Hey guys! Horrorella here...
A busy summer led me to put this column on hold, but now it’s back just in time for Halloween! My goal here has always been to seek out and spotlight good films that, for whatever reason, might not be at the forefront of everyone’s mind when they think horror movies. So far, that has mostly been films from the 1930s and 1940s, allowing us to expand our knowledge of some of the less obvious, less well-known Universal-era classics. For this October though, we’re jumping forward in time to the 1980s, and are diving headlong into the Slasher Cycle. Every week we will take a look at a different slasher film and exactly what makes them great. Why you ask? Because it's Halloween and slashers are a shitload of fun.
So I am kicking things off with 1981’s THE PROWLER.
Written by Glenn Leopold and Neal Barbera (son of Joe Barbera, of Hanna-Barbera fame) and directed by Joseph Zito, THE PROWLER is a pretty standard, yet epically executed slasher film. It doesn’t really break the mold in terms of plot development, but it hits all of the expected beats in exactly the right way, and makes for a really fun viewing experience. It may not have the power and sequel appeal of HALLOWEEN or FRIDAY THE 13th, but it is still a great example of what this period in horror had to offer. It’s exactly the right kind of medicine for when you come home after a hard day and just want to watch 80s slasher magic unfold with plenty of slices and stabs.
The film opens at the close of World War II with a “Dear John” letter from a woman informing her soldier boyfriend that being apart was just too much for her, and that she had found someone else during his absence. Soldier boy doesn’t take this breakup lightly, and stalks the girl and her new boyfriend at The Pritcher School’s Graduation Dance. He dispatches them with a pitchfork when they wander away from the rest of the group, giving the film a strong opening segment and a wicked death scene. The soldier, of course, escapes into the darkness and becomes the stuff of legend.
Flash forward 35 years, and The Pritcher School is about the hold the very first Graduation Dance since the infamous incident. An important hallmark of horror, and particularly of the slasher subgenre, is that you can never fully leave the past behind – it will always resurface to set right old wrongs, ensure that it is never forgotten, or just to bring the next chapter in its legend/legacy to a new generation. Here, as Pritcher’s seniors look to celebrate their final days on campus, a masked killer silently stalks about in a World War II Army uniform, dispatching coeds left and right.
At the center of our story is Pam MacDonald (Vicky Dawson), a senior who serves as a bridge between past events and the horrors about to unfold because she has recently written an article detailing the Graduation Dance murders of 1945. As one by one, her friends begin disappearing from the graduation party, she, of course, is the first one to put the pieces together, and Mark (Christopher Goutman), a lackluster sheriff’s deputy who has stepped into the big seat when his boss (Farley Granger) heads out on vacation for the weekend, doesn’t believe her until students are turning up dead left and right. The soldier is back, still seeking retribution – in the bloodiest ways possible.
Again, the story might not break any new ground, but it’s a blast to watch. Zito manages to keep the plot moving along nicely, not letting it sit very long in one place and throwing out plenty of suspects and red herrings before the final unmasking during the grand finale.
The undisputed highlight is the make-up and effects artistry from horror legend Tom Savini. This is absolutely some of his most solid work, and it is showcased brilliantly - 80s slasher perfection. Everyone here gets stabbed, pierced, sliced and mutilated, and we get to see every glorious, blood spattered inch of it. A bit more refined than FRIDAY the 13th, yet still very much of the era and never over the top, the work that he did in THE PROWLER sets itself apart. Here’s a little taste:
Fuck yeah, right?
It’s effects work like this that sets the slasher cycle apart from every other period in horror cinema. Savini made his mark on horror with George Romero’s 1978 DAWN OF THE DEAD, but he really got a chance to get creative when the slasher cycle unleashed itself on the world in the early 80s. From FRIDAY THE 13th to MANIAC to THE BURNING, Savini was the go-to master of bloody death scenes, and the god of slasher effects. And THE PROWLER contains some of his greatest work.
The film was not initially terribly well-received, and pulled in a rather meager box office, thanks in part to the producer’s decision to self-distribute as opposed to teaming up with a larger distribution company with more muscle behind it. The film was relegated to a small number of screens and didn't do near the box office level that well-dsitributed slasher films were doing financially at the time.
Zito went on to direct FRIDAY THE 13th: THE FINAL CHAPTER (one of my personal favorite entries into the series, but feel free to continue that age-old debate below), on the strength of the work he did on this film. He also directed some action flicks later in the decade, including INVASION U.S.A with Chuck Norris and RED SCORPION with Dolph Lundgren. First Assistant Director Peter Giuliano, who also doubled as The Prowler in much of the film, eventually went on to work as on films such as GHOSTBUSTERS and TWINS.
THE PROWLER doesn’t really do anything new or original, and in the wave of slasher films that filled screens in the early 80s, it doesn’t immediately jump to the front of the pack. But it did age well and demonstrates what this subgenre does best – gory fun and suspense wrapped up in a mystery. These films often fall into either a category of a supernaturally fueled madman, like Michael or Jason, or function as a who-done-it murder mystery. THE PROWLER is more of the latter, keeping you guessing as to the killer’s identity until the final moments, and giving you plenty of carnage to enjoy before the big reveal.
A great horror gem that is not talked about nearly often enough. Happy October, everyone!
