Editorials
[Butcher Block] Brutal Slasher ‘The Prowler’ is a Showcase of Tom Savini’s Best Work
Butcher Block is a weekly series celebrating horror’s most extreme films and the minds behind them. Dedicated to graphic gore and splatter, each week will explore the dark, the disturbed, and the depraved in horror, and the blood and guts involved. For the films that use special effects of gore as an art form, and the fans that revel in the carnage, this series is for you.
In terms of plot, The Prowler isn’t exactly a standout among the sea of slashers released during the early ‘80s. It makes a bold statement by having its killer wear a World War II combat uniform and use a bayonet as his weapon of choice, and that the killer is driven to homicide from a Dear John letter gives it a little more daring depth than typically found in the sub-genre. But the whodunnit aspect of the slasher formula is fairly dull and more of an afterthought, and the college Spring dance setting feels a little uninspired. Yet, it’s still one of the best simply for its stunning showcase of unadulterated gore and sadistic kills, thanks to director Joseph Zito’s highlighting of Tom Savini’s breathtaking special makeup effects work.
It’s the effects work that makes The Prowler such a satisfying slasher, and Zito understood that well. It’s the realistic deaths that make the film so memorable, and the production schedule was based around the makeup effects work, which often took a full day to set up. The killer was portrayed by three different people; assistant director Peter Giuliano in the stalking scenes, actor Farley Granger for the identity reveal, and Tom Savini for all of the closeup shots of the killer slaying his victims. Considering all of the deaths are up close and personal, Savini was a very busy man on this set.
One of the deaths that ruffled the feathers of the MPAA the most was the throat slashing of Cindy Weintraub’s Lisa in the swimming pool. All alone, the Prowler kicks her in the face as she’s climbing out of the pool before hopping in himself to drag his knife across the throat. She sinks down beneath the surface, blood gushing out through the gaping wound. The Prowler’s boot seen kicking Lisa was actually a rubber leg over Savini’s arm, which he swung to emulate the kicking motion. It was Savini that climbed into the pool and slash Weintraub’s throat with a fake knife while fake blood was being pumped through it. Prosthetics were used for the underwater shots, with more blood being pumped through the gaping throat.
The best double kill in the film was that of Sherry’s impalement by pitchfork, which thanks to Savini’s rigging of a fake pitchfork, looked startlingly real. It was preceded by her boyfriend Carl getting a bayonet shoved through his skull. Though Savini already proved himself a master of exploding heads thanks to Maniac, he duplicated the effect here in the finale. Stuffing a dummy head with apple cores, leftovers from lunch that day, and prophylactics filled with fake blood, Savini fired a double-barreled shotgun into the fake head to make it explode during the shot.
It was their work on The Prowler that lead to Zito and Savini getting the job on Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, the fourth installment of a franchise built around its kill count. It’s easy to see why; The Prowler doesn’t seem interested in characterization or even much in the way of plot. It wanted to revel in its visceral deaths, and very few in the genre manage to be as realistic and bloody as the ones Savini created here. Savini has an extensive list of credits that showcases his unparalleled work, but it’s the excruciating realism in The Prowler that sets it apart as his best.
The problem with filming sequels back-to-back is that, unless you can afford expensive reshoots, there’s no easy way to adjust course in between movies if fans react badly to where the story is headed. That’s why it’s important to have a complete narrative thought out well in advance lest you accidentally kill a budding franchise.
However, this isn’t always the case. Every once in a while, it seems like the cinema gods smile upon certain chaotic productions and gift moviegoers with complete franchises that feel like more than the sum of their hastily produced parts. Ted Nicolaou’s Bloodlust: Subspecies III is precisely one of these miraculous pictures, with the raw talents of the artists involved (as well as the continued support from Romania) turning the feature into an effective conclusion for a series that kind of made things up as the filmmakers went along.
That’s why I’d like to invite my fellow readers to join me on this third part of our journey through the Subspecies franchise as we look into Bloodlust and talk about how it remains a surprisingly satisfying finale to the original trilogy.
A Trilogy Planned on the Fly
Released only a year after Bloodstone found plenty of success in rental stores and mail-in VHS catalogues worldwide, 1994’s Bloodlust was produced at the same time as its predecessor in (mostly) the same locations and with the same team. This means that the movie benefited from all the same upgrades as Bloodstone, with the crew now being more experienced with the ins and outs of surviving a low-budget Romanian production and the cast really settling into their characters.
