everyday is halloween!

 the prowler [1981]

speaking of slashers this movie is a prime example of the sub-genre.  solidly directed by joseph zito with a clever-ish script, good editing & lighting & photography, & with a serviceable score.  but even more so is the FX by maestro tom savini with kills that are sudden, violent & gory.  this is a fun kinda stabby pic that is proof that slashers can attain the level of good trashy art.

who is 'the prowler?'  well, the movie starts with a 1945 newsreel of WWII G.I.s returning home from a long exhausting war to their families & their sweethearts.  except for one soldier who gets a deer john letter from his girl, rosemary, while he was overseas.  forward to a college graduation dance in the california coastal town of avalon where rosemary with her new beau leave the dance to neck on the water's edge.  this is when things get gooey.  a dude decked out in army fatigues, boots, gloves, helmet, long knife, &, get this, a pitchfork, & masked, pierces rosemary & boyfriend to death in mid-smooch.

fast-forward 35 years.  it is now 1980 & the college in avalon is having its first graduation dance since the horrible murders happened in 1945.  the killer is still at large.  indeed, we see him getting all kitted out for a solid night of murders.  & boy does he!  still, the filmmaker throws us a red herring or two to keep us guessing the identity of the prowler.  not in a great murder mystery kinda way but enough to keep the story's engine running.  nevertheless, the deputy sheriff, mark london, played by christopher goutman, is a solid dude who has a deep crush on our final girl, pam macdonald, played with precocity by vicky dawson.  pam & mark make a good team as they race all over avalon to find & stop the killer.

classic hollywood tuff guy lawrence tierney is major chatham, the father of rosemary, in a blink & you might miss him kinda role.  hell, i didn't know that was tierney until i read the credits!  farley granger plays the sheriff of avalon who leaves the movie early to go fishing while leaving deputy mark in charge.  interesting thing about slashers there is rarely any psychological explanations given as to why the killers are all stabby.  or why they prefer knives, & other sharp things, over firearms.  still, this is a sub-genre that is about action rather than reflection or motivation.  except for the flimsiest kind, such as the prowler was dumped by his girlfriend while he was fighting overseas.  he comes home to stab her in a fit of rage.  but why kill a rangy group of relative strangers 35 years later?  because the mis en scene is a graduation dance at the same college?  

why ask why, i suppose.  just let the story take you down its psycho road.  this pic is a very good example of a slasher that hits all its marks with a finesse that is equal to the moods of the Spooky Season.  

boo!