I, Madman (1989)

a.k.a. Hardcover
Directed by: Tibor Takács

Once in a blue moon you stumble upon a movie that you really didn’t think would be your cup of tea, but end up loving. This is one of those movies for me… It’s been a love affair that have lasted for the last 20 years or so, but back in my O.G. (Original Gore hound) days of the late 80’s and early 90’s I usually rated a movie after it’s gore and splatter content. The more gore the better the movie… yep, I know, but I was young a foolish at the time (now I’m old and foolish instead!). So this one didn’t really look to hold up to all those insane Italian zombie movies that I loved so much back then (still do), but what it might lack in gore (there are some, so it’s not totally without the red liquid) it makes up for with a great story and atmosphere.

I’m a sucker for old 50’s sci-fi and horror movies and there are parts in this movie that are scenes from the books the main character reads that are set in the 50’s and they are right up my alley. Very well done and stylish as hell, especially as the budget was probably not the biggest. There’s plenty to love in this flick, I mean, what's not to like? A cute nerdy chick who loves to read trashy horror novels - check! A mad (and he's REALLY mad) doctor - check! A human/jackal hybrid done in stop-motion - check!

Now to the story... Virginia (Jenny Wright) is a used book store clerk (and aspiring actress) with an interest in trashy pulp novels, the more horrifying the better. And the one we're thrown into right from the start (the book plays out on the screen so we get to see the good stuff she's reading) is called "Much of Madness, More of Sin" by the author Malcolm Brand. No matter how many times she closes the book when things get too gruesome she finishes the book and finds out that Mr Brand wrote one more book. This one called “I, Madman”… and if things weren’t looking up enough already it one day appears at her door, without anyone knowing who put it there… spooky, huh?


The main character in the books is Malcolm Brand himself (although he’s called Dr. Kessler, but have no doubt… that IS Mr Brand - the books are labeled "non fiction" after all) and he has the hots for this chick who just happens to look just like Virginia. She doesn’t feel the same for him though, he’s just too ugly for her to love him… so, just like any normal dude he cuts off all his facial features and tells her he will start fresh and make a new face that she’ll have to love. Yeah, THAT must work… The thing is that while reading the book things start to happen around Virginia that seems to be coming right out of the pages of the book. This weird looking man with a black scarf covering his nose and mouth seems to follow her around. And if things weren’t bad enough people around her are getting murdered in the same way people in the book are murdered by the Brand character…

This is a truly atmospheric horror movie that is in a way very old school in its vibe. For some reason I start to think of the TV show “Tales from the Crypt” when watching this flick, it feels almost like it could have been a feature length episode of that show. The 50’s noir-ish vibe that we get in the scenes from the books also reminds me a lot of the early 90’s Showtime series “Fallen Angels” with its use of bright colors and brightly lit sets. That is also one thing that stands out in this movie, not everything happens in the dark…

What I really love about the movie is that it becomes quite clear that the director knew that this wasn’t going to be an A-list movie, so he’s going for the pulpy B-movie vibe whole heartedly. You get the feeling that they knew very well what kind of movie they were making and they had fun making it. And I really have to say that Malcolm Brand is really one of the creepiest and best villains in a horror movie that I've ever seen... If you, like me, love both the old style horror movies from the 30’s and 40’s as well as 80’s gore movies you will probably love this one. I sure do!