With horror industry heavy hitters already in place from the 1970s, the 1980s built upon that with the rise of brilliant minds in makeup and effects artists, as well as advances in technology. Artists like Rick Baker, Rob Bottin, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Tom Savini, Stan Winston, and countless other artists that delivered groundbreaking, mind-blowing practical effects that ushered in the pre-CGI Golden Age of Cinema. Which meant a glorious glut of creatures in horror. More than just a technical marvel, the creatures on display in ‘80s horror meant tangible texture that still holds up decades later. Grotesque slimy skin to brutal transformation sequences, there wasn’t anything the artists couldn’t create. It Came From the ‘80s is a series that will pay homage to the monstrous, deadly, and often slimy creatures that made the ‘80s such a fantastic decade in horror.
I, Madman wasn’t the first horror movie to pull its monsters from the pages of a fictional comic book or novel, and it surely wasn’t the last. But it is among the best, and one that perfectly captures that feel of pulp chiller literature. The plot follows an L.A. based bookseller with a major affinity for pulp horror novels. When she starts reading the work of mysterious author Malcolm Brand, the lines between fiction and reality grow increasingly blurred. And deadly.
The opening scene, before it’s revealed to be right out of the novel Virginia is currently reading – Much of Madness, More of Sin – introduces us to zoologist Dr. Alan Kessler, a Lon Chaney type horror figure that created the monstrous “Jackal Boy.” Both are vicious killers. Jackal Boy is brought to life via stop motion animation, and looks like a close cousin to the pint-sized demons from The Gate. The connection goes beyond the visual, too. I, Madman was directed by Tibor Takács, who also helmed The Gate and Gate 2: The Trespassers. The stop motion animation was handled by Randall William Cook, the special effects artist and stop motion animator that also handled special visual effects for The Gate.
As if that wasn’t enough, Cook played I, Madman’s boogeyman Malcolm Brand/Dr. Alan Kessler. When Virginia (played by Near Dark’s Jenny Wright) receives a package containing Brand’s only other novel, I, Madman, reading it brings the villainous madman into her world. One that, in the novel, fell for an actress and cut off his hair, nose, lips, and ears so that he could replace them with body parts more to the actress’ liking. Ones that he claims from the victims he murders. Being that Virginia also happens to be an aspiring actress, well, she becomes the madman’s new target and the body count piles up around her.
The screenplay, originally titled Hardcover, was written by David Chaskin, who’d previously penned A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge and The Curse. Between Chaskin and Takács, I, Madman doesn’t feel like your standard entry in ‘80s horror. A lot of that has to do with the aesthetic and tone, which perfectly captures that lurid pulp novel feel. And just as much as to do with the surprises Cook has in store, in terms of ambitious stop motion work and the mysterious nature of his madman. The narrative explains Brand’s modus operandi and surface level motive in his obsession with the actress, but being that there’s multiple iterations of the antagonist, there’s a layered complexity that left plenty of room for further exploration had this movie earned a sequel.
Released in 1989, as ‘80s horror was winding down and gearing up for the direct-to-video craze of the early ‘90s, I, Madman tends to be one of the more overlooked horror movies of the decade. During its initial run, it didn’t exactly catch the box office on fire, but it did earn pretty positive reviews from notable critics (like Roger Ebert). Even though it didn’t amass the audience it deserved, at least not until much later, it’s a clear labor of love by horror vets and offers up one of the more unique entries in the genre.
