I, Madman



Synopsis

Jenny Wright is Virginia. She works at a used bookstore by day, and by night freaks herselfout with the frightening books of Malcolm Brand. Her life becomes a nightmare when themonstrous protagonist of Brand’s I, Madman appears to her in the real world, and startsre-enacting his crimes. Appearing well before the postmodern exercises of the Screamseries, In the Mouth of Madness and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, this littlefilm anticipates tha… clever self-awareness, and conjures up a decent amount of atmosphere. Andjust when I thought the film was heading for a predictable cop-out ending, it surprised me bydoing just the reverse.

Audio

A serviceable 2.0 soundtrack. The music’s mix is decent, and there are some very nice bigsound effects (thunder, walls coming down, etc.). The environmental effect isn’t badly handledeither. The left-right separation is good, but there are moments of inappropriate rear speakersounds (one car driving by across the screen but sounding like it is driving behind us is aparticularly egregious example).

Video

The picture has been modified to fullscreen, which is always a disappointment, and is evenmoreso here, since MGM is usually pretty good about retaining the original widescreen of evenits most minor horror releases. Still, the compositions aren’t too badly harmed. There are anumber of soft and/or murky shots, and the grain can be quite noticeable. Still, the colours have anice richness to them.

Special Features

None except for the theatrical trailer. The menu’s main page is scored.

Closing Thoughts

Clever, stylish, and nicely gory. Definitely worth a look for horror fans.

Special Features List

• Theatrical Trailer