I ordered this film last month from the us because i need to have every backwoods horror film in my video store here in Vancouver ( yes there is still a video store left in this city ). It's a guilty pleasure for me to engage and embrace a new backwoods film regardless if it is horrible. Madness had all the ingredients to be one of the worst backwood horror films of all time ie.. low shoe string budget, horrible acting, Swedish film pretending to be an American film with Swedish actors speaking with a British accent etc etc but instead i watched in awe and suspense one of the best backwoods horror films of the last decade or so. First of all we have an opening that will jade the most jaded horror fanatics. Wow, the start would give Carver's ball crunching scene a run for its money ( well maybe not ).After this we are introduced to the four leads which end of being stranded in the middle of nowhere and than the mayhem ensues and never lets go. The film has a longer than usual running time for films of this ilk but that didn't matter at all. The two main antagonists speak only in Swedish and they are creepy as hell especially the one with the screwed up eye. The bandannas on these two freaks of nature only added to their macabre decor. What makes our protagonists so likable in this film is that they seem to go through just as much grisly chaos ala ash ( Bruce Campbell ) from the first two evil dead flicks. Even though the budget of this film might remind you of some other basement fodder flicks like machined and reborn, this one on the other hand wears its low budget like a decayed badge of honor.... Fantastic stuff and not for the squeamish....
