P3D Silent Madness

[Ray Zone <r3dzone@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Since the 1984 3-D film "Silent Madness" has been brought to "everyone's
attention" perhaps a brief consideration of its merits is in order.  None
of these remarks are intended in any way to disparage the efforts of Don
Radovich who is to be congratulated for his efforts in giving vintage 3-D
films new visibility to the public.
And, as Henri Langlois of the Cinematheque Francais would say, every film
no matter how bad has some historical significance.

I saw "Silent Madness" in "Arrivision 3-D" in November of 1984.   Rather
than venture my own opinion of the film I offer the following as to whether
the obscurity of "Silent Madness" is deserved or not:

First, RM Hayes in the book "3-D Movies" (McFarland & Co.: 1989)  p. 314:

"The story was okay, but nothing special even for this genre.  The 3-D
image was fuzzy, dark and not very pleasant. (The regular prints looked the
same so it obviously was a photographic problem.)  The stereo sound wasn't
anything to get excited about either.  Productionwise, this was only
average for a low budget affair.   There was a sequence in which a hatchet
was tossed at the audience.  This was terrible because a rotoscope
technique was used to animate the axe in slow motion, and it looked like a
cartoon.   It did move into the theatre space effectively, but it only got
laughs from the viewers because of its fakeness.   Much of this film
received that reaction from the audience.   Again, I think, because they
had seen too many of these things.   It just came too late in the slasher
cycle to make a good impression, but even had it been released three years
earlier it wouldn't have been very interesting, though I'm sure it would
have made a great deal more money.  This is not a very good example of
stereoscopic films, and I don't suggest that anyone who missed it should be
overly fretful about having done so."

Note to Don Radovich:  This "laughter" Hayes refers to can actually be a
good thing at a Halloween Film Festival.

And, finally, the review by KevinThomas (who is obviously no fan of slasher
films) that appeared in the Los Angeles Times on November 12, 1984 (Part
IV, p.4):

"Another Sorority House Shocker" --- "The 3-D system used to project
'Silent Madness' (citywide) is so bad that at times you're actually better
off watching it without glasses.  But its fuzziness proves a blessing:  It
blurs such moments as a hatchet being hurled at a young woman's chest and
another young woman being crushed to death in a giant vise.  Sick trash
doesn't come sicker than 'Silent Madness.'

"It's the latest sorority house shocker.  Psychopathic killer Solly Marx is
released by mistake from a Manhattan mental hospital and heads for the
scene of his crime, where 20 years earlier he had slaughtered a bunch of
sorority girls after they had teased him relentlessly.

"Sure enough, Belinda Montgomery, a newly hired psychiatrist at that mental
hospital, has headed there herself to investigate his past in the hope it
will aid in tracking him down.  Since the keepers prove as crazy as their
inmates at that hospital, Montgomery is further menaced by two of its
rape-minded attendants dispatched in response to her call for help.

"The makers of this junk doubtlessly would argue that it's not to be taken
seriously.  Perhaps they ought to try sitting in an all-male Hollywood
Boulevard audience that responds with mindless laughter to the continual
display of extreme violence, which inevitably is directed more against
women than men.  Once again, you have to wonder what it takes to get an X
rating from the MPAA."

---Respectfully Submitted by
Ray '3-D' Zone




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