Madman(1981)
1981 · Joe Giannone · 89 min
Madman Marz, an old folklore legend who murdered his family before escaping into the woods, is inadvertently summoned to a campsite to finish the spree he started decades ago.
Horror · Thriller
5.0191 votes
TMDB score
3/5
Intensity
4/5
Gore
2/5
Stays with you
How Madman scares
Madman leans into the classic early-80s summer camp slasher formula, with counselors getting picked off one by one in the dark woods. The pace is slow for long stretches, following characters wandering off alone before the killer turns up, and the kills themselves are drawn-out and bloody rather than quick jolts. There's a folklore legend hanging over the whole thing that gives it a slightly eerie campfire-story feel, but the real fear is a huge, silent brute physically hunting people down. It's more of a gory, moody creature-in-the-woods slasher than anything that gets under your skin psychologically.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, Madman rates psychological 2/5, visceral 4/5, gore 4/5, lingering effect 2/5, and overall intensity 3/5.
- Psychological: 2 of 5
- Visceral: 4 of 5
- Gore: 4 of 5
- Lingering: 2 of 5
- Intensity: 3 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 30 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 55 of 100 — balanced
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 25 of 100 — leans Fun-scary
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A slow, campfire-lit build with sparse early jolts that gradually gives way to a steadily escalating string of kills toward a hard-charging finish.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5.
How scary is Madman?
On The Horror Database's 0–5 intensity scale, Madman rates 3/5 — solidly scary, building its fear through slow-burn dread rather than shocks. It attacks the body more than the mind — physical, in-your-face horror. Expect it to be heavy on gore and fun-first. Some of it will follow you to bed, but it lets go within a day or so.
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