Paul Grau’s Mad Foxes (1981) is one of the grimiest films I’ve ever seen. Watching it felt like taking a discarded motor-oil bath. A Spanish/Swiss co-production, Mad Foxes is a film with little disregard for anything resembling ‘proper’ moviemaking. Still, this disgustingly disturbed production has a major cult following for a reason. Available on 4K and Blu-ray from Cauldron Films, you’ll leave Mad Foxes feeling filthy but beyond entertained.
Exploitation actor Paul Grau had never stepped behind a camera when he was hired to direct Mad Foxes at the request of infamous producer Erwin C. Dietrich. After watching Mad Foxes, I’m not convinced Grau ever actually knew what he was doing as a director other than dialing everything up to the loudest eleven he could. Fortunately, that approach works in Mad Foxes, allowing Grau and his cast to go wild in literally every scene of the film.
Clocking in at just 80 minutes, Mad Foxes is pure steroid-enhanced testosterone filmmaking. I typically don’t respond to this kind of cinema at all, but Grau’s film reaches a level of madness that’s never less than impressive. A take-off on the many Death Wish-inspired rape/vigilante thrillers, Mad Foxes is morally reprehensible as it comes, and yet the film’s entertainment factor dials down the effect of the film’s sadism.
A softcore Nazi biker revenge thriller, Mad Foxes features a script credited to no fewer than 4 people, including Grau. Most of the film plays like there was no script, almost as though Grau just told everyone to get as insane, naked, and violent in every moment as possible. Mad Foxes‘ ‘plot’ as it is serves as just a mechanism for the film’s carnage, and it turns out that was a fairly savvy move by Grau and team.
Everything about Mad Foxes feels dirty and just a bit off. This is a weird fever dream of a film and Grau’s dedication to wallowing in the grime is sort of impressive. From the croaky Krokus-performed theme song to the dingy-looking photography by one-and-done cinematographer Hans-Toni Aschwanden, Mad Foxes is intensely unpleasant. That said, Mad Foxes is also infectiously unpleasant, making it near impossible to look away.
There’s nothing respectable or subtle about Mad Foxes. This is pure exploitation and quite unhinged at that. Thankfully Grau and his merry band of inexperienced pranksters inject enough slick over-the-top insanity that all the grime washes away easily after viewing. Unlike, say, something like Michael Winner’s Death Wish 2, Mad Foxes doesn’t take itself seriously enough to truly cause offense. View this as a deranged amusement park ride and you’ll want a second trip after recovering.
Cauldron’s new edition of Mad Foxes is quite nice. Restored in 4K from the original completely uncut negative, it is hard to imagine this brutally unattractive film looking much better. Featuring English and Spanish audio tracks, along with a critic’s commentary track, fans of this oddity will find this 4K extremely welcome.
Cauldron’s bonus Blu-ray houses the bulk of the extras. These are, um, quite wild. First up we have the most interesting supplement, a fascinating near-45-minute chat with the star of the film, José Gras. This is a super interesting interview that covers his entire career, not just Mad Foxes. Now onto the juice in the shape of two interviews with members of the cast who play the Nazi Hell’s Angels of the film. Oh my goodness, the insanity of some of the stories these guys share. Eric Falk is so particularly hilariously unhinged that he gets an entire second interview on his own. A new video essay by Troy Howarth is also on hand, along with the usual slew of promotional material.
This big chunky deluxe box-set from Cauldron is probably the last thing the people behind Mad Foxes thought would ever happen, but life is odd. Not as odd as this crazed little film, but few things are.
-Jeremy Richey-
Nostalgia Kinky 
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