27 - I, Madman

    A bookstore clerk becomes fascinated with some horror novels by a guy named Malcolm Brand.  The villain from those books seems to appear in her normal life, and she winds up being caught up in a series of murders as the killer gathers parts from his victims to sew onto his own head.
    I don't know what I was expecting from this one, but it turned out to be pretty unique, in a strange way.
    This is the first time that I've seen a movie that approximates the feel of Tales From the Darkside.  In fact, this movie is more like that show than Tales From the Darkside: The Movie.  There isn't quite enough plot or development to justify this being a movie, rather than a 45-minute episode.  Maybe it would have made a good X-Files episode.
    Anyway, the killer never gets as much development as he deserves.  And his gimmick - taking elements from different victims and replacing his own visage with them - is actually a fun idea, but I found myself asking questions about it.  When he stole the scalp/hair from one victim, how did he go about sewing it onto his head?  It seems awfully complicated to do by himself.  The ears, a similar problem shows up.  Getting a good view of your ears is a bit tricky.
    The main characters are kind of unimpressive.  The female lead is a strange character.  There's something that seems off about her, but she doesn't seem to have much of a personality.  Most of the story is taken up with a typical plot - "I know what the killer is going to do, but I sound crazy when I describe it, so no one will believe me."
    For a movie that came out in 1989, it seems like it belongs to the early 80s.  The effects are strange, and not especially well done.