Madness (1980)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

disgusting, overrated, pointless

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

At the end of the 70s, Fernando di Leo's career was going downhill, avalanche-style. The producers of Madness (a.k.a. Toy) generously provided him with two heaps from the used car dealer next door and a ramshackle hut in the Abruzzo region including posters of Marlon Brando and John Travolta on the wall – conditions that made di Leo so enthusiastic that he churned out a script for the libido thriller kammerspiel of the year, at least in his head. Enter the world champion in eye rolling, ex-Andy Warhol protégé Joe Dallesandro, as an escaped convict looking exactly like the village plumber ... and ricky-tick he's laying pipe to two low-rent lascivious gals desperate for a nice and thorough rape ("It wasn't bad at all ... Were you so keen due to abstinence? I enjoyed it. Whenever you feel like it, I'm all yours"), refined with some of the most harrowing canzone from the Italo hit parade 1979 (plus Luis Bacalov's score directly nicked from di Leo's by far best work, Milano Calibro 9). Amateur actress Lorraine de Selle is showing her beaver off for most of the ninety endless minutes, but - pardon me - that's not the reason why the word "lousy" might haunt you for a few days. Another sample of Dallesandro's dialogue, per favore? "And now screw. Show us what men like." It's only a short stop to Joe D'Amato from here. His porn flicks, for sure.

'Vacanze per un Massacro' (Madness) won't do much to enhance Fernande Di Leo's reputation. A low-budge film, shot in 12 days, from the first frame warns an alert cinema buff that he or she is in for a disappointing 90-odd minutes. And the leading actor ex-Wahol factory sex symbol Joe D'Allesando has neither the weight nor the talent to rescue a very thin script from being bad. 'Madness' is a four-character film. The narrative stripped down to its essentials is follows an escaped sadist from prison who heads straightaway to a cottage where he's buried 800 million lira. He doesn't count on finding a man and his wife and sister-in-law there on 'vacation'. Suddenly, D'Allesandro falls into a love triangle. He forces the sister-law and sister's husband to have sex whilst the wife looks on. And then, D'Allesandro forces himself on the wife. In the end, he leaves a bloody trail of mayhem and murder as he goes off with his booty. D'Allesandro's trade mark is a wild look in his eyes. You know when the film is bad when the sister-in-law shows her bare busom and display a rich, hairy vagina. This display of nudity is a sign that the film has nothing to offer, so why not titillate the film goer by a bit of porno? In fact, the script is so meaningless the wife, husband and sister-in-law show little enthusiasm for the parts they play. Forget about this film.

A husband and wife (Gianni Macchia and Patrizia Behn) go to their country cottage along with the wife's younger, university-student sister (Lorraine DeSalle) with whom the husband is having a secret affair. They run into an escaped convict (Joe Dallesandro) who has hidden a cache of money in the cottage. The convict gets the upper-hand over the husband and holds the trio hostage, having his way with both of the women. It doesn't really end well for anybody.Although it was directed by the respected Italian genre director Fernando DiLeo, this is actually an Italian "terror film",a sleazy and disreputable cycle films that involve lower-class cretins brutalizing, raping, and generally terrorizing wealthy bourgeois-type characters. These films were all indirectly influenced by the notorious American film "Last House on the Left", but the more proximate influence was no doubt other Italian films like "Late Night Trains" and "Hitchhike". These films differ somewhat from "Last House" and the American "rape-revenge" films in that they generally have a little less gory violence and trade more in humiliation and softcore sex. The victims in the Italian films are often unsympathetic hypocrites who might be as bad or even worse than their lower-class assailants. Most controversially, the (invariably sexy) female victims in these films almost always manage to develop a case of sexual Stockholm's syndrome either willingly having sex with one or more of their attackers, willingly having sex with one and getting raped by the others (a la "Straw Dogs"), or worst of all getting raped but ending up enjoying the experience.Lorraine DeSalle plays the sexual Stockholm syndrome victim here. But she's such an amoral, grasping, nymphomaniacal character to begin with, who is willing to betray her sister and manipulate both of the men in any way necessary in order to get her own hands on the money, that her character doesn't come off as particularly offensive (just not very believable). The wife is a good character and the husband is OK (albeit totally unsympathetic). The real weak link is Joe Dallesandro, who plays the lone criminal (usually in "terror" films there's more than one criminal). This would have been FAR more effective if this role had been played by another American, David Hess, who was the villain in "Last House", "Hitchhike", and most notorious and harrowing Italian "terror" film, "House by the Edge of the Park". Former Warhol "superstar" Dallesandro though is much more of a male model than an actor and not very menacing (it's kind of like being held hostage by "Zoolander").This is better than any of the Italian "terror" films except "Hitchhike" and "Late Night Trains" (but that's not much of a compliment). It's better made, but far less harrowing than "House by the Edge of the Park" (although the gorgeous DeSalle, who was in both films, somehow manages to have even more nude scenes in this one). It's not nearly as good though as any of DiLeo's police thrillers or his better sexy melodramas like "Being Twenty" and "The Seduction". I'd still recommend it I guess, but keep your expectations kind of low.

Incredible cinema from fernando di leo (one of his last films) : A deserted place-somewhere out of the city, Joe Dallesandro in best prehistoric "caveman" vein lurks around and attacks one man with a big,fat stone. Another man, he throws the stone on him but he doesnt hit, the man sets up a fight with dallesandro and finally loses his life.. then dallesandro drives the car-.The credits and the music of luis bacalov start... the viever notices, its going to be an amazing "event"... The plot continues when a man with his wife and her horny sister paola (performed by Lorraine de selle) are arriving at a small house for the weekend. Dallesandro not far away from here, first spies around the house and watches through the window that lorraine has an affair with her sister´s man dallesandro sees his chance when de selle is alone at home, making outside a sunbath he hits her, brings her into the house and after she wakes up he wants immediately a coffee(!) After some small talk dallesandro rapes de selle who then afterwhile says that she even enjoyed it an ungood surprise awaits the wife and the man..needless to say. one highlight of the film when dallesandro is forcing de selle and the man to have sex, while the whole time he points his riffle at them and gives comands -quote(to de selle): " and you show what we men like.." later it comes to a ultra pathetic pseudo-romance between dallesandro and de selle´s sister, but still the end of film leads to a pure tragedy... Technically the film is obviously very low budget-nearly amateurish, Dallesandro makes a totally over(and under)acting performance but he´s very entertaining, the actress of de selle´s sister is completely unconvincing (probably she never "acted" before) about de selles role i can say just the very best: most of the film she´s completely naked, so this is doubtless her best role! if you see her in this film and her other flicks as the bruno mattei films for example you note that nothing is too low for this actress-and i dont mean this negative! All in one a film that i like a lot, probably its not for everybodys taste..