by: -RoG-

One of the most overlooked slasher films of the early eighties, The Prowler (also known as "Rosemary's Killer") won't make many people's greatest horror movie lists. However, if you're a hardcore horror fanatic like me, particularly of old slasher films, believe it when I say that your movie collection will never be complete without this little gem. No, it's not an amazingly original or creative story (let's be honest, few cheesy slasher movies are), but it is an amazing showcase of what special effects guru Tom Savini was able to do even with the smallest of budgets.

So the story is basically about a killer in old army fatigues who was dumped 35 years ago and killed his ex-girlfriend and her lover with a pitchfork. Now, 35 years later, for no real reason has come back to murder a bunch of college kids putting on a dance. Sure, there's a little more to the story than that, but not much and I'm not going to bore you with the details when I have far more interesting things to share... such as the kills! The Prowler is a seriously brutal slasher film when the kill scenes do take place, and while it definitely could've used a few more, the ones that it did include were extremely memorable. You wouldn't think impaling somebody with a pitch fork or slitting their throat with a knife would make moviegoers squeamish since those are both standard fare when it comes to horror movie murders, but believe me... they're plenty nasty.

As rough as those kills are, there are two in this movie that I never forgot, so I wanna show you exactly what you've been missing. We start in the bedroom of one particularly unlucky fellow...

This poor bastard thought he was going th join his girlfriend in the shower, but instead, the Prowler snuck up behind him and shoves the knife down through the top of his skull and out the bottom of his jaw. It's a ruthless kill scene and the severity of the kill is only heightened when his eyes roll back white, his hands begin to go limp and you see the blood just spurting out everywhere. Man... that's a rough way to go.

The other great kill scene is where the Prowler himself kicks the bucket... and what a sight it is.

Skip to the end of the movie where the Prowler is attacking the heroine and he soon has her on the floor with a shotgun pointed in her direction. Even though she's lying on her back and he's standing above her with all the momentum a maniac could ask for, she still somehow overpowers him and turns the shotgun from his arms so it points right at his face. Sure, it's pretty much a physical impossibility, but there it is defying all logic and reason right before your eyes. Well, I'm sure you know what happens next...

Yowwww! Tylenol sure as hell isn't gonna help that headache. It's not every day you see such a high caliber head explosion in a horror movie, and while they do make it fade to black almost immediately after, we can still see most of the gory details just in time. It may have been low budget, it may have been a so-so story, but it still holds up even today to the most discriminating slasher movie fan. Kudos to you, Mr. Savini.

Have any questions or comments about this piece?
Email -RoG-