Lectures diaboliques

I remember seeing this as a kid in theaters and it just scared the crap out if me. I still find the whole thing quite disturbing but its also, clever, inspired and entertaining. The movie centers on a young woman working at a book store whom picks up an old, pulp novel entitled I, Madman. It scares the crap out of her and begins to manifest itself as it brutally murders the people close to her. The movie is wonderfully creative and to this day there still hasn't been anything like it. Jenny Wright has Virginia leaves much to be desired in the acting department but all these years later everything just works. It's got that really cool 80s retro feel making for an overly entertaining watch.

7.5/10

Bookstore worker Virginia (Jenny Wright) finds herself the target of a slashing madman (FX guy Randall William Cook) when she starts reading the horror books of Malcolm Brand. The killer is utilizing pieces of his victims in order to reconstruct his mangled face, so this means anyone around Virginia is fair game. Naturally, no one believes her story including her detective boyfriend Richard (Clayton Rohner). Director Tibor Takacs followed up his surprise hit THE GATE (1987) with this interesting horror tale. While it never fully delivers on its awesome premise, I, MADMAN has enough good bits to make it worth seeing and Takacs gets inventive with the camera at times. Look for an in joke where Wright passes a movie theater showing METAL MESSIAH, Takacs' first film. Cook, who also worked on the FX in THE GATE and would go on to win Oscars for THE LORD OF THE RINGS series, is good as the unusual killer and also provided some stop-motion work here. Lead Wright was a bit of a horror staple back in this time period, having done this and NEAR DARK (1987). She hasn't done anything since the late '90s and, sadly, it appears she has a bad substance abuse problem nowadays.

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.

An young woman by the name of Virginia (Jenny Wright) is a fan of horror novels. She works in a used book store. When she reads a novel titled "I,Madman", which is a non-fiction novel. The villain of the novel seems to come out of the book to stalk the young woman and killing the people she knows.

Directed by Tibor Takacs (The Gate 1 & 2) made an entertaining horror fantasy thriller with an sharp performance by the underrated actress-Wright. The film was barely released to theaters in 1989. The film went on to be a Cult Classic. Clayton Rohner (From "April's Fools Day" and the T.V. Short-Lived Series "Good Vs. Evil" fame) co-star as a Police Detective. This is one of the most rarely seen and most underrated horror films of the late 80's. See it. Written by David Chaskin (A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2:Freddy's Revenge, The Curse). (****/*****).

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