Silent Madness

A dangerous lunatic escapes from a mental hospital. A girls college is nearby. You figure out what happens next. And if you can't, you haven't seen enough movies. Or I've watched too many. Anyhoo, as the body count rises and we get a couple of obligatory boob shots, no-one believes the one sane female doctor who knows what's going on, so she sets out to stop the guy herself. After all, those vestal virgins ain't gonna be much use in a fight...

Apart from a nostalgic glance at an old Dragon's Lair arcade machine, there is NOTHING that separates this from the surfeit of others slashers from the 80's. Bad hair, awful editing and plot holes are here in abundance. Why for instance, when our mad psycho catches up with the good lady doctor, is she the only victim he doesn't dispatch straightaway... He ties her up (not very well) thus giving her a chance to escape. Not only is he crazy, but also incredibly dumb.

File under FORGETTABLE NONSENSE. Next... 4/10

O.K here is yet another mid-80's slasher film. I remember this film briefly playing in the NYC area. It was originally shown in 3-D. Basically a routine, mental patient escaping from the insane asylum to kill sorority girls film. Overall, it's fairly watchable. Decent pacing and photography help. The sub-plot did not. The little twist at the end worked. The killing sequences were average. I missed it in 3-D so I can't say if the 3-D sequences were good. If anyone saw it in 3-D let me know! I recommend Silent Madness to those who are used to this kind of stuff already. If you only appreciate big scale films, don't bother you won't appreciate it. If you appreciate low budget grind house cinema of the 70's-80's you will enjoy!

Mostly predictable slasher flick with one nice twist towards the end and some fun 3D effects. The story itself sounds more interesting on paper than it ends up in the film, but it's anchored by a great performance by Belinda Montgomery who seems to think she's in a much classier film than she is. Viveca Lindfors chews up the scenery in the best way as the housemother of a sorority where a series of brutal murders took place. It's not a movie you'll remember much about when it's over, but it's not the worst way to spend 90 minutes of your time.

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.