The Prowler
| release date | November 6 1981 |
| studio | Blue Underground |
| director | Joseph Zito |
| writer | Neal F. Barbera |
| starring | Vicky Dawson, Christopher Goutman, Lawrence Tierney, Farley Granger, Cindy Weintraub, |
| rating | R |
| tagline | It will freeze your blood. |
1 Comments
A slasher with a pitchfork… what more needs to be said?
Another good slasher movie from the 80s. It does drag out and get slow but I thought the tension and gore effects in the movie were great. Oh I also thought they could have picked a better look for the character.
I had high hopes for “The Prowler”. Yes, the death scenes and gore are good. However they are few and far between and what you get stuck with in the middle is some awfully boring and painful filler. The whole girl running around with cop trying to solve murder is VERY badly acted, and so completely lame and far fetched that it leaves you praying the movie will end soon. Why would a woman who was chased and almost attacked make it her personal mission to try and discover who the attacker is only hours after being ambushed them self???? Oh the humanity!
A horror movie can’t just rely on the death scenes alone. There has to be SOME interesting stuff going on in between. “The Prowler” has none of this. “The Prowler” as a character is a pretty cool concept. He looks bad a*s, but we just don’t get enough of him. I will say that I was a little surprised as to who “The Prowler” actually was once revealed. I think I was so bored in between that I didn’t even bother guessing.
My best suggestion if you want to watch “The Prowler” would be to watch the first 20 minutes or so…..and then just fast forward to each and every death scene afterwards. You wont be missing anything in between I promise! Let the last 5-10 minutes play and save yourself everything in between. You can thank me later.
As always, Tom Savini is masterful with his effects, but Joseph Zito’s direction is amateurish at best here. He was much more competent and capable by the time he directed “Friday the 13th Part 4: The Final Chapter”.
I’d recommend that movie over “The Prowler” any day.
what a great slasher flick… i needed this after a good gore binge, savini once again doesnt fail to bring you what you crave… creepy score and i felt like this is a homage to both “halloween” and “f13th” had the suspense and the incrediable gore, and i mean incredibale
*spoiler*
the knife threw the head was bar none my favorite kill in in horror movie, the white eyes are so chilling
i thought it was a forgettable slasher not much to say at all.
WHY THE HELL CANT THIS GUY BE IN THE TERRORDROME GAME DAMN IT
One of the cooler 80′s slasher films. Great gore effects.
prowler was one cool 80′s slasher film.
the killer was really cool but the person who turns out to be the killer was a little lame but it is easily forgiven by all the stylistic kills and the choice of weapon, The Pitchfork.
this movie was easily enjoyable and actually the gore effects were really good.
Awesome slasher fun.
Tom Savini’s effects are EXTREME.
This movie is a real snoozefest. I dont get why everyone says that this movie is so awsome. I just watched it yesterday, and boy what a let down!
First of all the two maincharacters were boring and you dont care one bit about them. Second the plot is VERY weak! Its hard to figure out what the killers motives are. Third there is hardly any memorable kills, actually there is only one “headexplosion” and that is it! IMO this movie was even more boring than MBV. Those two movies are so overrated it insane!
You should rather watch Clownhouse, Intruder, Terror Train, Popcorn or some other good slasher. This movie is not worth your time.
It has 3 points for it – Firstly excellent back-story for a slasher, a brilliantly gory shotgun – blow -up -the guy’s head sequence and a very naughty end – I liked it – Its not as good as the other 80s slashers’ but it definitely is good fun. It just doesn’t get the grammar right for the slasher flick, thats y the tension or suspense ebbs away after a while and even the killer isn’t too tough to figure out. It starts well but doesn’t have a great end- with a little more body-count and inventive kills- This would have been a classic !!
This movie is so underrated. I dont usually get joy out of gore but its so well done here that its
excellent. This is a must see or even must own for slasher fans.
Sweet movie! I have to laugh at the review below that says its as boring as My Bloody Valentine… clearly not someone who gives a shit about the 80s horror genre. This movie rocked except for a bit of a rushed ending but maybe i just need to find an unedited or directors cut or something.
