Madness (1980)
Original title: Vacanze per un massacro
Madness is a 1980 Italian-language thriller movie directed by Fernando Di Leo, with a running time of 1h 29m. It stars Joe Dallesandro, Patrizia Behn and Gianni Macchia.
A brutal home-invasion thriller from the Italian genre years. Fernando Di Leo, better known for hard-edged crime pictures like Caliber 9, directs Joe Dallesandro as an escaped killer who forces his way into a remote cottage and holds a married couple and the wife's sister captive. Shot in twelve days on a small budget, the film trades on tension and menace inside a single house. Luis Bacalov's score is largely lifted from Di Leo's earlier work. Dallesandro, a fixture of Andy Warhol's films, made this his last Italian role before returning to the United States.
Quick answers
What is Madness about?
A brutal home-invasion thriller from the Italian genre years. Fernando Di Leo, better known for hard-edged crime pictures like Caliber 9, directs Joe Dallesandro as an escaped killer who forces his way into a remote cottage and holds a married couple and the wife's sister captive. Shot in twelve days on a small budget, the film trades on tension and menace inside a single house. Luis Bacalov's score is largely lifted from Di Leo's earlier work. Dallesandro, a fixture of Andy Warhol's films, made this his last Italian role before returning to the United States.
When was Madness released?
Madness was released on 20 March 1980.
How long is Madness?
Madness runs 1h 29m.
Who made Madness?
Madness was directed by Fernando Di Leo.
Where can I watch Madness?
Madness is available on Kanopy and Amazon Video.
Where to watch Madness
Watch free: Kanopy
Rent: Amazon Video
Buy: Amazon Video
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A few thoughts on Madness
This is a lean, nasty artifact of Italian exploitation cinema, of interest mainly to viewers tracking Di Leo's filmography or Joe Dallesandro's European years. The recycled Bacalov score is its own small reason to seek out Caliber 9 first.
An escaped killer corners a family and won't let them go
Madness traps a married couple and the wife's sister in a remote cottage with an escaped killer who won't leave until he gets what he wants. No Good Deed runs the exact same setup in a suburban home, Cape Fear and The Last House on the Left turn a family's own house into the trap, and Don't Breathe and Becky flip the intruder roles but keep the same claustrophobic dread.
Captivity stories that never leave one tense location
Madness confines its violence to one house and lets the dread build in real time rather than through action. Petals on the Wind and The Institute both trap their characters somewhere they cannot leave, Sweet Home turns that same confinement into survival horror, Butterfly on a Wheel wrings tension from a couple held captive, and Heavy Rain carries the same suffocating pressure into a playable thriller.
Psychological thrillers about a stranger's menace closing in
Madness never explains its killer, letting the threat stay a blunt, unknowable fact pressing on an ordinary family. A Kind of Murder builds the same slow dread around a man capable of violence, The Dark Half and The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle twist that menace into something stranger, The Hard Way follows a kidnapping with the same relentless pressure, and Erased wraps a family's danger inside a ticking mystery.