loomis78-815-989034 Virginia (Wright) works in a used bookstore who just loves to read. She comes across two books written by an obscure horror writer named Malcolm Brand (Cook). She quickly becomes fascinated with the books even though they spook her to the bone. Strangely, the books are titled nonfiction and the deranged character in the book is Malcolm himself. Malcolm cannot secure the love of his life so he begins cutting up other people and taking their features to make himself more attractive. Virginia begins seeing the terrifying Malcolm in real life and she soon finds herself in the place of Malcolm's lost love. Virginia isn't sure at first if what she is seeing is real until people around her begin to die. Her boyfriend Richard (Rohner) at first doesn't believe her but is soon convinced and the two join forces to stop the deranged Malcolm. There are some nice plot twists that make some of this believable and Director Tibor Takacs makes an improvement this time from his first feature "The Gate". The plot itself is clever and Takacs makes the most out of his central character's over imagination. There are several sequences where the audience is kept off balance between what is real or in Virginia's imagination. There is a good deal of atmosphere between Virginia's dimly lit apartment and her stuffy over stocked bookstore. The book is gruesome and when passages are shown from the book, Takacs doesn't hold back on the gore. Malcolm is a great screen psycho with an unnerving appearance of sewn on body parts. Probably the scariest moments come from Malcolm expectantly showing up in Virginia's life, including a hair- raising and intense scene in an elevator. The characters are well developed and the cast do a decent job. The movie has a surreal feel that makes this a hidden gem you should seek out.

Woodyanders Sweet and intelligent bookstore clerk Virginia (a fine and sympathetic performance by the lovely Jenny Wright of "Near Dark" fame) obsessively reads tacky old 50's pulp novels. Virginia's fixation on the morbid writings of the mysterious Malcolm Brand (well played with maximum creepy menace by ace special effects artist William Randall Cook, who also did the excellent and grotesque make-up) enables Brand to return to life in our world as a vicious and horribly disfigured scalpel-wielding psychopath. Alas, Virginia can't convince anyone that Malcolm is real and coming after her in order to win over her love. Ably directed by Tibor Takacs, with a supremely eerie and misty atmosphere, a clever and imaginative script by David Chaskin, a steady pace, a fair amount of grisly, but never too gross or excessive gore, polished cinematography by Bryan England, a wonderfully wholehearted affection for trashy 50's pulp fiction, some nice touches of dark humor, a nifty briefly glimpsed stop-motion animation monster, a spirited shuddery score by Michael Hoenig, good use of the gritty Los Angeles locations, and a tense and thrilling off-the-wall conclusion, this neat little B movie makes for a welcome and refreshing departure from the glut of run-of-the-mill slasher fare that was fashionable in the 80's. This film further benefits from sound acting from a capable cast: Wright registers strongly as an appealing and attractive heroine, Clayton Rohner is likable and credible as Virginia's amiable, but skeptical detective boyfriend Richard, Cook rates highly as one extremely scary and hideous villain, plus there solid supporting turns by Stephanie Hodge as Virginia's brash gal pal Mona, Michelle Jordan as ill-fated aspiring redhead actress Colette, and Murray Rubin as sleazy publisher Sidney Zeit. A hugely fun and worthwhile low-budget fright flick.

Vibiana In the early 1980s, a young actress made her first appearances in television and films with an unforgettably quirky presence -- vulnerable and seductive all at once. Her delicate features -- unusual green eyes and aching-to-be-kissed lips -- combined with her petite and shapely figure to make a true elfin beauty.Unfortunately, Jenny Wright never had much of a chance; she was sidelined into 'tramp' roles from the word go. Her small-screen debut on the critically acclaimed sitcom, "Love, Sidney," was as a teenage runaway/prostitute. Her film debut in "Pink Floyd: The Wall" cast her as a groupie. For the remainder of 1982, the bad girl image more or less stuck: she gave Robin Williams' Garp his first sexual experience as flighty Cushie in "The World According to Garp" and she played the flirty younger sister of Tommy Lee Jones' girlfriend in the made-for-TV film "The Executioner's Song."In 1984, Jenny Wright was cast as Eileen in "The Wild Life," a semisequel to the popular "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." She was her charming self, in a role that didn't have much to offer, but gave some bright spots to an otherwise forgettable film. The two films she made next, 1985's "St. Elmo's Fire" and 1986's "Out of Bounds," cast her with members of the Brat Pack. Although she was never an official Brat Packer, she was on its fringes.In 1987, Jenny was offered her first star turn in Kathryn Bigelow's "Near Dark." Released at the same time as the mainstream-smash "Lost Boys," it finished decidedly second at the box office -- a shame, since Jenny's performance as vampire ingenue Mae was nothing short of brilliant. This film also marked Jenny's decided career directional change away from mainstream film and into indies."I, Madman" was made in 1989, and watching it is a treat. Jenny is perfect in her dual role as real-time victim Virginia and fifties-era victim Anna Templer. Pursued relentlessly by an apparition seemingly leaping from the pages of a pulp novel, Virginia desperately tries to get someone to believe her story and help her. There were some confusing plot points in this film, but Jenny's performance more than compensated for them.Unfortunately, "I, Madman" marked the last time Jenny had a major role in a film, and in the early 1990s she reprised her early-career persona of the tramp in films like "Queens Logic," "Young Guns II" (as a memorable madam), and 1992's "The Lawnmower Man" (as Marnie Burke, a widow on the prowl). Making only one more film appearance in 1998, she has virtually disappeared. Attempts to locate her to appear with her colleagues in a documentary about "Near Dark" were unsuccessful. Ironic that this talented actress, so good in two films with sinister plots ("Near Dark" and "I, Madman") should be the subject of a mystery herself.

