Silent Madness

I recently saw a nice 35mm print of this in a collection of a friend who had a print that hadn't been run that he had held onto for 20 years. Appropriately enough, I saw it on Halloween.

The film itself is entertaining and keeps the viewer's attention. It's a generally psychological thriller about a killer that through the error of a psych ward that's been having seedy events behind the scenes. Most of the plot is predictable, and the acting is pretty mediocre, but the cinematography and good locations coupled with some clever moments make this one worth seeking out (even moreso in 3-D).

Some notes about the film: Apparently it opened in LA in 3D and pretty much did a roadshow tour. By the time it hit NY, it was being shown flat, which goes to show it really sort of hit the tail end of the 3D craze of the early 80s, which is too bad, because the photography in this one is tenfold that of anything else that was being done at the time (it was done with the over-under polaroid process, not anaglyph, and this was the way it was presented to me). Several murders have some great effects that really work well in the 3-D.

The film, while not being totally obscured with nobodies, does rise to the occasion with some character actors. The sheriff, a security guard and the housemother of the college make for some interesting roles and those actors/actresses stuck out in my mind as being some of the most memorable portrayals. Not too much gore, and everything is done well enough to leave the imagination up to the rest. My hands got sweaty during the show, so I was somewhat tense.

Worth catching if you can, particularly for an indie production. 7/10

This is a relatively well written and well shot 80s Slasher film that deserves to be better known. The acting by the main actors stands up (a few of the extras are a little weak but that adds to the 80s Slasher charm), and the story, while not the greatest, is definitely good enough for the genre. There's a pretty high kill count, and actually more than one bad guy (there's a couple "sub" bad guys).

Now, it's pretty important what cut of this movie you end up watching, as many are heavily edited as well as poorly cropped. I grabbed the latest Vinegar Syndrome release which has been beautifully restored as well as released in 2D, the original anaglyph 3D as well as an amazing Blu-Ray 3D release (for those few movie nerds like me that still have a 3D TV kicking around).

Silent Madness was originally shown in 3-D in the mid-80's. Basically it is your average sorority girl slasher film. A mental patient is accidently released from a hospital and pretty soon college kids are being killed. The murder sequences are decent and I'm sure the 3-D helped the scenes, even though I never saw the film in 3-D since it's theatrical run was probably like 6 days! Throw in a little twist ending and you have a solid genre offering!

Due to budgetary constraints and human error, homicidal madman Howard Johns (Solly Marx) is released from a mental institution. Dr. Joan Gilmore (Belinda Montgomery) attempts to figure out what went wrong, while Johns heads for a sorority house for a night of murderous mayhem.

SILENT MADNESS is another forgotten slasher from the golden age of the sub-genre. As such, it has a certain charm. All of the prerequisites are in place: A maniac on a mission, beautiful female victims, nudity, gore, and an explanatory flashback sequence.

The sorority sisters are all suitably silly, and Marx's goggle-eyed portrayal of Johns is gleefully crazy. Ms. Montgomery is believably exasperated.

An enjoyable enough ball of bloody yarn.

Watch for Sydney Lassick as the Sheriff and Viveca Lindfors as the -underused- house mother...

Reasonably obscure, low-budget comprised b-grade slasher item with a misogynistic edge (though light exploitation) and with a scathing blast on the processes of a mental hospital. As it stands there's nothing really out of the ordinary, but for such a trimmed production it's commendably done, as I went in expecting something truly inept. Still some might find it so and it's not completely flawless. While the death sequences can look laughably kitsch, few do show bits of innovation (though the killer seems to pick off whoever is about with no real pattern to it) and some scenes looked like they were made for novelty 3D, and coming to this site I found out it was the case.

Howard Jones is a psychotic in Cresthaven asylum, who ten years ago massacred some sorority sisters at the Omega Sorority house. By accident he's released into society, and heads back to Barrington where the original massacre occurred. Dr. Joan Gilmore discovers the mishap and tries to get something done about it, but the staffs seem to want to cover it up. So Gilmore goes to Barrington to convince them that Jones has returned, before he begins his bloody rampage again.

Quite predictable and dry, until it crops up with a shock ending (that's obviously hinted early on) and an unusual revelation that kind of brings it down to tell the truth. The pacing is too limp, as little bit of urgency would have not gone astray. Director Simon Nuchtern's genetic handling has its moments, by managing to build upon the characters and ominously growing situation. Sure sometimes it was clunky, but he tries with the tired material at hand. However being diluted of suspense and atmosphere, it wallowed on murkiness and a clumsy sounding score that incoherently pounded out the notes/cues.

The characters aren't particularly sympathetic, but Belinda Montgomery as Dr. Gilmore is believably resistant in her solid portrayal. Roderick Cook enthusiastically works as one of mischievous doctors and Sydney Lassick is rather facetious as the lazy sheriff. Viveca Lindfors shines in her small part and Jeffrey Bringham was sturdy as the psychotic killer. Low-budget horror/b-movie fans will have a treat with the support cast with likes of Solly Marx (who's mainly a stunt-man), Katherine Kamhi, Paul DeAngelo, Dennis Helfend, Paige Lyn Price and the sorely forgotten b-actress the lovely Elizabeth Kaitan.

An undemanding slasher effort, though make sure get the uncut version.