The Prowler

A killer wearing a world war II army uniform stalks a New Jersey town seeking revenge for a 35 year old murder that took place at Avalon Bay , on June 28th, 1945 during the night of the graduation ball . A couple , Roy ( Timothy Wahren) and his girlfriend Francis Rosemary Chatman( Joy Glaccum) are murdered on that night by what appears to be a garden rake from a jilted soldier returning home from the war. Since that night, Major chatman( Lawrence Fierney ) has closed down the dance hall for 35 years until on June 28th 1980, a new graduation dance is organized by student Pam Macdonald( Vicky Dawson) . The town sheriff George Fraser(Farley Granger ) has announced to his deputy Mark London( Christopher Goutman) He's going on his summer fishing trip and leaves him in charge and warns about about a dangerous man who is on the loose and to keep a watchful eye out. This was without a doubt one of the best 80,s slashers with some really good gore effects from the master of gore Tom Savini that include a bayonet through the head, a female being gourged to death in the shower with a pitchfork and even a shotgun being used which normally you don't see used in slashers. I agree the musical score could have been a little more menacing to add to the excellent scare factor throughout the movie. I have to recommend this to any true gorehound like myself who truly enjoy great slasher flicks that they just don't make anymore .

the prowler is without a doubt one of the best slashers ever made. i'm very surprised i never heard of this until coming acros the dvd here on amazon. with slashers like friday the 13th and halloween getting so much attention i cant understand why this flick is so unknown. directed by joseph zito who is better known for directing friday the 13th the final chapter(the best of the series in my opinion)and the chuck norris classics missing in action and invasion u.s.a., i have enjoyed his other films but this is my favorite of his. the plot isnt important, a soldier fighting in ww2 recieves a letter from his girlfriend telling him shes moving on. so in a passionate rage he kills her and her new lover. jump ahead to the 1980's where a big graduation party(or something)is being held and murders begin occuring. the plot isnt important and to be honest, the film moves a little slow at times. whats most important are the murders themselves and thanks to some incredible make-up and gore effects by tom savini these kill scenes are fantastic. there arent to many kills but the ones in the film are awesome. theres a double pitchfork impalement, a bayonet through the skull, a very bloody neck slicing, a dagger in the throat and my favorite, a brutal, pitchfork shower stabbing. to top it all off theres a great shotgun, exploding head that is much better than the much celebrated maniac head explosion. all of these murders are slow, brutal and very bloody. wehere as the kills in the friday the 13th films are quik and usually not to graphic due mainly to censorship, the kills in the prowler are very cruel and drawn out. this is some of tom savinis best work. the film isnt flawless. its very slow at times and there could have been more kills, one scene almost guarenteed a double murder as a young couple began making out, but it was nothing more than a false scare. overall the prowler is a great film and one of the best slashers ever made. the dvd by blue underground is uncut and features a very fun commentary with joe zito and savini. this is a must buy for horror fans and gore hounds and especially any fan of tom savini. 4 1/2 stars

This movie is very very gory, and bloody. Not to scary, not the greatest plot line, but if your into gore it's for you...Worth checking out, if your a slasher movie fan...

This is by far one of the best 80's horror films. One thing that really took me by surprise was the level of intensity that each of the killings goes to. These are some pretty hardcore deaths. I won't spoil any of them by giving you details, but just know that you will be shocked by what you see. I am a true horror movie freak, my film collection would make most video rental stores look extremely weak. Having said that, the ending in this movie was truly a surprise to me. I was actually surprised by the twist at the end which revealed the killer. Great movie with great kill scenes!

I had very high expectations coming into this movie but they fell short to a very weak story. I really love slashers. They're my favorite of the horror genre and I do know they don't usually have the best stories anyway. But I need a little more story than gore for gore's sake. The Prowler's biggest strength is the death scenes. I mean it's been awhile since I seen something this brutal.

There isn't much suspense to it and the stalking scenes just seemed to be put together a bit too clumsy. And time was wasted on several filler scenes instead of either A)delivering a bit more story B)increasing the brutal body count. The movie just didn't set a good horror atmosphere to me.

This movie is more for diehard gore hounds. Don't come into this expecting Halloween because you'll be terribly disappointed. This is just a decent flick good to check out once in your life. I guess my problem is I'm spoiled by the original Halloween and Black Christmas.