Silent Madness

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.

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).

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...

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!