HALLOWEEN HORRORFEST 2019: The Prowler (1981)

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Today’s sponsor hails from Croatia and is a man who loves spreading the love of horror around, krešimir zvonarić! 

Kresimir has chosen a film that was made just as the slasher film was making its mark on pop culture and features some legendary effects from Tom Savini, The Prowler. 

This film has something of a reputation, partially due to Savini’s effects (which are pretty Savini-esque, although Tom saved the best effect for last), and partially due to the striking appearance of its slasher, dressed as he is in an army uniform and a camouflage hood, dragging a Fuck-Off Pitchfork around.  But there are other things that I think makes it stand out from the other low-budget slashers that flooded theaters in 1981.

A big part of it is its overall look.  The film was shot in Cape May, New Jersey, and director Joseph Zito takes full advantage of the distinctive Victorian architecture of the town.  The film just looks better than its million dollar budget would indicate, and it really pulls off its WWII-era prologue well.  As such, it has a classier feel than some of its slasher film contemporaries. 

I also think some of it is just Joseph Zito’s direction.  Zito--who will go on to direct some fondly remembered actioners--has a sense of style and enlivens what could have been some derivative stuff.  Some of his choices are engaging and energizing....

....which is much needed because the script is...well, a lil’ silly.  It’s as if writers Glen Leopold and Neal F. Barbera (with three other people credited with additional dialogue and a fourth writing the ‘dear John’ letter than spurs on the initial murder) just looked at earlier slashers and said ‘let’s do that’ without thinking ‘why?’  This is the kind of film where you can identify the killer within the first fifteen minutes based solely on his/her intention as to what they’re going to do that evening.  There is a feeling of incompleteness and a sense of missed opportunities--why make the Graduating Dance an inciting incident when the killer never gets closer than the pool outside?  Why establish the importance of Major Chatham (Lawrence Tierney, of all people!) when he has one blink-and-you-miss-it nonsensical scene?  why did the killer dig up his former lover's grave and dump one of the designated victim in there instead?--that nagged at me throughout.  Luckily, the other elements were able to prevent that nagging turning into a continual dislike.

I also have to admit I got invested in some of the performances....some because they’re just out-and-out appealing actors, and some because they make good choices.  Cindy Weintraub has more charisma than is necessary for her designated victim role, and that makes Lisa a lot more alive than she needs to be...which, in turn, makes her death about halfway through a little more impactful.  Leads Vicky Dawson and Christopher Goutman bear a resemblance to P.J. Soles and Kevin Sorbo respectively, but after a few minutes they disappear into their characters and manage to breathe some life into what could have been real cardboard types.  And I would be remiss if I did not mention Bill Nunnery, who relishes his comic relief role as the Hotel Clerk so much that it made what could have been a terrible scene real good.

The Prowler is an example of how tired material can be given a lift by good choices.  It may not be inherently special, but the choices made by the director and actors, the simple decision as to where to shoot it (I shudder to think of how generic it would seem if it was shot in California as originally intended), can make it so.  I do recommend this.

Tomorrow, it’s back to the Randomizer, which has presented me with one of those films I’ve seen in the past and just not understood what everybody sees in it....so I’ll be traveling back to 1995 and walking straight into John Carpenter’s Lovecraftian love letter In The Mouth of Madness!

There is only one slot left for this year’s Halloween Horrorfest.  Anyone who joins the Domicile of Dread Patreon at the $3 or more slot not only gets bits of writing and exclusive podcasts (like the upcoming Pacific Rim Rialto and maybe a little surprise at the end of this month), but can sponsor one of those slots and choose the film I have to watch and report on!