Tuesday, December 7, 2021

I, Madman, Murder Jumps Out From the Pages

A lost jewel from the 80s.  A slasher film, only in the literal sense.  Today's feature, 1989's "I, Madman," directed by Tibor Takacs, may resemble a film noir film more than one of those slasher offerings we think of when we think back to the 80s.  Don't be deceived...there will be slashings, with a razor, and murder, and gore.  Nubile victims will also be included...damsels hunted down and cut down at their most helpless moments. 


Major league babe, Virginia (Jenny Wright) has quite an imagination.  She works at a used book store and loves to read pulp horror novels from the 50s.  Her hunk boyfriend, Richard (Clayton Rohner), comes over to her place a lot for pre-marital sex. Virginia has quite the imagination, when she reads these pulp novels, she can see herself in the story, pursued by the evil mad scientist/alchemist Dr. Kessler (Randall William Cook).  When she startles herself back to the real world, she can see that the fiend was actually in her apartment.  Another pulp novel arrives, mysteriously, at her apartment, yep, I, Madman.  When Virginia reads this one, her experiences get more vivid.  Now she sees herself as an actress pursued by the fiend, who is determined to rip her heart out.

Progressing through the novel, she sees the murders as she reads.  Uh oh...in the real world, people she know are getting murdered the exact same way as the murders occur in the books.  A pretty classmate in her acting class falls first.  The fiend takes a part of his victims face or head, such as ears, scalp, nose, etc.  The guy has a plan for the stolen facial features but makes it known he will culminate his acts by ripping Virginia's heart out.  Virginia's boyfriend and cops do not believe her and Dr. Kessler keeps murdering her friends and acquaintances.  Our pretty protagonist must act before Kessler barges into her apartment to collect the heart.

Is Virginia as crazy as the cops and her hunk boyfriend think she is?  A sultry dame in alluring silk lingerie who loves horror!  Where can we find dames like that?  This is a gory one and may make you turn your head from the screen a time or two.  Jenny Wright is ravishing and she does wear the silk intimates nicely.  For a different kind of 80s slasher film, see "I, Madman."  

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