This starts off as quite a well spun, psychological drama, until our oblivious innocents meet Burt and his deranged family. Reynolds really does a good job of playing the madman of a deranged family, still living in denial, of losing close loved ones, until Sara and daughter step into the picture, as familiar replacements, and becoming entrapped in the nutter's house. Dickerson, is very good as the deranged wife, overacting some notches. But they do give quite scary and trying performances in a dumb movie, that becomes more preposterous, as scenes become more preposterous, with some unbefitting music scores, excluding the major one I liked, the best thing about this film. The scene early on with husband, arguing with Sara's sister, not too fond of this guy, was just laughable, where you just can't take this one seriously as a scary thriller. It's just too dumb. The little girl of the nutters, equally nutty, gets on your nerves too. There were some moments, she actually made me uncomfortable. The pudgy cop, who sort of looks like Newman from Seinfeld, was the other plus, in a film, left better on the shelves. Stay away.

The Maddening is a trashy, low-budget flick with a "big" star. I couldn't figure out why Burt Reynolds would appear in something like this, especially since he's always seemed so vain, I didn't think he'd have it in him to play a "bad guy." Looking back, this was made around the time of his divorce from Loni Anderson and the cancellation of his TV Show, so his star was definitely on the decline at the time. Maybe he needed the money to pay for lawyers? That being said, Burt is one of the few really good things in this film. His understated performance and on-screen charisma kept me watching even when the story and terribly pacing made me want to turn it off.Unfortunately there's only so much that actors can do with material. This film is paced so poorly, and the story is so one-dimensional (just waiting for all of the characters to converge for the final show-down) that there's little the actors can do to help.

I was a bit skeptical to see this film,mainly because Burt Reynolds plays a psycho killer!I was wrong-"The Maddening" is very good.Reynolds performance is just scary and flawless,and the film has its share of surprises.It's creepy,mildly disturbing at times,but still manages to be entertaining for horror/thriller fans!The acting is surprisingly good and there are some violent scenes like nasty throat slashing!Check it out-you won't be disappointed!8 out of 10.

Burt Reynolds finally goes completely insane in this direct-to-video psycho-horror flick about a deranged father who'll stop at nothing to protect his family secrets. Mia Sara is quite good as the hapless victim and disturbed child Jill (Candy Hutson) is entertaining.There are also some gruesome parts such as Cassie's fingernail coming off. Most people have gave this film bad reviews but i enjoyed it and would definately consider watching it again.