Really Awful Movies

1980’s Friday the 13th, 1981’s The Burning and 1983’s Sleepaway Camp are inarguably the holy trinity of summer camp slashers. And yet there’s another cabin and counselor opus from around the same time which deserves to be spoken of, if not in the same breath as the aforementioned formidable trio, then at least in the very next.

1982’s Madman (recently released on Blu-ray for the very first time by Vinegar Syndrome in a new 4K transfer taken from the original negative) is a little different. Its setting is Northsea Cottages, a special retreat for gifted children. It also takes place just before Thanksgiving. Hence, we have a summer camp film set in late-autumn. Fair enough.

As the film begins, the staff are huddled around the campfire doing their utmost to scare the shit out of the (very few) campers.

First we have counselor T.P., played by the late Tony Fish, telegraphing the carnage to come by warbling the portentous folk tune “Song of the Fifth Wind” as if he’s a deranged Gordon Lightfoot recounting “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”. If that’s not enough to make the kids soil their undies, Camp Director Max, played with equal parts gravitas and hamminess by Carl Fredericks, then regales the bunch with the legend of Madman Marz.

Apparently Mr. Marz was a local farmer who mutilated his wife and kids with an axe. When the townsfolk got word, they lynched Marz, cleaved his face with an axe and left him for dead. But when the townsfolk returned the next day, Marz was gone. According to legend, Madman Marz still haunts the woods and if you say his name – and here’s the important part- in a voice just above a whisper, he’ll come and get’cha!

Imprudent camper Richie ain’t hearing none of that. He foolishly screams out Marz’s name and hurls a rock which breaks the window of the Marz farmhouse. As the campers head back to the bunks, Richie spies an ominous, hulking figure amongst the trees and hangs back to do a little exploring. Could it be the fearsome Madman Marz roused for revenge? You’re damn right!

Marz’s first victim is the drunken cook Dippy who gets his throat torn out gloriously and dies gurgling blood. As the night goes on, counselors realize that Richie is missing. They go out looking for him, allowing Marz to do his thing in excellent scenes of carnage.

Madman Marz is a great addition to the slasher pantheon. He’s a giant, monosyllabic brute with a simian, feral, deranged Santa Claus vibe about him. His kills are quick, efficient and wonderfully brutal, including a gruesome beheading by truck hood.

Madman is goofy but also a heck of a lot of fun. It’s a must-see for the ludicrous hot tub scene alone, in which TP and his girl Becky, played by Dawn of the Dead’s Gaylen Ross, repeatedly circle the circumference of the tub and gaze lovingly in each other’s eyes while the sappy ballad “I Don’t Need Words”, sung by Mr. Fish himself, plays on the soundtrack.

Madman doesn’t stray too far from the camp carnage formula, but slasher aficionados will not be dissapointed. And while Madman Marz may not be as famous as Jason, Cropsy or Angela, those who’ve met him will not soon forget him. Just make sure to not say his name in a voice above a whisper!

*** ½ (out of five)

Berkshire County is the feature film debut for Canadian director Audrey Cummings. The film had an extremely successful festival run and picked up many accolades, including Best Horror Feature at L.A’s Shreikfest and Best Actress at Toronto’s Blood in the Snow.

Berkshire County is both a home invasion and babysitter-in-peril flick – two sub-genres well-represented in horror – with films such as The Strangers, Ils (Them), You’re Next, and Funny Games representing the former and When a Stranger Calls, Halloween and The House of the Devil representing the latter. The middle portion of Berkshire County adheres to many of the tropes and formulas you’d expect out of these types of films, but the beginning of the film is original and the ending is an atypical, kick-ass punch in the gut.

As the credits roll, a rusted pork delivery truck is seen driving down a long deserted country road. Cut to a Halloween party where shy, self-conscious teen Kylie (Alysa King, in a commendable performance) is dressed as a rather ravishing Red Riding Hood. Her Big Bad Wolf arrives in the form of boxing-robe clad Marcus. He convinces reluctant Kylie to perform a sex act on him, and unbeknownst to her, films it.

Kylie is humiliated at school when she discovers that everyone has seen the video. She’s then assaulted by Marcus’s ex-girlfriend and shamed by her classmates. Marcus even has the gall to ask her to talk to the principal so he doesn’t get expelled for uploading the salacious footage. Things aren’t any better at home as Kylie’s mother berates her for not standing up for herself. The adverse effects of social media and peer bullying are novel ways to render a character vulnerable and serve to further break down an already broken-down heroine. The audience cannot help but root for poor Kylie while eagerly awaiting her heroic, cathartic rebirth

It’s Halloween night and Kylie has a babysitting gig in a remote and expansive house located a couple hours away in Berkshire County. She drives up and meets her two young charges. However, on the way, she spies that rusted truck at the side of the road with someone wearing a wooden pig mask standing by ominously (shades of You’re Next.)

Her and the rugrats play hide and seek, she tells them a story, and then puts them to bed. Soon she gets a couple of unnerving phone calls followed by a series of loud bangs on the door. Outside is a little boy, also in a pig mask. Instead of telling the brat through the door that it’s too late for trick or treating, she instead opens the door and another, rather large masked man attempts to forcibly break in.

What follows is the usual cat-and-mouse game between the hunters (two adults and a child) and the hunted (Kylie and the kids.) This is well-worn territory and hardened horror fans may feel a bit of déjà vu. Nonetheless, the tension is high and there are enough genuinely creepy moments and unforeseen twists which manage to keep the proceedings afloat and interesting.

Now the ending. Without spoiling anything, the final two scenes of Berkshire County are respectively sinister then “Holy Shit” enough to leave an indelible impact. There’s also a brief post-credits coda which serves as a suitably unsettling bookend.

In the end, if Berkshire County falls short of an absolute must see, it certainly is a solid recommend based on the formidable performance of King combined with the creepiness of the antagonists, the strong set up and the unforgettable denouement.

***1/2 (out of five)