It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Blistering performances.

I think I can safely consider myself to be a fairly open-minded and tolerant horror fan, but there's one thing I honestly can't stand: horror comedies that are not funny, nor gory. And unfortunately we happen to see a lot of those lately, especially in the sub genre of 'zombie movies' ever since a British instant classic called "Shaun of the Dead" successfully mixed humor with splatter. By now everybody seems to think they're capable of making a horror comedy and this naturally results in a huge pile of stinking, inept, insufferable and redundant straight-to-video crap. All these untalented filmmakers don't seem to realize that "Shaun of the Dead" was actually the exception that confirmed the rule: zombies, people coming back from the dead to hunt the flesh of the living are no laughing matter. Like the case in "The Mad", there's absolutely nothing even remotely funny about family members getting killed by walking corpses that died after consuming beef infected with the mad cow disease. People will not start to make jokes or have discussions about the definition of a zombie moments after their beloved partners have been reduced to a pile of blood and intestines on the floor! "The Mad" really tries to be hilarious, with its absurd & stereotypical character drawings and clichéd father-daughter-stepmother-punk boyfriend relationship jokes, but it miserably fails. The other elements to create comedy are either totally pathetic (spontaneously attacking hamburgers) or utterly derivative (inbred farmers and banjo music). "The Mad" can't even distinguish itself from the majority of lame-ass low budget horror junk with a good amount of nauseating splatter, as the make-up effects and massacres are nothing exceptional at all. It's not a gore-soaked bloodbath and we're only treated to a couple of mundane zombie-attacks and relatively bloodless annihilations. And then there's Billy Zane, the "famous" name parading the DVD-cover; hoping to attract more viewers with it. To my surprise I encountered a lot of reviews claiming that his performance was awesome but I, on the other hand, have rarely seen someone acting so uninterested and hammy, and no, I don't misinterpreted the fact his performance was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek. Zane more than obviously wasn't interested in starring in this piece of junk and he can't hide it. For crying out loud, Billy! Maybe you desperately needed the money, but if you really don't want to star in garbage like this, then don't sign the contract! "The Mad" is a terrible film, not funny, not horrific, not gruesome, nothing to recommend.

No, I didn't laugh my head off at this dark comical tale of rural horror. However, I would have liked to give my head a shake for seeing it. Being a Troma and general B-circuit film buff, I was entirely let down and that's hard. I tried to have an open mind and let 'The Mad' ride its course of a humored, satirical play... I still had no satisfaction. Bring back Romeros' original zombies or Wiederhorns' aquatic zombies... well, maybe not. First and foremost, polish the dark humor and give it fuel because it sure ran dry in this film!As many folks out there, I'm well-aware of the drawn out comical sideshows of zombie flicks. I thought I would give this film a chance, seeing how I enjoyed 'Shaun of the Dead' and other collaborations of the whole zombie genre. Now, there's only so far one can beat the zombie drum and I truly believe that it is done already, not from this film though. Yes, it's unfortunate that the horror icon, Billy Zane, seems to be the prelude to department store five dollar DVDs. I can't blame Zane though, I think he's still an under-appreciated actor that has a lot of potential.

I like zombie films and all manner of B horror and science fiction shows. But this thing is simply too bad to put into words. It tries to be a fun campy zombie flick but fails miserably. The funny parts and not even remotely funny. The only thing I can think of to compare this to is Napoleon Dynamite. It just has no substance to it at all. The acting and production values are good and it obviously was made with some kind of budget but the direction, feel, atmosphere and plot of this movie suck. I urge everyone in the strongest possible language to stay as far away from this movie as possible

Having screened The Mad at the Gala Opening at the 2007 Canadian Filmmakers Festival, I can say that it would be a shame for this movie to be relegated to the 'Direct to Video Pile'. It's likely to become a cult movie in a similar vein to "Shaun of the Dead", "Evil Dead", "Return of the Living Dead", etc.A tad slow in places, the intelligent humour and earnestness of the characters more than makes up for any shortcomings. This movie makes no pretense to being anything other than fun.Nice to see Billy Zane in something other than a dramatic role, with luck we'll see more comedic acting from Zane in the future as he seemed to have a great deal of fun with this role.Go 'Team Chris'