Silent Madness (1984)

That was an excellent one.

i must have seen a different film!!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Silent Madness throws us right into a psychiatric hospital and hones in on Dr. Joan Gilmore, a no-nonsense doctor who doesn't have time for games. By the powers of deduction she concedes that Crest Haven hospital has released the wrong patient in a mix-up of like-sounding names. The hospital claims that Howard Johns is deceased but Joan's intuition knows better because momma didn't raise no foo'… that, and there's an obvious paper trail leading back to an old 80286 jobber from the early days of computing. As a result of Johns' instability and absence of any moral faculties, it's just another night in the Christmas workhouse for him to steal someone's car, drive to NY, and impose his will of terror upon a grouping of innocent sorority co-eds. Why this particular campus you may ask? It was the scene of humiliation at the hands of a small group of sorority sisters many years earlier, followed up with their demise and Howard's imprisonment. Dr. Gilmore attempts to convince the stereotypical, fat-bellied town Sheriff (Sydney Lassick of 1975's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest fame) that disaster is close at hand but her pleas are ignored. Meanwhile, the hospital puts a plan into motion that attempts to silence Joan before the horrible news reaches the public; an atrocity much akin to Watergate and that misprint in CVS circulars allowing customers half-off on bags of Doritos. The experts that extended their years of experience put Silent Madness through the usual ringer of "let's ignore the only intelligent character and decide upon ourselves that she's delusional while young females are haplessly destroyed around us." On one hand I suppose it's refreshing to see a killer displayed more realistically (and one that performs his own stunts, by the way), but the dumbfounded expressions and the deer in headlights approach to the victims sucks the life right out of it. The more than obvious scripted death sequences of "stand here, on this marker, and die", are proof of this. We're even treated to an exhibition of stupidity that features a muscle-bound fool who simply can't match the speed and cunning of the killer; either that or he's spent too much time grooming his dark pompadour-like mane to focus on saving his girl from certain death. Belinda Montgomery (Grandma Flynn in 2010's Tron: Legacy) is perhaps the only character that responds intelligently and reasonably in the face of danger. Her acting merits are legitimate as the lead role and she's paired her up a male reporter; albeit cheesy in his portrayal but not too shabby overall.The death scenes mostly happen off-screen while the watering hole of suspense remains dry – there are no redeeming qualities in these murderous segments – therefore, it has the appeal and the semblance of a made-for-TV movie. A cut and uncut version of this film have both been distributed so a viewing of the latter may change your opinion. The 1980s was a gimmicky period for many things, I'll give you that. One notorious element that persisted to find a niche was the use of 3-D in films. 1953's House of Wax serves as a fine example that got the ball rolling in horror films. Kids today would probably scoff at the supposed 'three dee' of olden days but it's commonly known that human beings under the age of 18 shouldn't share their opinions. Horror movies adopted this technique and ran with it all throughout the '80s and one can only guess the director of Silent Madness expected such an idea to boost the film's worth. But alas, it's an inferior product. The use of 3-D was vapid and over-used 30 years ago. This recent barrage we're experiencing will run its course. Simon Nuchtern, the film's director, was the same guy who released a film called Snuff in 1976. If you're in the majority of not having seen it, than surmise rather quickly that it is worth far less than the entrails of Interstate carrion. Simon's slapdash effort in riding the Slasher wave with a project like Silent Madness only amounted to roughly 10 minutes of actual entertainment and 80 minutes of tedious, color-by- numbers malarkey just to reach any semblance of "fun" – a heinously modified entry in his vocabulary with an elusive meaning. I guess it's only fair to slap smart-mouthed viewers, rings-first, in the mouth with a clunky, awkward ending so unjustly tacked on that it doesn't make the aforementioned abuse even slightly worth it. So come time for that dreaded curtain call, you won't be surprised by the shocking conclusion simply due to disinterest. Nuchtern only released one more film as a director in 1985 before calling it quits; easily the best decision he's ever made in his career. If there was a petition going around to ban this no-talent, and I was older than the age of 2 in 1984, I would have gladly signed the top line of the document. Technically I probably could have if someone allowed me to grasp a pen within my infantile fingers to haphazardly scrawl my initials. Silent Madness is a mistake of a film – other than a few items taken from a different angle and a killer derived more from reality, it can easily be shelved into the Z-grade bank of Slasher-types made possible by hack directors who treated the genre like a playground for Down syndrome children. This colossal number of mishaps supersedes a figure unimaginable. Films of this persuasion should ban together and employ a tag-line that more accurately summarizes their endgame: "SILENT MADNESS - THE MOVIE, JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER MOVIE, JUST LIKE THAT ONE MOVIE, BUT…NOT! COME SPEND MONEY ON AN OVER-PRICED TICKET TO FUND MY PET PROJECT THAT I MADE ON BARELY A DIME'S BUDGET! WITNESS OUR EXCEPTIONAL TALENT TO PRODUCE SOMETHING COMPLETELY UNORIGINAL! FUN FOR NO AGES!

