Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

I, Madman

Play trailer Poster for I, Madman R 1989 1h 29m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
67% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 40% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Beautiful bookseller Virginia (Jenny Wright) fosters a growing interest in the works of reclusive novelist Malcolm Brand (Randall William Cook). After much fruitless searching, Virginia finally receives a package containing Brand's recent book, "I, Madman," about a deranged doctor spurned by a beautiful woman. But, as Virginia devours Brand's latest offering, she begins to have chilling visions of characters from the book -- and the line between fiction and reality grows terrifyingly thin.

Critics Reviews

View All (6) Critics Reviews
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Climaxes in thrillers have gotten pretty standard recently, involving chases and shootouts and a lot of blood. I, Madman has some surprises. Rated: 3/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com A genuinely moody film, and an exercise in imagination enhanced by the paperback nostalgia of a faded era of strange, adult entertainment Rated: 3/5 Oct 21, 2020 Full Review Matt Brunson Creative Loafing Nifty and draggy in equal measure, this finally goes off the rails but has a fun time getting there. Rated: 2.5/4 Aug 8, 2015 Full Review Chuck O'Leary Fantastica Daily A passable low-budget horror flick with a winning performance by Jenny Wright (Near Dark). Rated: 6/10 Feb 14, 2006 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Sep 29, 2005 Full Review Jeffrey M. Anderson San Francisco Examiner This quirky and oddly nightmarish film doesn't always make sense but certainly gets points for trying. Rated: 3/5 Jan 15, 2004 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (66) audience reviews
matthias s "I, Madman" is a rollercoaster of a horror film, with some ups and downs that left me both thrilled and a tad frustrated. The movie starts with a bang, offering a premise that had me hooked right from the beginning. The jumpscares were on point, and the execution of the horror elements is commendable. The standout here is the brilliantly portrayed villain, who oozes malevolence and adds a spine-tingling dimension to the story. The acting is decent, and the overall concept is intriguing. However, the CGI effects were painfully outdated, which often pulled me out of the experience. While the movie maintains a strong start, it stumbles towards the end, leaving a feeling of disappointment. The narrative seemed to lose its way and left me wanting more closure. Despite these hiccups, "I, Madman" serves as a decent horror flick for those who can overlook its shortcomings and enjoy the chills and thrills along the way. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/15/23 Full Review Steve D Slow and fairly ridiculous. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review robert p Obviously, a very low B Movie, that frankly was low brow entertainment, I am being generous in giving this film a *3* star rating!!! Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member I remember seeing this as a kid in theaters and it just scared the crap out if me. I still find the whole thing quite disturbing but its also, clever, inspired and entertaining. The movie centers on a young woman working at a book store whom picks up an old, pulp novel entitled I, Madman. It scares the crap out of her and begins to manifest itself as it brutally murders the people close to her. The movie is wonderfully creative and to this day there still hasn't been anything like it. Jenny Wright has Virginia leaves much to be desired in the acting department but all these years later everything just works. It's got that really cool 80s retro feel making for an overly entertaining watch. 7.5/10 Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Definitely an interesting plot. Unlike most audience reviews, I thought Jenny Wright's portrayal of main character Virginia, was not very good. To me, she was really terrible. Also the scripted is pretty bad. Some of that could be do to the Comet channel editing n splicing n dicing scenes. Like when the Madman confronted her at the police station. She never mentions the incident. I understand it is a "low budget" slasher film but overall it doesn't look and appear to be low budget quality from scenes, props and filming. What comes off as low budget is Jenny Wright's acting and the poor script. Improve those two things and it could have been a lot more successful than it was n is. Overall I, Madman is entertaining but disappoints with Jenny Wright's acting. Yes, she was nominated for a Saturn award for best female actress in a sci-fi, fantasy, horror genre but there was such a lack of films 1989 was combined with 1990 and had a total of nine nominees for the two year period when by then the standard was six nominees per year. It seems her nomination was more out of the lack of choices than her performance. She definitely didn't win. It is a shame that a movie with that much potential was ruined by bad writing n Jenny Wright's performance. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie in creepy and exciting!!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews
I, Madman

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Hellbound: Hellraiser II 52% 59% Hellbound: Hellraiser II Watchlist TRAILER for Hellbound: Hellraiser II Creepshow 2 29% 41% Creepshow 2 Watchlist Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan 11% 26% Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan Watchlist TRAILER for Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan Tales From the Darkside: The Movie 46% 45% Tales From the Darkside: The Movie Watchlist The Lair of the White Worm 68% 47% The Lair of the White Worm Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Beautiful bookseller Virginia (Jenny Wright) fosters a growing interest in the works of reclusive novelist Malcolm Brand (Randall William Cook). After much fruitless searching, Virginia finally receives a package containing Brand's recent book, "I, Madman," about a deranged doctor spurned by a beautiful woman. But, as Virginia devours Brand's latest offering, she begins to have chilling visions of characters from the book -- and the line between fiction and reality grows terrifyingly thin.
Director
Tibor Takacs
Producer
Rafael Eisenman
Screenwriter
David Chaskin
Production Co
Trans World Entertainment (TWE), Sarliu/Diamant
Rating
R
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
May 2, 2021
Runtime
1h 29m
Sound Mix
Surround