June 28th, 1945: A jilted World War II soldier dressed in combat fatigues pitchforks his two-timing girlfriend and her lover during a graduation dance. June 28th, 1980: When the graduation dance is held again after many years of inactivity, the grisly murders start anew. Director Joseph ("Missing in Action," Invasion U.S.A.") Zito manages to wring plenty of suspense from the formulaic script, nicely creating a bleakly haunting small town atmosphere (the movie was shot on location in my home state of New Jersey in the hoppin' resort community of Cape May) and staging the shockingly ferocious kill scenes with considerable skill and style. Moreover, the solid supporting performances by Farley Granger as the folksy sheriff and the always great Lawrence ("Midnight," "Reservoir Dogs") Tierney as a mean, crippled old grouch lift this picture well out of the rut. Both Raoul Lumas' polished photography and Richard ("Shock Waves") Einhorn's spooky score are likewise up to par. Popping up in nifty minor roles are future "Riptide" TV series regular Thom Bray as a bespectacled nerd and Cindy ("Humanoids from the Deep") Weintraub as a promiscuous harlot who winds up having her throat slit wide open while enjoying an evening dip in a pool. However, it's the incredibly ghastly and gruesome gore make-up f/x by Tom Savini which give this film an extra brutal and upsetting edge; said hardcore graphic splatter moments include a bayonet in the neck, a particularly vicious impalement on a pitchfork (this murder set piece happens to an attractive young lady who's taking a shower),a bayonet through the head, and the killer's head being blown up with a shotgun (this latter bit is quite bloody and alarming). The excellent Blue Underground DVD offers a bang-up widescreen presentation along with the theatrical trailer, an extensive poster and still gallery, behind-the-scenes videotape footage of Savini at work, and a lively, enjoyable and informative commentary by Zito and Savini.

On 28 June 1945, along the night of the Graduation Ball in Avalon Bay, the youths Roy (Timothy Wahrer) and his girlfriend Francis Rosemary Chatham (Joy Glaccum) are murdered penetrated by a rake and the killer is not found. On 28 June 1980, a new Graduation Dance is organized by the student Pam MacDonald (Vicky Dawson) since Major Chatham (Lawrence Tierney),who is very sick and in a wheelchair, has prohibited any celebration for thirty-five years. The local Sheriff George Fraser (Farley Granger) is traveling for fishing and Deputy Mark London (Christopher Goutman) is in charge of the security of the location. When a serial killer attacks the students, Mark and Pam seek his hidden place.

I bought the DVD "The Prowler" with great expectations based on the good reviews in IMDb. Unfortunately I found a senseless, boring and dated low-budget slasher movie with awful screenplay and lines. The flawed story does not give any explanations to many points, such as the motives and why the serial killer kills his victims? What happened with Major Chatham? Did he die? What happened with the body of Miss Allison? How could Carl, who had the brain and throat stabbed by a long knife, have any sort of movement? How the killer could be so omnipresent? What happened with the couple in the basement? Why Mark did not die? I could list many other holes in this story, but I believe the previous examples are enough to show how bad this movie is. The beauty of Vicky Dawson and the good effects, showing very real deaths, are the good parts of this forgettable flick. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Quem Matou Rosemary?" ("Who Killed Rosemary?")

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.

"The Prowler" was directed by Joseph Zito, an incredibly nice guy and talented artist, probably better known for his installment in the "Friday the 13th" series. Also notable is that this film features special effects and makeup by Tom Savini, the undisputed horror master of the era. According to Wikipedia, the "film has been praised by gore fans for its brutal and realistic murder scenes." I am not sure about the realism, but the brutal aspect is certainly true, and if there is an uncut version floating around, it must be a bloodbath. Eli Roth also considers it one of his inspirations in the documentary "Fantastic Flesh" (which is a good film in its own right).

Writer Neal Barbera is the odd man out in the mix. While Zito and Savini are horror guys to the bone, Barbera is a member of the well-known cartoon family (you know, with Hanna-Barbera). His credit, going back to the 1960s, are writing dialogue and lyrics for Scooby-Doo, Yogi Bear and the Flintstones. How he came to write a slasher script is anyone's guess.

The movie landed in Zito's lap thanks to a man named Herb. (Exactly who this is I am not sure.) Herb was quite protective of the property; he was even offered a $700,000 advance for the distribution rights, but he feared the film would not make any more than the advance and chose to distribute it himself (which actually worked). And Zito hand-picked Savini based on his work in "Maniac". (It is perhaps no coincidence that Robert Lindsay, the cinematographer of "Maniac", was behind the camera on "The Prowler".)

"The Prowler" is in many ways like the 1981 slasher film "My Bloody Valentine", with the biggest difference being that "Prowler" is American and "Valentine" is Canadian. Both are excellent and both directors (the other being George Mihalka) are fine gentlemen, so I will not pick and choose between them here. Both films take place in a small town with the legend of a murder, where the killer has placed a so-called "curse" on the town where the residents cannot partake in a certain social gathering. Sure enough, the residents disobey the curse and are picked off in many brutal fashions. Must have been a 1981 thing.

I recommend "The Prowler" to any horror fan, and especially to those who love slashers of the 1980s. I think it has seen a bit of a resurgence in recent years, with shirts and posters becoming available. My friend and colleague Timm Horn talked high praise of this one, and was delighted to meet Zito with me. I wish I could have shared Timm's full enthusiasm at the time.

There are some slow moments, and some scenes that make little sense. Exactly why the deputy sheriff and his girlfriend are snooping around inside a house without consent or a warrant is a bit of a mystery. But it moves the plot forward.

This film is best seen on the version available from Blue Underground. The choice between DVD and BD probably matters little, as the BD is rather grainy on larger screens (you can only clean up a film like this so much). The Blue Underground disc has audio commentary with Zito and Savini, which is priceless for their banter and tidbits about where they acquired coffins, and a nice ten minute behind-the-scenes featurette showing how the gore and kill scenes were done. Very interesting.

Added fun fact: Peter Giuliano, who more or less started his career with "The Prowler" as assistant director and playing the man in the mask, went on to produce dozens of successful films and TV shows, as well as working as assistant director on such notable works as "Ghost Busters". Although not a well-known name, he may be the most successful person to have worked on this film.