A criminally insane patient is accidentally released from a psychiatric hospital due to a computer error. Psychiatrist Dr. Joan Gilmore (Belinda Montgomery) suspects what has happened and attempts to alert her superiors, but is obstructed by other members of staff who are keen to cover up their mistake. Following a trail of clues, Joan heads to the sorority house where, twenty years earlier, the lunatic slaughtered several girls. Guess who is there to meet her..."You sluts, you whores", screams batty house mother Mrs, Collins (Viveca Lindfors, Aunt Bedelia in Creepshow) at a group of fun-loving sorority sisters who innocently dare to reveal a little bare flesh; this hysterical outburst is easily the best thing about obscure, mid-eighties slasher Silent Madness, the rest of the film being over-talky, virtually bloodless, and lacking in style.Originally shot in 3D, the film initially looks as though it might at least be a bit of laugh thanks to some gratuitous 'in your face' moments designed to exploit its gimmick to the max, but this novelty soon wears off. Sydney Lassick, of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' fame, puts in a reasonably quirky performance as a disbelieving small town sheriff, which helps alleviate the boredom a tad, there's one imaginative kill involving a girl suspended upside down by her ankles, a length of cord and a dumb-bell, and a bonus point is awarded for getting the obligatory topless babe scene in pretty quickly, but even then, my rating is still only a paltry 3/10.

God I love this movie. Its the type of film you need a few beers to truly enjoy. If you have a skin full and you check out this movie I guarantee you will love it. You will find yourself quoting non stop such great lines as "Theyre the living' dead doc... we got em plugged in . . juiced up 24 hours a day.... Dr Gilmore!!". The guy who plays Virgil the hospital's nurse is fantastic in his role. Also the special effects are very ahead of their time. Makes films like Star Wars look pitiful! Nothing beats the 3d hatchet scene! Trust me, watch this film with an open your mind and it will change your life!!

I recently saw a nice 35mm print of this in a collection of a friend who had a print that hadn't been run that he had held onto for 20 years. Appropriately enough, I saw it on Halloween.The film itself is entertaining and keeps the viewer's attention. It's a generally psychological thriller about a killer that through the error of a psych ward that's been having seedy events behind the scenes. Most of the plot is predictable, and the acting is pretty mediocre, but the cinematography and good locations coupled with some clever moments make this one worth seeking out (even moreso in 3-D).Some notes about the film: Apparently it opened in LA in 3D and pretty much did a roadshow tour. By the time it hit NY, it was being shown flat, which goes to show it really sort of hit the tail end of the 3D craze of the early 80s, which is too bad, because the photography in this one is tenfold that of anything else that was being done at the time (it was done with the over-under polaroid process, not anaglyph, and this was the way it was presented to me). Several murders have some great effects that really work well in the 3-D.The film, while not being totally obscured with nobodies, does rise to the occasion with some character actors. The sheriff, a security guard and the housemother of the college make for some interesting roles and those actors/actresses stuck out in my mind as being some of the most memorable portrayals. Not too much gore, and everything is done well enough to leave the imagination up to the rest. My hands got sweaty during the show, so I was somewhat tense.Worth catching if you can, particularly for an indie production. 7/10