Paul Andrews I, Madman starts in a hotel during the 50's. A guest named Dr. Kessler (special make-up effects man Randall William Cook) leaves the building as the front desk clerk (Raf Nazario as Rafael Nazario) receives a phone call from the room next to Dr. Kessler's complaining about animal noises, the manager (Bob Frank) goes to investigate & is attacked by a monstrous half man, half jackal creature which Dr. Kessler had created. Virginia Clayton (Jenny Wright) stops reading her horror novel entitled 'Much of Madness, More of Sin' by Malcolm Brand at this point. Virginia works in a used bookstore & enjoys reading, recently she has discovered Much of Madness, More of Sin & has been engrossed. The next day at work Virginia tries to find the other novel by the same author called 'I, Madman'. Virginia has no luck but when she returns home she finds a copy waiting for her outside her apartment door, she starts to read as the book once again features Dr. Kessler who is madly in love with an actress named Anna Templar (Jenny Wright again) who doesn't return the sentiment saying that he is ugly. As an offering to Anna, Dr. Kessler slices off his facial features with a scalpel & starts to collect various bits 'n' pieces from unwilling donors that he grafts on his own face. Of course this is all fiction & the book goes on to describe him brutally murdering a woman & scalping her. The next day Virginia sees a report in a local newspaper which tells of the murder of an actress & one of Virginia's friends named Colette Berkowitz (Michelle Jordan), after this event & a face to face meeting with Kessler before he kills & slices the ears off a pianist (Bruce Wagner) who lives near her, Virginia is convinced that the character of Dr. Kessler is responsible & comes to life when she reads I, Madman. Virginia's boyfriend Detecitve Richard Channing (Clayton Rohner) is on the case but has a hard time believing Virginia's story about character's from a horror novel coming to life & committing murder's, as the murder's of people connected with Virginia continue in the same vein as I, Madman she realises that the novel ends with Anna, whom she think's she is in reality, having her heart cut out by the deranged Kessler...Directed by Tibor Takacs I was pleasantly surprised by just how good I, Madman was, I'd never previously heard of it but I think I've uncovered a bit of a hidden gem. The script by David Chaskin has a lot more depth than you might expect & offers a little more originality than most. At heart I, Madman is a slasher but it tries to do something different with the premise & tries to stay away from the clichés which was both refreshing & something I wasn't expecting. It does a nice job of blurring the lines between the fantasy world of the novels & the reality in which Virginia lives. How a character from a novel can suddenly become real isn't explained that well but the story felt solid still & it didn't really matter to me that much as I, Madman just seemed work. The killer's motives are actually quite good & have at least some thought put into them, his connection with Virginia & why he focuses his attentions on her is also believable & not just coincidental like her being in the wrong place at the wrong time, there's a method to all the madness in I, Madman. It takes a while to get going but I never found it boring or felt my interest was waining, the characters are pretty strong & enough happens to satisfy & entertain. There isn't much blood or gore but what's here is effective & quite brutal looking as Kessler runs around killing people with his straight razor, there's a scalping, someone has his ears sliced off, someone's lips are cut off too & a gruesome scene where Dr. Kessler reveals his face early on minus his nose, ears & lips. There is a monster in I, Madman as well brought to life with stop-motion animation which looks impressive considering the budget, I believe the people involved in making I, Madman had enthusiasm & cared about the finished product which goes a long way. Technically the film is very good & well made, director Takacs manages to create some really good sequences especially the ominous moodily lit & shot murder set-pieces which are more effective than they have any right to be. The acting is very strong throughout which also helps give I, Madman a certain credibility that other cheap horror/slashers simply don't have. Overall I didn't think I would but I actually rather liked I, Madman, don't like that title though. A bit of a sleeper & I highly recommend I, Madman to horror fans, as for everyone else I still think it's a worthwhile film & definitely worth watching.