5/10
Silent Madness
28 May 2012
Silent Madness is another obscure horror film from the 80's that has never found it's way into DVD. It was originally shot with 3-D "graphics", but I don't think it ever made it to theatres for it to be shown in that format. The plot is about a mental patient named Howard Johns who gets released from the hospital accidentally due to a computer error. When a psychiatrist Dr. Joan Gilmore discovers the mistake, she tries to alert the hospital's senior staff about it. However, they do not want to tarnish the reputation of the hospital so they cover it up and make it look like Howard Johns is dead.

Our main character Dr. Joan Gilmore makes her way up to the sorority house where the murders took place years prior and, with the help of a local newspaper reporter, manages to stay the night at the estate with a few girls. Her goal is to capture Howard Johns before he murders again. Eventually a few people are murdered, nothing really shocking or special about the kills. This movie for the most part has no gore at all. It's a very tame slasher flick compared to others. We also know who the killer is right away, so it takes away any sort of mystery or suspense. The best part of the whole film is the big chase scene at the end between Joan and the killer. There is also an interesting twist at the end which I could see coming early on.

Silent Madness is sort of a rip off of the original Halloween. The story involves a psychiatrist (like Dr. Loomis) who goes out to find a mental patient (like Michael Myers) who has been let out of the mental hospital . The acting in Silent Madness is pretty good, especially from Belinda Montgomery. But their are very little scares to be seen. I give credit for the unique idea of having it not just be "main girl v.s killer", but "main girl v.s hospital staff". Joan having to fight off deranged hospital attendants who are determined to cover up the release of Howard Johns adds a bit more to the movie and makes it different from your average eighties slasher.

5/10
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