At this point, everything from location scouting to the makeup process had been streamlined, with Wayne Toth and Norman Cabrera, the main duo behind special effects, even switching out time-consuming prosthetics for latex gloves in order to speed up Anders Hove’s monstrous transformation. The titular “subspecies” demons were also once again relegated to a mere cameo appearance due to the laborious puppetry required to bring them to life.
The only real hiccup came from the fact that actress Denice Duff had replaced the first film’s Michelle (Laura Mae Tate) and was immediately expected to portray the character as both an innocent victim in part II and as a secondary villain in part III. According to behind-the-scenes interviews, the hectic production schedule that blended two different movies meant that Duff would often find herself having to alternate between two incredibly different versions of Michelle during the same shooting day – though it’s obvious that she’s having more fun with Bloodlust’s more traditionally vampiric version of her character.
In the finished film, we pick things up immediately where the previous entry left off as Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) is forced to leave her vampire sister Michelle (Duff) behind in the dungeons of Castle Vladislav due to the rising sun. This allows Mummy (Pamela Gordon) to use Michelle’s blood to revive the vicious Radu (Hove) so that he may continue his quest for the coveted Bloodstone – a magical artifact that perpetually drips the Blood of Saints.
Meanwhile, the dreamy US embassy agent Mel (Kevin Blair) agrees to help Rebecca plan a rescue mission, though they’re unaware that Radu has become infatuated with Michelle during his attempts to guide her growing bloodlust. This all culminates in a climactic confrontation meant to tie up all of the series’ loose ends in one of Full Moon Pictures’ most ambitious productions.
The Evolution of Radu
Like its predecessor, Bloodlust: Subspecies III was also warmly received by fans who argued that the series was an even bigger success than Full Moon’s other major horror franchise, Puppet Master. This praise wasn’t unanimous, however, as 1994 had seen the rise of a more modern breed of sexy vampire popularized by Anne Rice, with old-school Nosferatu like Radu being viewed as obsolete when compared to the likes of Lestat and Gary Oldman’s take on Dracula.
In a way, one might argue that Nicolaou’s film is something of a swan song for the classic vampire story, as Bloodlust combines all of the traditional elements we tend to associate with these tales into a single tragic yarn that ties a neat little bow on Radu’s story as well as the old-fashioned monster movies that he represents. The finale remains shocking despite the fact that this is the third time we see Radu get brutally killed onscreen, with the brief tease that he may one day return feeling more like a nod towards the nature of evil rather than sequel bait.
The film dabbles a bit in gothic romance and even explores the inherent power fantasy behind transforming into an immortal creature of the night, but the filmmakers never lose sight of Radu as a demonic force even when he’s willing to betray his beloved Mummy for Michelle’s sake. In fact, his twisted “love” for his fledgling makes him even creepier as we get the feeling that his passion comes from a dark and disturbing place.
Anders Hove is at his absolute best in this film, with the effects department boosting his moments of what the younger generation would call “aura farming” whenever Radu emerges from shadows like a 90s version of Count Orlok. There are even a couple of surprisingly effective jump-scares here, which is why I’d argue that Bloodlust cements Radu as one of the most memorable cinematic vampires of all time despite his humble origins.
Subspecies Saves Its Best For Last
Nicolaou and Vlad Panescu also saved the best for “last” (more on that in a bit) regarding the film’s visuals, with the cinematography and overall atmosphere of Bloodlust absolutely surpassing what we saw in the previous films. Everything feels appropriately climactic this time around (including the wonderful soundtrack that was co-composed alongside an authentic Romanian orchestra), and I appreciate how this is the fastest-paced entry in the trilogy since the film doesn’t need to waste time setting anything up.
Bloodlust still suffers from some of the same low-budget blemishes as its predecessors, but there’s so much creative passion here that no amount of wonky effects work or stilted dialogue can get in the way of appreciating the flick’s gothic grandeur. That’s why it’s not surprising that the movie’s definitive(-ish) ending would later be retconned as fans begged for more Radu.
Of course, the next entry in this series would be a different kind of vampiric endeavor altogether, with the filmmakers attempting to engage with the same trends that ultimately killed Radu and his antiquated kin. That, however, is a story for another time. For now, I’ll merely insist that Bloodlust: Subspecies III remains a highlight of Full Moon’s expansive catalogue and is definitely worth seeking out today.
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