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METHOD TO MADNESS
Produced by Maxwell Mattord
Directed, Edited, and Videotaped by Jason McKenneyConrad - Bradley Kell
Hinrich - Scott Hart
Julie - Rachel Thompson
Derrick - Rex Malone
Sad Sack - Aaron WaltersIt's a familiar sight. A beautiful, leggy blonde driving alone has a breakdown in the middle of nowhere. She wanders away from the car to go find help and ends up in a heap of life-threatening trouble. Usually, the scene takes place at night, but not this time around. Perhaps as an homage to Hitchcock's NORTH BY NORTHWEST, or perhaps due to a lack of funds for proper lighting, our blonde goddess breaksdown in the middle of day. Judging the by shadows, high noon. Nothing bad ever happens in the day, right? Wrong. Dead wrong.
Unfortunately, the rest of Jason McKenney's backyard production, METHOD TO MADNESS, doesn't play with genre conventions as interestingly as he does in those opening moments as his characters quickly start giving way to their own stupidity. Take our blonde bombshell who, once she realizes she's in danger, doesn't run away but sticks around to investigate further. When she does finally run, and find's someone she thinks can help her, is she really blind to the disfigured, drill-sporting maniac that she's been running from as he walks right up behind her.....in the open desert no less? And as our lovely quickly finds out, when you're too stupid to get up off your knees and run when someone is only half-heartedly keeping you down, you deserve a drill to the head.
Sadly, all the characters in METHOD TO MADNESS have their neurologically challenged moments just like our pre-credit cadaver-to-be. After ripping off a couple of Latino hoods, four bickering thieves take to the road - only they didn't fill up the car. When stealing the money, they leave the hoods alive. When almost out of gas, they agree to stay at a stranger's house. At night, when noises wake one of the four thieves, they go off to investigate by themselves. If they find nothing, they send someone else off into the darkness, alone. When deformed maniacs start picking them off, they DON'T LEAVE!!!
The movie isn't helped by the fact that viewers really do wish these people dead. At the top of the "please kill them now" list is social climbing uber-bitch Julie. Scheming to make off the stolen loot, she's a conniving mix who uses her sex to get what she wants. She's also the one who forgot to fill up the getaway vehicle. Then there's Derrick, Julie's boyfriend. He of the "all bitches are good for is fucking" school of misogynist virility. Some jerks really do deserve a painful death. Even the villain is little more than an annoying jerk whom you wish would impale himself on his own cane.
Despite his flaws in developing characters and plot, McKenney excels in other areas. His strongest being coverage and editing. Unlike most novice filmmakers who rely on long, single takes, McKenney understands that action and tension depend on pacing. He breaks his action up with a variety of shots that suggest an expertise far above what the low-end digital he filmed with would suggest. If more novices took the time to learn basic filmmaking techniques, chances are I wouldn't be growing as frustrated with the amateur/underground scene as I am. Then again, if characters didn't rely on stupidity and cliched situations, then I probably wouldn't be as frustrated as I am either.
In creating the perfect mode, McKenney uses a score composed by the METHOD TO MADNESS producer, Maxwell Mattord. It's rare that I'll point out an exceptional score, but Mattord's slow guitar funk gives many of the scenes the creepiness they need. Sometimes, the music is a little loud and overpowering, but never feels out of place.
The self-distributed DVD contained no special features.
METHOD TO MADNESS is a mixed bag where certain production elements outweight others. Unfortunately, the key element of "a good story" is not of those that shines. Had the characters not been so painful to endure, either through their demeanor or their actions, McKinney and Mattord could have had a small gem instead of a near miss.