TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

adriangr This so-called giallo (rather late entry into the genre if this was filmed in 1994) tells the story of a masked murderer who is attacking women and a police detective trying to find out the killer's identity before a beautiful comic book illustrator becomes the next victim."Madness" AKA "Eyes Without A Face (which comes up in the closing credits), is a pretty sloppily put together piece of cinema. Although it's currently extremely hard to track down a copy (there is no current VHS or DVD release, bootleg copies only, it seems), it doesn't reward anyone who goes to the trouble of finding it. The plot is pretty thin, the killer seems to be copying a character in a comic book called "Doctor Dark" and the pretty young illustrator of the comic seems to be the focus of the killer's attention. First of all you need to know that the pretty young illustrator is played by one of the worst actresses in any Italian giallo I have ever seen. Together with they guy who plays her boyfriend, she pretty much drags the whole story into the gutter. There are unfortunately several scenes where she is called upon to scream and panic or freak out in terror after nightmares, and she completely ruins it every time. In scenes where she is in hysterics and being "calmed" by her boyfriend, the pair of them look as though they are barking at each other like hyperactive dogs. The English dub is terrible, but for once that isn't to blame for this poor display of ham acting.One factor that might have saved the film is the grisly murders, as the murderer's methods are quite shocking: first he incapacitates his victims with a hypodermic syringe to the neck, then gouges out their eyes with some kind of extended fork, then he sticks broken glass into the empty sockets, and finally he shoves the fork up their nose to impale their brain. He then makes off with the eyeballs! This all sounds awesome/disgusting, but the presentation of it on screen is very disappointing. It only really happens once, and this is in the first 10 minutes of the film. The shots of the dead victim's mutilated face look quite gruesome, but the actual murder itself is very badly filmed - and no other deaths in the film are shown in any detail at all.So what we do have is a central cast of really bad actors (the slimy police inspectors are as bad as the central couple), and bunch of poor special effects with perhaps the one good shot of the first victim (oh and while she's alive she can't act either), and a "whodunnit" plot which to be fair does deliver a twist ending that you might not guess. But there's very little to enjoy. The central idea of the killer copying a comic book character might have gone somewhere but even that is wasted - the few times that any illustrations from the comic are seen on camera reveals some really pitifully poor drawings that would never make publication let alone be a "sensation".It's disappointing to search for a rare film and then be let down like I was by "Madness" - and to think people are reviewing it as one of Bruno Mattei's better films...oh dear

Michael_Elliott Madness (1994) ** (out of 4) Bizarre giallo from Bruno Mattei about a psychopath stalking the streets and not only killing people but also removing their eyeballs. The story centers around a writer (Monica Seller) who's books include a character who removes the eyes of their victim and the police think that maybe the killer is working his way up to her. Director Mattei was known for ripping off various movies in his career and this one here goes after Dario Argento's TENEBRE and really doesn't do it too much justice. If you're looking for a serious giallo then this here certainly isn't it. If you're just looking for a gory film with some laughs then you might enjoy MADNESS. There are all sorts of problems with this film but there's no doubt that not too much thought was put into the picture. If you've seen the Argento film then you're not going to be shocked by anything here other than the writer ripping off lines of dialogue and the entire story structure. What sets this film apart from others in the genre is that there are a few gruesome death scenes where we see the eyes ripped out of people. Sadly this doesn't happen enough or else the film might have been somewhat better. Even stranger is some of the dialogue including a scene where the police are trying to come up with possible suspects and one brings a guy up who slaughtered countless hookers. The only cop tells him that the guy has an alibi, which tells you that this murderer is out walking the streets and I'm guessing spent no time in jail. Another funny moment comes from the main character and her constant screams of terror. Performances are okay for the most part but with the English dubbing it's really hard to fully judge them. The brief nudity and sex comes towards the end of the film so one shouldn't expect too much of that. This film really isn't going to appeal to too many and I think most people who check it out will be Argento fans wanting to see what Mattei did to that story.

The_Void Bruno Mattei is a director famous for making his own versions of popular films; so you would certainly be forgiven for thinking that Eyes Without a Face is a remake of the Georges Franju classic of the same title; and probably quite shocked to learn that it isn't! You're likely to be even more shocked to find out that this is actually a good film! The Giallo genre was most popular in the early seventies; although Mattei didn't start making films in the mid seventies, and by then the likes of exploitation, zombie films and cannibals had taken over as the most popular Italian export. However, the fact that the Giallo had been and gone by 1994 didn't stop Mattei from making one anyway. The plot focuses on a serial killer who is murdering people by way of plucking their eyes out; a modus operandi obviously inspired by a comic book known as 'Doctor Dark'. A few girls get killed and it would appear that the creator of the comic book, a beautiful young woman named Giovanna Dei, will be the killer's next victim when the disembodied eyes start turning up at her place...Despite being made in 1994; this is every bit the classic styled Giallo, from the confusing plot to thin characters and brutal murder scenes. The film starts with a well worked scene at a go-cart race and the first half moves quite quickly and Mattei manages to keep up the suspense, which is definitely to the film's credit. However, the middle part of the film begins to get a bit tepid; but luckily things are recovered by the end. The film stars Monica Seller, in one of only three film appearances, and it's a shame she didn't work more often because she's very cute. Any violence involving the eyes is usually not for the feint hearted; and that is certainly the case here as while the murder scenes aren't particularly brutal; they are grisly enough and are sure to please. The film features plenty of red herrings; but the ending does come as a surprise and it's really well worked too. Mattei revs the sleaze factor up high and the film ends well. A good Bruno Mattei film is a rare thing; and therefore this film should be cherished. Be sure to give it a look if you can find a copy!

melvelvit-1 Life imitates art when "Doctor Dark", a popular comic book depicting the adventures of a college professor-cum-serial killer, begins offing babysitters in its storyline. The real-life counterpart removes the eyes from its victims and leaves them as gifts for its creator, graphic artist Giovanna Dei, who is also taking a ton of heat from the press as she vigorously defends her art while denying any connection between current pop-culture and real-life violence ("If they kill someone with a power drill, do they take it out on Black and Decker?"). When the police arrest a crusading reporter for stalking Giovanna and attacking her boyfriend, Inspector Callistrati thinks he's caught the killer -but those connected to the comic continue to die...EYES WITHOUT A FACE has no connection to Georges Franju's 1959 horror classic but does tread the familiar territory of the 1970s Italian giallo cycle. Fumetti characters coming to life and going on a killing spree had been done before in 1973's SEXY CAT and a number of the genre's conventions get a good workout here: an imperiled protagonist, a multitude of red herrings, a black-gloved/trench-coated killer with an undetectable motive going back to childhood, and a few mild set-pieces and surprises thrown in for good measure. Schlock director Bruno Mattei doesn't have a particularly good reputation overall but acquits himself rather nicely in this, his only giallo outing. The by-now oft-told tale has a timeliness that can still resonate: the entire premise/plot line was reworked in a recent episode of U.S. TV's CRIMINAL MINDS and the message seems to be that, yes, fantasy violence is a vicious circle and can be very dangerous, indeed.