Madman (1982)

It’s 1982 and some kids go camping in the country. Obviously, there’s a homicidal maniac out there with a penchant for knives, axes, nooses and hiding a severed head under the hood of someone’s pick-up truck. We’re talking classic slasher stuff here, another solid run through the formula. The big difference: this movie has a lengthy hot tub break where the two romantic leads frolic nude in bubbly water as the worst soft-rock song of the 80s plays. If you didn’t sympathize with the killer before this scene, you will afterward. He’s Madman Marz, your standard deformed wordless wild man of the woods. Director Joe Giannone (this was his only film) depicts him with strong style as a moonlight-bathed sasquatch who lurks up in the trees and blends in with the scenery. The film works around a low-budget make-up job on the killer with quick cuts and lots of shadow. This is entertaining. Stars Gaylen Ross, the blonde from Romero’s old Dawn of the Dead.