Tibor Takacs' slasher I, Madman came out in 1989, towards the end of horrordom's most popular sub-genre's boom years but still in time to ride a bit of that way. It didn't make the same sort of splash that better known entries have but it's earned and maintained a decent cult audience over the years. Shout! Factory's horror specialty wing, Scream Factory, bring it to Blu-ray for the first time with this release.

The film introduces us to a woman named Virginia (Jenny Wright, who horror fans will remember from Near Dark) who works a fairly average job at a used book store, hanging out with her co-worker and friend Mona (Stephanie Hodge). Virginia has an affinity for horror fiction and she tends to read horror novels pretty voraciously. She gets excited when she discovers one that she hasn't read before entitled "I, Madman" about a mad doctor set in 1959. The book's antagonist has a tendency to facially dismember his victims in hopes of using various removed parts to win the heart of a girl he's romantically attracted to.

Soon enough, Virginia realizes that this book isn't fiction at all, that it's a true story written by a deranged writer named Malcolm brand (Randall William Cook). More odd than that, whenever she picks up the book to move on to the next chapter, she sees the mad doctor himself and making matters worse she finds he's preying on those close to her. Her boyfriend, a cop named Richard (Clayton Rohner), is assigned to the case and she tries to explain what's happening to him, but he's understandably hesitant to lead the investigation down that road. Has the mad doctor really escaped from the book to run loose in the real world or is Virginia's grip on reality starting to slip? When she connects with Brand's former publisher (Murray Rubin) and he offers her some clues, things get… weird.

I, Madman is a pretty fun watch. It sets itself apart from your average slasher movie by pulling not from movies like Friday The 13th or Halloween but instead classic horror novels like Frankenstein and The Phantom Of The Opera, albeit skewed through a pulp-tinted filter. The cinematography in this one really shines, as the camera moves slowly through some eerily lit locations to help built tension and atmosphere. Virginia's apartment, a few rooms full of earth tones and drab colors, is the scene of some interesting contrast. For example, the reds on the cover of her book, the white of her lingerie, the glowing of the television set showing nothing but static. Little things like this are peppered throughout the movie to ensure that your eyes dart about and check out the scenery as the story plays out, and it works, it keeps us interested.

Performances are decent here. Jenny Wright makes for a fine lead. She's vulnerable enough that we feel for her when she's in moments of peril but she's aggressive enough and smart enough to go after Richard for what she wants. It's her persistence (even when everyone thinks she's nuts) that matters as the movie draws to a close and the bodies start piling up and Wright plays the part well enough. Rohner is fine as the male lead. We can buy him as a cop without having to really stretch things and he and Wright make a decent enough and wholly believable couple. Stephanie Hodge is fine as Mona, she's mostly there as light comic relief, while Murray Rubin plays the smut peddler of a publisher with some nice sleaze appeal. The scene stealer here, however, is Randall William Cook as Brand. Heavily mad up, he's a fairly fierce looking antagonist and he's got a great voice that he uses well in the film. A fairly memorable villain, Brand is actually fairly creepy here and Cook gets the credit for carrying himself the right way and creating some solid screen presence.

Video:

I, Madman arrives on Blu-ray framed at 1.85.1 widescreen in AVC encoded 1080p high definition and aside from a couple of minor compression artifacts evident in few of the really dark scenes it looks quite good. This is a nicely shot film with strong cinematography and good lighting so the HD presentation lets detail stand out nicely for most of the film. As is usually the case, some scenes have heavier grain than others but for the most part it won't bother anyone, at least it shouldn't. Some minor print damage does show up here and there, small stuff like white specks, no massive scratches or anything. Contrast looks good, skin tones are nice and natural and color reproduction is very good as well.