I'm surprised by the negative reviews on here because THE MADDENING is great fun for those of us who enjoy psycho-thrillers. It's one of the cheesiest of the '90s, in no small part thanks to the presence of Burt Reynolds as an out-and-out nutcase whose open madness becomes more and more apparent as the running time goes out. He plays a rural hick, living in a big old country house with wife Angie Dickinson, and the story begins when innocent Mia Sara ends up at the place a prisoner. The sub-plots that follow are laced with plenty of comedy, with a Nedry-style cop hunting for Sara's put-upon husband whom he suspects of her murder. None of it's remotely convincing, but watching the actors chewing the scenery is certainly entertaining, with things building to an appropriately OTT climax. They don't make 'em like this anymore!

Appalling thriller from director Danny Huston went straight-to-video in 1995; one look at it and you'll understand why. Based on the book "Playmates" by Andrew Neiderman, Mia Sara plays an unhappy wife who is kidnapped along with her toddler by a highly dysfunctional rural family. Note to Burt Reynolds: never again try to attempt a Hollywood comeback with a role as a psychotic hick in a curly hairpiece. Shameful, amateurish dud gives off bad vibrations all the way. Huston tries hard to be repulsive (Reynolds punching Sara in the face, a big ugly bug resting on Brian Wimmer's mouth) rather than make an attempt to explore these characters with any kind of depth. He doesn't want viewers to invest their interest, he just wants to shock and provoke. That works for about two scenes...with a seat-numbing 90 minutes still left on the clock. NO STARS from ****

1995 was a very maddening, hard cut year in the film business. Direct-to-video was rising higher than television, and many actors and actresses had careers that were either sustained, or broken. In some cases, they were making comebacks, or trying to, in the case of Burt Reynolds and this sleazy little shocker. Also in tow, are Angie Dickenson, and Mia Sara, both of who, give their best efforts, though Burt owns this one, and it's not a very complimentary thing either.

Burt was attempting the comeback here, and many actors who do so, usually end up in some kind of a sexy setting, with sexy, if not romantic encounters with younger woman. It tends to restore some youth to their image, and vitality to their careers as leading men. Nothing new here. Mia Sara is the young 20-something in this regard. However, Instead of Jack Nicholson and Amanda Peet in 'Something's Gotta Give', or Liam Neeson and January Jones in ''Unknown', this is a most unsavory attempt at contentious material. No romance, no sexiness. Reynolds just slaps Sara around for about 70 minutes before raping her.

Our suspenseful plot involves the young mother Sara on the road in a failed escape plan to rendezvous with her sister after her career-oriented husband won't give her some sexual attention. No problem. Plenty of men are out there, and one in particular snags her on the go. Reynolds character Roy Scutter tampers with the car, locks her up in his old creepy backwoods house, and bullies her on both emotional and physical levels. All the while we're suppose to be scared and question why. Welp, it all boils down to the insane older man wanting to sexually conquer this poor young mother. And conquer her he does.

Some can see the business sense here, and it's logical that Renolds was still sporting some good rugged looks at this time, and sure, like Stallone and Quaid today, he wanted to ensure he still had "it", and a career. Sadly this was a horrid way to go about doing that. It's in the lighting, and shot compositions, and the hair/makeup/wardrobe. Burt has a style and a look for every moment. Dark and brooding for his menacing moments, charming and warm for his introduction, sexed up and rugged for the rape scene. Folks, that's what it was all about. Banging a younger woman. Sex sells, and this film did it horribly. It's quite a turn on for the Blanche Devereaux's of the world. (think The Golden Girls season 2, episode 2). But ultimately this one falls short. Reynolds tries his best to sway all the way to complete insanity for the integrity of the role but it s all to obvious what the point of this mess was.

My advice, if you want to see Burt in a sleazy smarmy role wit integrity, watch 'Boogie Nights', though by the sweat on his chest and unbuttoned shirt after the fact, it looks like this could have had the same title...