The Prowler
1981 Directed by Joseph Zito
Synopsis
A masked killer, wearing World War II U.S. Army fatigues, stalks a small New Jersey town bent on reliving a 35-year-old double murder by focusing on a group of college kids holding an annual Spring Dance.
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Masterfully shot, if a little vacant, early 80’s slasher film. Joseph Zito, who went on to direct Friday the 13th The Final Chapter, creates a visually rich atmosphere with well-crafted suspense and some striking imagery. A few of the night-time shots are almost on par with Carpenter’s Halloween, a film that Zito clearly drew inspiration from. It’s strange that after Friday the 13th he went on to direct nothing but a bunch of crappy action b-movies, his best work was clearly in the slasher genre.
The titular Prowler is memorable and has a striking, unique look. Decked out in full WW2 battle fatigues, he wields a pitchfork and brandishes a massive knife. The kill-count is fairly low for a slasher… -
In 1981, the American slasher sub-genre of the horror film was at the peak of its popularity. It was a solid year for the bastard offspring of the Italian giallo with more of the stronger efforts packing them in the cinema aisles during this blood soaked golden age era influenced by Sean S. Cunningham’s ‘Friday the 13th’ the previous year. After the movie’s phenomenal success thanks in no small part to the gory murder set-pieces created by SFX wiz Tom Savini which are the film’s main strengths there was no going back to the less is more approach of the slasher’s main template innovators - Bob Clark’s ‘Black Christmas’ (1974) and John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’ (1978). A whole host of decent…
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No complaints 80's Slasher. Simple but gets it all right and has some nicely shot kills with work from the gore master of all; Tom Savini! Creepy killer too!
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This isn't one of the best of the early slasher films. There are some good scary moments and suspense. This doesn't have anything on Nightmare on Elm Street, The Burning,Friday the 13th, Halloween, or My Bloody Valentine. The Killer works. The end is bad though. They don't give the killer a motive to come back years later and kill again. Yes I get why he killed the two in the beginning but then it goes about 35 years in the future and it makes no sense. This films still works. The atmosphere is good. The script is alright and so is the acting. Worth a watch.
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The Prowler, another great Slasher that doesn't get much in the way of mainstream attention from the average Horror fan.
Helmed by Joseph Zito (Friday the 13th Final Chapter, Missing in Action, Invasion USA) - The Prowler is a gem among Slashers from the eighties.
The story leaves enough mystery to keep you interested, the kills are well paced and graphically gory (Tom Savini works his magic once again) - the acting is fine and you don't feel any resentment towards the central characters. Sex is used but not as a way to score brownie points with viewers, I think this is important since sex has been used in more recent slashers as a way to drive in the audience…
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I wish I had more films like this in my childhood to leave indelible marks on my memory. Horror films left the largest impressions on my oldest memories. They help mold any growing child's perspective... The things I'll show to my kids some day.
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In 1981, the American slasher sub-genre of the horror film was at the peak of its popularity. It was a solid year for the bastard offspring of the Italian giallo with more of the stronger efforts packing them in the cinema aisles during this blood soaked golden age era influenced by Sean S. Cunningham’s ‘Friday the 13th’ the previous year. After the movie’s phenomenal success thanks in no small part to the gory murder set-pieces created by SFX wiz Tom Savini which are the film’s main strengths there was no going back to the less is more approach of the slasher’s main template innovators - Bob Clark’s ‘Black Christmas’ (1974) and John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’ (1978). A whole host of decent…
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A bog-standard slasher flick with some pretty outstanding practical effects and a great Scooby Doo ending. It's just a shame the rest of the film is so average.
Seriously worth a watch just once for Tom Savini's gruesome makeup and gore. Even by today's standards it's impressive. Alas... the rest of the film contains too much plodding and prancing around. The leads are as vanilla as they come and the kill'ees don't get enough time to develop for you to give two shits about them when they get 187'd.
A bit meh
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I love slasher movies with good jumps and this lives up to it's reputation. One of the better films of it's genre. '81 was a great year for American horror.
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Without Tom Savini's excellent effects work, this would have been long forgotten. A fairly good budget for this kind of nonsense means the film at least looks good, and Joseph Zito is a much better director than his filmography gives him credit for, but this is pretty dull stuff for he most part, with too much time given over to the Deputy walking round a house with a torch. Then a graveyard. Then the house again.
The killer is wonderfully creepy, but everyone else is utterly forgettable, the heroine is annoying and far too much stuff happens just to pad out the time between the wonderfully gory kills. -
No complaints 80's Slasher. Simple but gets it all right and has some nicely shot kills with work from the gore master of all; Tom Savini! Creepy killer too!
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Masterfully shot, if a little vacant, early 80’s slasher film. Joseph Zito, who went on to direct Friday the 13th The Final Chapter, creates a visually rich atmosphere with well-crafted suspense and some striking imagery. A few of the night-time shots are almost on par with Carpenter’s Halloween, a film that Zito clearly drew inspiration from. It’s strange that after Friday the 13th he went on to direct nothing but a bunch of crappy action b-movies, his best work was clearly in the slasher genre.
The titular Prowler is memorable and has a striking, unique look. Decked out in full WW2 battle fatigues, he wields a pitchfork and brandishes a massive knife. The kill-count is fairly low for a slasher… -
Nice little Scooby Doo slasher, saved by the awesome practical effects by Tom Savini.
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Sub-par slasher with great SFX from Savini.
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The Prowler, another great Slasher that doesn't get much in the way of mainstream attention from the average Horror fan.
Helmed by Joseph Zito (Friday the 13th Final Chapter, Missing in Action, Invasion USA) - The Prowler is a gem among Slashers from the eighties.
The story leaves enough mystery to keep you interested, the kills are well paced and graphically gory (Tom Savini works his magic once again) - the acting is fine and you don't feel any resentment towards the central characters. Sex is used but not as a way to score brownie points with viewers, I think this is important since sex has been used in more recent slashers as a way to drive in the audience…