Madness

This week I went obscure, really obscure. I watched:

Madness, aka Gli occhi della luna, or The eyes of the moon. (1971).

Three madmen escape from the asylum using the oldest trick in the book. Two are irrelevant, it's the third one, Paolo Lupi (Thomas Hunter) that is important. He is tall and handsome but unfortunately also a deranged and violent sex maniac. Eventually, desperate for shelter and food, he makes his way to an empty villa somewhere in the Roman countryside. At the same time we meet a group of young party animals. They are planning a party in a villa owned by the family of one of the girls. Once there, they want to party and experiment with LSD. Yes, obviously it is the same villa.

Alright, so Madness is considered a “lost Giallo” since it vanished shortly after its theatrical release in 1971. One rough copy was discovered in 2007, and I do mean rough. The reason for its disappearance isn't known, but it is the only movie the director, Cesare Rau made. He also has two second unit or assistant director credits and that's it.

The movie isn't badly shot at all, and the actors are decent. The music is unusually good, but very repetitive. Besides a couple of pieces of soundtrack, Madness features “She's a Stranger” by the Italian band Capsicum Red, which is a good song, but they play I over and over and over. I mean a group of cool kids go partying in a villa and they bring one song? The story is good, but I don't think the scriptwriters or the director were really up to the task.

The movie wastes so much time, its almost criminal. The beginning especially is rough, spending so much time in a club with people dancing and then after a bit, it goes back just to show more people dancing. Lupi's escape is fine, but there as well the balance is pretty off. He meets a middle aged man and helps him with his car, a scene that sort of does nothing. I say sort of, because you can argue it illustrates Lupi's attitude towards men vs how he sees women. Still it drags pretty badly. Overall, I think the editing is the problem. The movie jumps back and forth, repeats itself and spends time on scenes that are completely irrelevant, and no one needs that. I have in fact left a lot unsaid, because I don't want to be too negative.

Overall, it is easy to dismiss this movie as cheap sleazy trash, but I don't think that is fair. For all its problems they tried really hard, and I think that shows. There is real effort here but everyone can't be Dario Argento, who's directorial debut was the celebrated The Bird with the Crystal Plumage.

Once I was done watching, two things struck me. Minor Spoilers Ahead. Lupi has moments of clarity, and once another murder happens he is horrified and begs God to cure him. He doesn't want to be a killer, but he is and soon loses control again. At the end we realize that one of the party kids who can't keep his hands of girls starts giggling in the same way Lupi did after a murder. It is subtle but really nicely done. I don't think its meant to be a passing of the torch type thing, but rather an illustration of how certain types can easily go too far and become something dangerous. A slippery slope.

So, do I recommend this movie? Not really. Madness isn't even really a Giallo, if that matters to you, but genre adjacent. What I have been trying to say is that there is a good story hiding in a clumsily made movie and that is frustrating. I don't dislike Madness, but there isn't all that much to like either. That said, you should make up your own mind, but there are so many better movies out there.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!