The Prowler (1981)

Written by Neal F. Barbera & Glenn Leopold
Directed by Joseph Zito

After receiving a Dear John letter while fighting World War II, a soldier returns from the war and decides to take his revenge on a happy couple at the local college's Spring Dance in 1945. The killer is never caught, and now, 35 years later in 1980, the college has finally decided to allow the Spring Dance again, and of course the killer pops back up and starts systematically stalking and slashing all of the students one by one. Like many other slashers from the period, the story is not the strong point of this film, but at the same time, strong story was never really the first priority of filmmakers making horror movies in the early 1980's.

However, The Prowler manages to set itself apart from many other slashers of the same ilk with an attempt at an original take on the slasher gener, by changing the setting, approach, and type of killer. Whereas many of the other slashers of the early 80's were supernatural killers, The Prowler has an air of supernatural ability about him, but that is mainly because of the Army outfit that covers his face, leaving the audience in the dark as to what exactly The Prowler is. With most slasher films from the era, the myster of who the slasher was never really ended up mattering, but in the case of this film, that turns out to be the final twist of the film, exactly who the Prowler is.

Like many of the slasher films that Tom Savini was involved in (such as Maniac, The Burning, Friday the 13th), this film is basically a showcase for the murder scenes, and in turn, Savini's creative gore effects. Savini has said that he considers this movie to be his greatest accomplishment, and in turns of realism, he may be right. There are some brutal murders committed on screen in this film, and some of them, especially the pitchfork scenes, the knife through the skull, and the exploding head, are the best of their kind, even almost 30 years later.

Maybe it's my predisposition towards movies set at summer camps, but the fact that his film has a change of venue changes the level of excitement for me. Somehow, the film manages to lull in many places, where other films with similar body counts and pacing seem to move much quicker than this one. Either way, for dedicated slasher fans, The Prowler is a must see, for students of special effects, this is a masterpiece, and for gorehounds, there is plenty of action to keep even the sickest puppies satisfied for the 90 minute runtime.

6.8/10