Madman (1981)

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Gather around the campfire, and hear the tale of Madman Marz – an ill-tempered farmer who, one dark night, chopped up his wife and two children into pieces. When the locals learned of his heinous crimes, they exacted revenge – sinking an axe into his head and hanging him from a nearby tree. But the next day, Marz’s body was gone...

Thus the camp counsellor finishes his tale, closing with the warning never to say Marz’s name above a whisper, lest the hideously-deformed farmer comes looking for them. Naturally, the first thing that one of the young campers does is calls out Marz’s name – precipitating a terrifying night of murder, mayhem and sexy Jacuzzi vignettes!

Inspired by the same Cropsey urban legend which informed 1981’s The Burning and starring Dawn of the Dead’s Gaylen Ross (appearing under the pseudonym ‘Alexis Dubin’), Madman stands as one of the finest offerings from the golden age of hack ‘n’ slash.