off or gouged or set on meat hooks. In particular I like how the camera plays with the size and heft of this boogeyman- dragging the victim across the ground in a noose as was part of his creation gives more time to wonder if there may be some way out of this. In regards to the "final girl" trope there is a badass girl that gets a shotgun while male victim flees the scene- twisting some of the modern template for slashers. The extended chase scenes are well done and create a moments of hope- but spooky stories don’t always have happy endings.

I love the feeling like you're part of the campfire- listening to this story and wondering what else will go bump in the night.