'Madison County' DVD Review

A generic backwoods slasher elevated slightly by a cool-looking killer.

When James decides to write his college thesis on a book that exposes a supposed serial killer who's been stalking the backwoods of Madison County for two decades, he travels to the area to meet the author, David Randall, and interview a few locals. His friends Jenna, Will and Brooke tag along to make a camping trip of the excursion (seemingly oblivious to the fact that there's a killer roaming the area), as does Kyle, Brooke's overprotective older brother, who's unaware that his little sis is dating Will. The group finds the locals less than hospitable, and worse, they find that the rumored killer, Damien Ewell, is all too real.

Madison County trots out all the backwoods slasher clichés, from the horny teen campers to the old timer warning them not to snoop around to the murderous hillbillies to the masked, silent killer. Despite the unoriginality of the killer (the pig head having been done in the cult classic Motel Hell), he cuts a striking figure -- played by Nick Principe, the towering actor who has most famously played ChromeSkull in the Laid to Rest movies. He's the movie's biggest selling point, although the script concocts a half-baked mythology for him -- something about him being tortured as a child by someone somewhere somehow for some reason. Nothing is clearly spelled out, which is disappointing because the setup of an author uncovering a serial killer and a conspiracy of silence has potential. Unfortunately, that potential is bludgeoned by lazy genre tropes and stupid protagonists who insist on always splitting up, despite the acknowledged possibility of there being a maniac on the loose.

The DVD

Special features include commentary.

Movie: C
DVD: D

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