I, Madman (1989)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Tibor Takács

Writer (WGA):

David Chaskin (written by)

Release Date:

13 October 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

is it fact, fiction, or your worst nightmare escaping from between the pages of a...

Plot:

Virginia works at a used book store. She's really into horror novels and discovers a really good book...

Plot Keywords:

Book | Part Stop Motion | Supernatural | Murder | Obsession

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Jenny Wright	...	Virginia
Clayton Rohner	...	Richard
Randall William Cook	...	Dr. Kessler / Malcolm Brand
Stephanie Hodge	...	Mona
Michelle Jordan	...	Colette
Vance Valencia	...	Sgt. Navarro
Mary Baldwin	...	Librarian
Raf Nazario	...	Lyle, Hotel Clerk (as Rafael Nazario)
Bob Frank	...	Hotel Manager
Bruce Wagner	...	Pianist
Kevin Best	...	Black Actor
Steven Memel	...	Lenny
Vincent Lucchesi	...	Lt. Garber
Murray Rubin	...	Sidney Zeit
Tom Badal	...	Composite Artist

Also Known As:

Hardcover (Europe: English title) (video title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Germany:16 | Australia:M | France:-12 | UK:18 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Sarliu/Diamant

Trivia:

A theater in the background in one scene is supposedly showing Metal Messiah (1978), director 'Tibor Takacs'' feature film debut.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: The shadows of the crew and equipment can be seen when Virginia enters her apartment carrying her groceries.

Movie Connections:

References Metal Messiah (1978)

Soundtrack:

Piano Sonata No. 3, Opus 58

Unexceptional 80s horror.

Pretty bookworm Virginia (Jenny Wright) likes nothing more than to curl up in her flat with a good book and, in her opinion, a good book is anything written by Malcolm Brand, a pulp horror author with a decidedly mysterious past.

Virginia gets her paws on a copy of Brand's second and final book, 'I, Madman', which he wrote whilst in an asylum. The book tells the tale of a poet who, rejected by the one he loves for being too ugly, hacks off his features with a razor and replaces them with pieces from those he kills. Virginia soon regrets her choice of reading matter when the killer from the book appears in reality and begins to murder those around her.

Tibor Takács, who gave us the silly but fun monster movie THE GATE (1987), tries hard with this tragic tale of a writer whose unrequited love drives him to madness and murder, but he ultimately fails to deliver anything special. The film is fairly slow and has more than its fair share of dumb moments, which I would have been willing to forgive had the movie been much much scarier; but with the killer eventually sporting the red hair of an actress and the pouty lips of a bookstore assistant, I couldn't help but be decidedly unafraid. A dodgy looking stop-motion monster also brought a smile to my face, the supposedly terrifying creature looking like some kind of bow-legged dog-boy.

I, MADMAN is a good example of a nice idea trapped in a mediocre film.