This movie does exactly what you want a slasher film to do, have great gore(TOM SAVINI MASTERPIECE) and loads of suspence. Not to much of a story going on but that adds to the movies charm. This is a movie I had a hard time finding for a price I was willing to pay but worth more than I spent on it. This is just one of those classic 80′s horror films that keeps on getting more fans with every viewing. Must have for the collector that loves slasher movies. Also this movie gets right to the action and has little time in between kills, perfect.
One of the best 80s slashers and at the same time one of the most underrated ones. Besides a good story and some decent actors, we get a high amount of fabulous gore, great atmosphere and some amazing suspense. The killing soldier looks very creepy and his kills are fantastic. Totally a must-see slasher!
havent seen this yet but just orderd it on blue ray fro dvdempire, but ive been waitn for this for a long time i love 80s horror ill b back with review of movie
The Prowler
*May Contain Peanuts & Spoilers*
This early 80′s slasher film by Joseph Zito is a horror classic. Tom Savini’s make up effect are simply amazing. When you look back at a film like this you really appreciate the time and craftsmanship that goes into these practical effects. In the time before CGI, problem solving and creativity was at an all time high. It is no surprise that these days with computer effects so readily available, filmmakers have become lazy and over reliant on effects to save their films.
The “Prowler” is the story of a soldier coming home from WWII to find out that his girlfriend Rosemary has left him. This doesn’t sit well with our soldier as he stalks and pitchforks a young couple at a college graduation dance. The Prowler always leaves a rose at the scene as his calling card. The Prowler as a character is a little weak. He is dressed head to toe in a WWII uniform and uses either a pitchfork or a bayonet to kill his victims. He is not as scary or as menacing as some of the other more infamous 80′s killers like Jason, Freddy or Michael Myers. But as I mentioned in the beginning the kills are phenomenal and make this film what it is.
After the intro, the story jumps ahead 35 years to the present (1980) to the same college as students get ready for the first graduation dance since the double murder. Classic 80′s clothes and hairstyles are always great to see, even if it is for cheap laughs. Our heroes are Pam, a beautiful blonde haired student and Mark, a big haired young deputy. The Sherriff goes on a fishing trip leaving Mark on his own for the weekend to cover the big dance. Like a lot of horror movies, the “Prowler” is not big on plot. The supporting characters are your average stupid college kids that make it way to easy for the Prowler to have his way with them. Pam and Mark piece things together and eventually wind up face to face with the killer. He is unmasked in the struggle and it kind of felt like an episode of Scooby-Doo. Pam survives the ordeal and when she returns to her dorm she gets a final scare. Zito and Savini got back together a year later and did “Friday the 13th Part 4.
Both DVD and Blu-Ray edition have a commentary track from Zito and Savini along with a featurette about the effects.
meh
Adequate slasher from 1980. Classier than most slashers, this one is all about mystery, mood and vicious violence. Has some wonderful gore effects too. Not the best slasher ever, but a mini-classic.
This is a great slasher from the golden age which every slasher fan should seek out.
Decent plot and brilliant, gory and over the top death scenes. The film is worth watching just for the death scenes alone. Great work from Tom Savini.
There are one or two points in the film when the pacing is a bit slow but overall I recommend it.
“The Prowler” is another of my favorite slasher films.
I didn’t see it at the theatre because I didn’t like the name,”I had he pleasure of seeing most 80′s slashers during their first run in theatres, I wish I would have seen it on the big screen. The story is the usual slasher fare, years earlier something traumatic happened and left someone either bitter, scarred, disfigured or just mad as hell.
In my opinion the love of the genre comes from knowing the formula of the film just different characters,kills,heroine/hero and killer, and this movie delivers what you expect from a slasher plus good acting and good kills plus excellent effects by the great Tom Savini. “The Prowler” is easily in my top 5 Slashers of all time.Get the DVD while you can. It could become as hard to find or as expensive as “The Burning”
this movie isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. probably won’t even remember this past next week.
I thought that this was a pretty good movie, but halfway through I found it to get kind of boring. Still, it was a good movie.