A BOOKSELLER BRINGS HER KILLER TO LIFE
★★★☆☆ (Good for One Viewing)
Director: Tibor Takács
1989
I, Madman is so close to being a great movie instead of a good one, but a few storyline hiccups deflate surprises, and the grand twist can be seen from a mile away because of the clues we’re given. Nonetheless, the film was enjoyable and not just because I’m the target audience for a story about a bookish woman who scares herself with horror novels. The script’s dialogue is thoughtful and lyrical, and our villain—a straight-razor-wielding mad scientist named Dr. Kessler—is unique. The heroine is able to conjure this murderer to reality by reading about him…or maybe it’s her imagination running away from her. Either way, we want to know what happens.
The movie starts with pretty bookseller and wannabe actress Virginia sitting on her couch late at night, reading a vintage horror novel titled, Much of Madness, More of Sin, which frightens her so badly she has to call someone so they can come over and keep her company. This is where I mention I, Madman is also about the world’s most patient boyfriend. Virginia’s significant other, a cop named Richard, sticks by his lady love even when she embarrasses him at work by loudly declaring murders are being committed by a character popping out of her book. Richard does his best to rationalize her behavior even as colleagues give him the stink eye. He’s a keeper.
After Virginia finishes Much of Madness, More of Sin, she looks for the other novel written by the same author—I, Madman—and it mysteriously shows up on her doorstep. Meanwhile, we’re introduced to a few characters we can tell are going to be important. There’s the kooky woman she works with at the bookstore, her fellow thespian bestie, and the red-headed starlet in acting class who’s getting all the roles Virginia wants. Such a small cast of characters hurts the narrative because we don’t want to be able to predict who’s going to bite the big one.
Soon after starting her new book, Virginia notices similarities between Dr. Kessler’s kills on the page and real murders going on around her. Each victim winds up at the wrong end of the man’s straight razor and he uses their body parts to make himself more attractive to the object of his affection: Virginia’s doppelgänger, Anna. This is when Virginia goes to Richard’s police station for help, but despite knowing how the book ends, it’s not so easy to predict where the bad guy is going to be.
SPOILERS I very much wanted the twist to be more complex than Virginia, Richard, and the police trying to thwart Dr. Kessler at his last crime scene, but the battle at the bookstore more than makes up for it. I, Madman is a nice bite-size mystery better relegated to an episode of X-Files or Tales from the Crypt, especially when a creature trapped in luggage emerges in the final act. The movie’s mild frights will remind you of what it was like to read under the covers with a flashlight…and pausing when you hear soft footsteps just outside your window.
GENRES: Feminist-Friendly, Serial Killer
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