IMDb RATING
5.9/10
4.1K
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A bookshop clerk and wannabe actress starts seeing the disfigured killer from her 1950s pulp novels come to life and start killing people around her. She tries to convince her cop boyfriend,... Read allA bookshop clerk and wannabe actress starts seeing the disfigured killer from her 1950s pulp novels come to life and start killing people around her. She tries to convince her cop boyfriend, but to no avail.A bookshop clerk and wannabe actress starts seeing the disfigured killer from her 1950s pulp novels come to life and start killing people around her. She tries to convince her cop boyfriend, but to no avail.
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
Michelle Fozounmayeh
- Colette
- (as Michelle Jordan)
Raf Nazario
- Lyle, Hotel Clerk
- (as Rafael Nazario)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
Although everything about this movie (especially the title) suggests that it must be trash, surprisingly enough it isn't. The plot involves a girl who likes reading scary books and one day finds that the events of the book she is reading, called "I, Madman", start to repeat themselves in reality. It has the logic of a dream - that is, no logic at all, - but don't see this one for the sake of the plot. What lifts it out of the B-movie pit is the imaginative way the seedy world of trashy novels from the 50s is recreated on screen; the smartly executed shifts between fantasy and reality, past and present; Jenny Wright's appealing and intelligent heroine; and finally, the director's genuine feeling for the atmosphere of time and place. It is a little like a cross between Cornell Woolrich and a mad doctor horror movie. Do not try to figure out why things are happening, just enjoy the way this film is so different from anything else. A totally unexpected pleasure.
In Los Angeles, the librarian and aspiring actress Virginia (Jenny Wright) works in a bookstore of used books with her friend Mona (Stephanie Hodge) and her boyfriend is the police detective Richard (Clayton Rohner). Virginia is reading an horror book called "I, Madman" written by Malcolm Brand (Randall William Cook) and is impressed with the creepy story of Dr. Alan Kessler, a deranged doctor that takes pieces of his victims. Soon Virginia realizes that the book is non- fictional and everything that she read really happens. She tries to warn Richard, but his superiors believe that Virginia is nutty. But she is frightened since Dr. Kessler's next victim is her.
"I, Madman" is a cult-movie with a original story and the gorgeous Jenny Wright from "Near Dark" in the lead role. The movie deserved a better conclusion but anyway is a great horror movie with a wonderful music score. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Prefácio da Morte" ("Preface of the Death") - availble only on VHS Note: On 14 Jun 2022, I saw this film again.
"I, Madman" is a cult-movie with a original story and the gorgeous Jenny Wright from "Near Dark" in the lead role. The movie deserved a better conclusion but anyway is a great horror movie with a wonderful music score. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Prefácio da Morte" ("Preface of the Death") - availble only on VHS Note: On 14 Jun 2022, I saw this film again.
Virginia (Jenny Wright) works at a used book store and is into horror novels when she discovers an engrossing book from an estate sale. It is called "I, Madman" and it is about an insane doctor (Randy Cook) who cuts off people's noses, ears, and hair and puts them on his face to please a girl he likes.
This film never achieved a wide audience in its day, which is unfortunate, and is not as well remembered as the other film featuring the collaboration of Randy Cook and Tibor Takacs, "The Gate". Heck, writer David Chaskin had previously done "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge" and "The Curse" (with Wil Wheaton), so he has a good pedigree, as well. Maybe with the new Scream Factory release, this will change.
The movie is a lot of fun, with all the slasher touchstones, plus some excellent cinematography that brings out a variety of lights, darks and vibrant colors (particularly in a flashback scene). Even early on, we have some visual cues to "Nosferatu" which were clearly intended: the mad doctor who looks like Max Schreck, and the hotel employee going up the stairs following his own shadow... not to mention Cook "ripping off Lon Chaney" (his words) in the creation of a villain.
The special features on the Scream disc really show how much work and love went into this. A short (roughly ten minute) behind-the-scenes feature has Randy Cook explaining how he had to act, apply his own makeup, and also be responsible for the animation. So after hours on set, he would still be up until two in the morning working on making the creatures fit the scene just right. It is impressive, especially the Jackal Boy, and shows a real dedication (no wonder the man has three Oscars).
If that alone was not good enough, there is also a full commentary track with Cook and interviews with various people involved with the picture. Scream has taken a better than average slasher film and made it one of the must-own Blu-rays of 2015: any horror fan will delight in seeing (and hearing) how films such as this are made.
This film never achieved a wide audience in its day, which is unfortunate, and is not as well remembered as the other film featuring the collaboration of Randy Cook and Tibor Takacs, "The Gate". Heck, writer David Chaskin had previously done "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge" and "The Curse" (with Wil Wheaton), so he has a good pedigree, as well. Maybe with the new Scream Factory release, this will change.
