The Prowler
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Movie Reviews of The Prowler
Movie Review: a great "slasher" flick
Summary: 4 Stars
i saw this movie when it came out and it got to me then and still does. for some reason this movie is much better than most "slasher" movies and if you give it a chance i think this story of a world war II soldier who gets a "dera john" letter form his girlfriend and kills her and her date at prom. flash foward to the 80's and after a long time the school has another prom,so guess what,right the killer is back. nothing great but it is fun.Movie Review: How does that guy see through that rag over his face?...
Summary: 3 Stars
The prowler is probably the ultimate soso slasher movie. It must be made clear that this movie is actually Friday the 13th. part 3.5. It was made between Jason's hockey mask debut and before the final chapter. You see, the F13 franchise was simply testing the market for a fatigued-garbed Michael (Jason,JASON I mean!) the director Joeseph Zito and FX stud Savini even went on to make F13 5 (Uh,4,I meant to say). The soundtrack is also Friday the 13ths. part 1's creepy violin music, but with the important Ch,ch,ch,cha,cha,CHA's strangely deleted. Some of it's redeeming values, however, include the killer's costume, which is way more neat-o than a hockey mask, an excellent pitchfork slaying in a shower scene, and you get to see the 70's classic rock band "Boston" in their final stage performance!! SWeeT! That shower scene is particularily good; he stabs her, and as he lifts her up against the wall, you can hear the tips of the forks scrape against the wall (a nice touch), then she screams and blood shoots big-time out of her mouth, and best of all, the scene ends with that said scream fading into one of Boston's slower numbers. Not really recommendable. There ae some cool scenes in this movie, but most of it is just long stretches of lame plot developement and creepy violin music. One teenage-screwN'kill sequence is set up but never carried through. The Blue Underground release has ten minutes of Savini's home-video footage of the prowler sawing on the swimming pool chick's neck and moaning in a very comely fashion and oozing and squirting blood all over the place (oh yeah, Savini blows up a dummies head with a shotgun that is suppose to look like Farley Granger, but looks more like former vice president Al Gore). Movie Review: The real star of this film: obviously, Tom Savini.
Summary: 4 Stars
Separating "The Prowler" from other slashers, this film opens with vintage footage of WWII soldiers returning home with a voice-over narrator, hired by the film-makers and then in his 80's, who had actually once narrated these kinds of newsreels.
Then we cut to the reading of a "Dear John" letter in which a young woman reveals that she's dumping her soldier boyfriend (jeez, she only had to wait a little while longer). Well, at a graduation dance, the impatient girl and her new lover meet a graphic demise at the hands of a psychopath in full 1940's era army fatigues.
Move forward another 35 years, and the first graduation dance since the double murder is being held. And, what do you know, another demented soldier boy is determined to hack and slash people to death...
This is a tolerable if not terribly inspired slasher film that gets most of the juice it has from Savini's gut-wrenching, unrelentingly nasty gore. You may really believe that these stupid, unlucky characters are dying brutal deaths. The knife through the head (what really makes this work is the fact that this victim's eyes actually ROLL BACK IN HIS HEAD) and pitchfork in the shower kills are probably considered classic moments for fans of gore. The final dispatching of the villain is a real show-stopper, too.
As for the rest, well, there's some suspense. This actually isn't *badly* made (it had a budget of about a million dollars, which was probably more than some bottom-of-the-barrel slashers cost). True, there are scenes of the two main characters wandering around empty houses and graveyards that simply go on too long. I did appreciate the efforts of the film-makers to create some mood and atmosphere in addition to the gore (Richard Einhorn's music helps a fair bit in that regard), although when all is said and done, the gore is the only memorable component of this movie.
Chris Goutman, as the deputy sheriff, and the very pretty Vicky Dawson, as his love interest, are likable if colorless leads. Hollywood legends Farley Granger ("Rope", "Strangers on a Train") and Lawrence Tierney (1945's "Dillinger", "Reservoir Dogs") are in this film but they are pretty under-utilized, especially Tierney, who has barely any screen time and not one word of dialogue.
I do enjoy "The Prowler". The fine company Blue Underground give it a respectable if not exemplary DVD treatment, with a nice 1.85:1 picture and okay sound. The extras include an informative, sometimes funny commentary with co-producer / director Joseph Zito and makeup effects artist Savini, the obligatory theatrical trailer, a poster and still gallery, and the real crowning jewel, around ten minutes or so of Savini's behind-the-scenes footage of the rehearsals of the gore scenes.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
Movie Review: this is one of the better slasher movies of the 80's
Summary: 4 Stars
no it's not a great film but from the bin of 80's slasher movies it is better than most. it starts at the end of world war II as a soldier gets a dear john letter and goes home and kills his girl and the boy she is making out with. flash forward to the 80's and after no school dance because of the killings they have another dance and guess who shows up? you got it the killer. tom sivini the guy behind friday the 13th's makeup does his goreyest here and this one has a creepy air about it that sets it apart from most. check it out as the transfer is great and the acting is better than most slasher movies.Movie Review: a hidden gem of 80s slasher films
Summary: 4 Stars
I love this movie. I'm not going to say much; it seems that most of the reviewers before me hit on all the high points in detail. This is just a creepy movie. The music, the settings, the killer is sick, and the kills are pretty awesome. I think this is some of Savini's best work. The only low point is that the pace at times seems really slow. But I guess it can add to that feeling of suspense. And on a final note, the fat guy at the motel always gets a little chuckle out of me. I don't know why.