Pedestrian Grade B knockoff of “Friday the 13th”
It’s the end of the season at a youth camp on the remote end of Long Island and a legendary mad backwoodsman appears on the final night to pick off the counselors. Gaylen Ross (as Alexis Dubin) from “Dawn of the Dead” (1978) appears as one of the protagonists.
Seeing “Madman” (1981) makes you realize the excellence of “Friday the 13th” (1980). It has the same basic setting and plot with a promising opening that borrows from “The Fog” (1980), not to mention a crazy ax-wielding killer that recalls “The Shining” (1980). But it never rises above a flat experience, although it has some nice nocturnal camp mood.
The fact that everything takes place within a few hours on the same night doesn’t help because there are no daytime scenes; and so the story’s just too one-dimensional for a movie that runs almost an hour and a half. Some dull scenes unnecessarily drag on and could’ve been cut in half. Another negatory is that the director/writer has no eye for capturing women on film; and I’m not talking about nudity or sleaze.
Still, if you favor the “Friday the 13th” flicks and don’t mind a subpar copy, “Madman” should fill the bill, although that’s about it. At least the titular character’s make-up is well done. He’s sort of like Bigfoot if he were human and liked axes.
The movie runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot entirely at Fish Cove Inn, Southampton, Long Island, New York.
GRADE: C/C-