The movie is a lot of fun, with all the slasher touchstones, plus some excellent cinematography that brings out a variety of lights, darks and vibrant colors (particularly in a flashback scene). Even early on, we have some visual cues to "Nosferatu" which were clearly intended: the mad doctor who looks like Max Schreck, and the hotel employee going up the stairs following his own shadow... not to mention Cook "ripping off Lon Chaney" (his words) in the creation of a villain.
The special features on the Scream disc really show how much work and love went into this. A short (roughly ten minute) behind-the-scenes feature has Randy Cook explaining how he had to act, apply his own makeup, and also be responsible for the animation. So after hours on set, he would still be up until two in the morning working on making the creatures fit the scene just right. It is impressive, especially the Jackal Boy, and shows a real dedication (no wonder the man has three Oscars).
If that alone was not good enough, there is also a full commentary track with Cook and interviews with various people involved with the picture. Scream has taken a better than average slasher film and made it one of the must-own Blu-rays of 2015: any horror fan will delight in seeing (and hearing) how films such as this are made.
I'm shocked - SHOCKED that this is not a more popular cult horror movie.
Yes, the performances are not Oscar Caliber. They aren't even regional playhouse award caliber.
But! There is definitely a very strong atmospheric feel and some fantastic makeup and set decoration. How many avid readers in your life would be in absolute heaven getting lost in the bookstore that's in the movie? Spoiler: all of them.
The books on which the plot hinges truly feels like a book that's as used and battered as the main villain.
The biggest weak point is, unfortunately, the main actress, Jenny Wright. I just watched her in Near Dark and she was fantastic. This movie came out later. So, perhaps it lies in the directions she was given?
Additionally, the police in this movie act like what I believe real police would act like. They work on what few clues they have and aren't treating the main girl as a looney.
Again, not the best horror, and it is a tad goofy, but as a cult movie? You could do a lot worse.
Yes, the performances are not Oscar Caliber. They aren't even regional playhouse award caliber.
But! There is definitely a very strong atmospheric feel and some fantastic makeup and set decoration. How many avid readers in your life would be in absolute heaven getting lost in the bookstore that's in the movie? Spoiler: all of them.
The books on which the plot hinges truly feels like a book that's as used and battered as the main villain.
The biggest weak point is, unfortunately, the main actress, Jenny Wright. I just watched her in Near Dark and she was fantastic. This movie came out later. So, perhaps it lies in the directions she was given?
Additionally, the police in this movie act like what I believe real police would act like. They work on what few clues they have and aren't treating the main girl as a looney.
Again, not the best horror, and it is a tad goofy, but as a cult movie? You could do a lot worse.
Even though the premise sounds very ordinary and repetitive, this late 80's thriller features an unusually great deal of tension and slick elements. Tibor Tikács' (love the name) "I, Madman" focuses on a young woman Virginia obsessed by reading bloody horror novels. She recently discovered the oeuvre of a bizarre but stylish writer named Malcolm Brand. Especially his book "I, Madman" fascinates her as it describes the acts of a horribly deformed doctor who kills people in order to make an actress fall in love with him. But fiction turns into reality when Virginia finds herself chased by the book's eerie doctor and murders are committed all around her. This film contains a few very bloody sequences but it's not at all a gore flick like so many other similar productions from that decade. The power merely lies in the subtly build up suspense-scenes (with excellent depressing images of a nearly pauperized city) and, especially, the presence of an ultra-grim monster! This mad doctor/writer/hurt romanticist is a fine horror creation that'll certainly appeal to every fan of the genre. Jenny Wright gives away a fairly good acting performance as the petrified heroine. Horror fanatics will surely recognize her from the outstanding vampire film "Near Dark" and a few years after this, she stars in "the Lawnmower Man", next to Pierce Brosnan. The hunky guy who plays her boyfriend Richard isn't very convincing as the police detective, though.
Horror in the 80's got marked by a few obvious milestones (The Evil Dead, Day of the Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street ) and an overload of meaningless slashers. Between all those, there are a couple of worthy gems to discover, and "I, Madman" definitely is one of them. Tikács did a professional directing job here and he clearly controls the horror tactics well. This unquestionably is his best work as he later made the overly silly "The Gate" films
Horror in the 80's got marked by a few obvious milestones (The Evil Dead, Day of the Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street ) and an overload of meaningless slashers. Between all those, there are a couple of worthy gems to discover, and "I, Madman" definitely is one of them. Tikács did a professional directing job here and he clearly controls the horror tactics well. This unquestionably is his best work as he later made the overly silly "The Gate" films
Did you know
- TriviaWas retitled "Hard Cover" for Australia.
- GoofsThe shadows of the crew and equipment can be seen when Virginia enters her apartment carrying her groceries.
- How long is I, Madman?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $205
- Runtime
- 1h 29m(89 min)
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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