Cover Art

Credits

Director: Joseph Zito Starring: Farley Granger, Vicky Dawson Screenplay: Glenn Leopold, Neal Barbera Music: Richard Einhorn Country: USA Tagline: It Will Freeze Your Blood AKA: Rosemary's Killer

A US Army soldier celebrates his return from WWII by impaling his ex-girlfriend, (she dumped him, via a letter, while he was away serving his country - that's why he's pissed at her), and her new fella with a pitchfork. This spot of bloody carnage puts a downer on the graduation dance that was taking place at the time, leading to further events being put on hold for a decade or three. Some 30-ish years later, hoping the coast is now clear of crackpot killers, the event is back on, but time hasn't helped our boy to forgive and forget - he's still hanging around, he's still pissed off and he still has his pitchfork…

Creepy POV shots, plenty of sneaking around in the dark, a 'guess who the killer is' game to be played and, of course, lots of blood splashed around and a little bit of bare female flesh. Yes folks, this movie is as cliched as it gets - a slasher 'by the numbers' without the slightest hint of originality, (not that originality is one of this particular sub-genre's strong points anyway.) So what sets this film apart from the dozens of other similar flicks lined up on video store shelves, begging for your cash? While the material is hardly challenging, Zito does do a decent job of keeping the pace of the movie up and the viewers interest held for the 90-or-so minutes that this little bloodbath hogs our screens. Boring is a crime that this film could never be accused of as various 'boo' scenes, creepy scenes, gory deaths and the like zip across the screen at regular intervals. (I'm surprised that Zito hasn't worked more in the horror genre as he does a decent job here and also on the aforementioned Friday… sequel which, in my humble opinion, was one of the best of the franchise.)

While the script and plot of a slasher pic. can be considered of minimal importance, one area where this particular type of movie demands some originality and creativity is in the special effects department or, to be more specific, the various ways in which the characters are despatched - the kill scenes. In the realm of '80's slasher movies, the special effects artists were probably the most important people amongst the cast and crew, a few of them elevating themselves to legendary status amongst gorehounds. Any other shortcomings, (and this particular type of movie usually has/had many), could easily be forgiven when the audience is treated to some suitably splashy and inventive ways of trashing the cast. This is where The Prowler scores big-time due to the involvement of effects genius Tom Savini, who supplies some memorably nasty carnage for the viewers delight. Amongst the censor-baiting delights on offer are bayonets through skulls, throat puncturing, a pretty girl on the sharp end of a pitchfork and, Savini's usual party-piece, an exploding head. The death scenes here are pretty nasty and go beyond the usual 'quick shock' of tamer splatter pics. and into 'eewww!' territory, (if that makes sense!) Luckily BU have provided viewers with an uncensored print of a movie that was mercilessly shredded by censors in the USA, Australia and the UK when the film previously showed up on VHS, so every blood-soaked Savini moment is here to savour.

Next up we have some on-set footage shot by Savini and his team illustrating some of the tricks-of-the-trade, special effects wise. The ten minute feature shows how some of the gore effects were achieved and illustrates what a time consuming job it can be. Interesting stuff.