Madman  | 1982 | USA | Joe Giannone

A slasher film born of the same legend that inspired the previous year’s The Burning, the screenplay and production was radically altered after the release of Tony Maylem’s summer camp splatter to be more distinct. After a campfire story of local serial killer Madman Marz, a country bumpkin who slaughtered his whole family with an axe, an ignorant teenager decides to fulfil the legend by loudly saying his name. The spectral murderer indeed returns and begins immediately causing mayhem at the camp, assassinating the counselors one-by-one until only the resourceful Betsy remains alive, safeguarding the children in her charge and bravely resigning herself to take the fight to Madman Marz. Wreathed in atmosphere and featuring everything you’d want from an ‘80s slasher, the film was nevertheless seized throughout 1985 by police forces in Hampshire, until it was eventually returned when it became clear the film wasn’t listed as an official nasty.