Editorials
‘Madman’ – The Early 1980s Slasher Movie In Its Purest Form
1981 was a banner year for slasher cinema.
Michael Myers got into the franchise game with Halloween II. It turns out Jason Voorhees wasn’t dead at the bottom of Crystal Lake and he picked up right where his mom left off in Friday the 13th Part 2. And beloved one-off slasher classics such as My Bloody Valentine, The Prowler, and The Burning all took their turns staining the silver screen red in ‘81.
One other slasher film from that year has managed to make a modest name for itself in the intervening years – Joe Giannone’s Madman. This other, other camp-set slasher of ‘81 actually shares some fun history with The Burning. Believe it or not, Madman was conceived as a Cropsey film and the production had to tweak itself when they caught wind that another Cropsey-based horror film had just beaten them to the production punch.
So while The Burning got to keep Cropsey, Madman gifted us with Madman Marz – a backwoods brute with a frizzed out mane of white hair and his own set of facial scars.
It’s the sheer simplicity of Madman that keeps me coming back to it. And dare I say, what has made the fanbase so fond of it over the years. Slasher films have a reputation among critics and the wider public as low rent, trashy, exploitative, and artless. Well, some of that is true – but that’s why we love them.
The iconography and language of the slasher film has been referenced, parodied, and mocked for decades; sometimes lovingly by fellow genre fans, sometimes quite the opposite.
When I think of the “slasher movie,” a few obvious titles pop into my head. Friday the 13th. Halloween. A Nightmare on Elm Street. But always right behind them is Madman, a film that’s home to everything appealing about slashers wrapped up into one simple package.
The film opens with the story of Madman Marz told to a group of camp counselors and staff around a crackling fire in the dead of night. I’m sorry, but I’m a sucker for this stuff. More horror movies need scary campfire storytime.
Shot on location in Southampton, Long Island, Madman takes place exclusively at night. The darkness swallows the woods surrounding the cabins and is constantly aglow with eerie, steely blue moonlight. A mild wind is ever-present, giving the woods an even more unsettling feel. The hapless victims may as well be on, well, Mars for how isolated they feel. The film builds up quite the potent atmosphere without much to work with thanks to the admirable work by cinematographer James Lemmo. It’s a dark fairy tale by way of your quintessential camp slasher.
To some, Marz may not be the most fascinating slasher villain as he’s just another play on the backwoods killer. I love the guy. He stalks and creeps and roars and howls. He’s a revenant summoned by the irresponsible campers meddling where they shouldn’t belong and invoking his name. Think proto-Victor Crowley. He’s constantly backlit by the moon, he hides in trees like Pumpkinhead, and he loves lopping off heads.
The characters aren’t all that memorable, but they get the job done by infusing the film with that laid back, hangout vibe that makes early ’80s slashers so special. They’re mostly horny (the hot tub scene provides the biggest unintentional laughs of the film), mostly a little stupid, but not hateful or unlikeable. We even have Gaylen Ross from Dawn of the Dead as our Final(ish) Girl!
The kills in Madman are respectively above average and decently gory. Nothing quite like The Burning’s slaughterfest, mind you, but it’s not lacking for any spilled blood or mean-spiritedness. Highlights include a decapitation by way of truck hood and a gnarly hanging kill.
If we’re talking “slasher franchises that never were,” I do wonder about the alternate timeline where we would have gotten at least two more Madman flicks. In truth, however, I’m glad Madman is a one-off. It’s a scruffy little jewel that represents all of the tropes and clichés fans admire and celebrate about the slasher subgenre. It’s about as no-frills as a slasher film can get.
There may be better, more accomplished slashers films from the era out there, but there’s something about the slasher film purity of Madman that just feels like home.
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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