Silent Madness is a little known and easily forgettable 80's slasher that got a 3D release in theaters before landing on its inevitable 2D VHS platform. Though the film rips off several other genre pics, its above-average bodycount and a couple interesting elements in the story make it a decent watch.

The story is pretty much like a majority of the slashers to come outta the decade, with a few minor twists -- a "computer error" leads a violent mental patient to be discharged from an asylum, where he heads back to the old sorority where he once murdered several young women. A female psychiatrist from the ward discovers that the error was actually due to the incompetent staff and now they're trying to cover up the fact that they've mistakenly released the wrong patient.

The psychiatrist is given "time off" after she starts snooping around the asylum and takes it upon herself to investigate the whereabouts of the mental patient, leading her to the old college, where she and a nosey journalist help uncover the details surrounding the murders that took place there many years ago. Meanwhile, the staff at the asylum decide to send out a couple creepy orderlies to take care of the psychiatrist and escaped patient..

Although this isn't exactly a good movie, it's far from being a bad one. For one the acting from the leads isn't horrible, but I could say otherwise about the supporting cast. I also liked the fact that we're not only witness to a crazed mental patient offing people, but also a couple staffers looking to cover up their mistakes, giving the normally bland slasher story a slight twist.

Of course the movie still has numerous faults, like for instance having to deal with cheap 3D tactics where inanimate objects are randomly shoved right into the camera. A lot of the death scenes are also pretty tame and lacking of any blood or gore. There were a few scenes in the film that could've offered some decent gore had they actually shown the death instead of having the camera turn away or immediately switching to the next scene.

The killer himself is also fairly ordinary, with the exception of being really pale complexioned and having dark around his eyes. The movie is also as predictable as they come, particularly towards the end when the big "twist" is revealed, which came as no surprise to me or anyone else familiar with the sub-genre. On the plus side, we're treated to a nice 10/15-minute chase between the lead and the killer.

On a side note it was nice to see a couple small appearances by Sleepaway Campers -- namely Paul DeAngelo (Ronnie in SC) as a bulky victim early in the film and Katherine Kamhi (Meg in SC) as one of the sorority girls.

A forgettable 80's slasher that has its plus and minuses. It throws a couple interesting ideas to the normally bland slasher mold, but also falls victim to predictability and a lack of gore and on-screen kills. 80's slasher fans may find this a decent watch, but I wouldn't recommend it otherwise.