Alongside body horror and shitty SOV flicks, I'd have to say my other favorite stand-out genre would have to be slashers. There is an insane amount of them to go around and I'm willing to bet that you'd have to live multiple lifetimes to be able to sit through all of them. Unless you just sell your soul and dedicate all of your extra time to that one specific type, you'll never make it through every last one of them, and there's some that should just be left in the deserted dunes of forgetfulness. This is absolutely not the case with The Prowler. This is a slasher that really tries to do something unique and different with what it has to work with, and I believe that this has become a champion of the stalk and slash ilk. The special effects and gore here were handled by the now legendary Tom Savini, and the tone and punctuation is fierce. I think that if the red stuff was slopped together by anyone else but him, this would have been a completely different lump of clay that would have eventually hardened into a petrified rock of sadness and shit. But his work here is top notch per usual and only seeks to elevate this beyond the tension filled hide-a-thon that it is. There are a good amount of scenes where one of the girls or the cop Mark are trying to figure out where this fatigue wearing bastard is, stabbing people and ruining their lives in which the score drops out and leaves the viewer to their nerves and senses to reap the benefit of what's happening on screen. Also, I have to mention this (even though it's in my notes too) is that I want to know where this was bought at and what type it is-but the water heater in Pam and Sherry's dorm seems to have an infinite supply of hot water. Steam is billowing out of that bathroom while Sherry is showering, while her dumb boyfriend is there messing with her before he gets stabbed through the top of the head and is still accumulating the next morning after everything happens when Pam discovers both of them dead in the shower. And the water has still been running this whole time. Like, what the hell? I guess they really don't make quality of anything anymore like they used to. Especially water heaters.
After WWII while our men were sailing back into the docks to reconnect with their girlfriends, wives and families, one was particularly effected by a John letter that was sent to him that in turn made him harbor some dark feelings and hate. A couple making it in a gazebo during the welcome home festivities was mutilated by a bayonet blade and a pitchfork. Thirty something years later, some of the same killings start happening again during a college graduation dance and there is the typical free-spirit activities of getting slammed with booze and nudity. Of course, why would I say no to any of that-those are all staples of solid slasher flicks and The Prowler is no different. But what makes this one different is the fact that the killer stands out with the whole military-camo outfit going on (that even covers his whole head and face) and the scenes I mentioned earlier that have very great layers of tension and intensity. Most slashers have that too to push the pace along, but The Prowler is so strong with it that you get sucked into it without even noticing and then once the camo killer raises his hand to slice or stab someone, it's already to late for you to even react to it besides sitting there with your pants all moist with sweat and urine. It's the perfect combination alongside some junk food to make this a midnight viewing after the spouse and kids start resting their pretty little heads because I'm sure they aren't going to want to see people getting blasted with 12 gauges or Lisa getting her neck slit in an inground pool. He's hiding in plain sight... because he's covered in camo.
What the greatest generation did for us. Holy shit.
When a woman says they "want to be friends", it's over.
There's nothing wrong with sleeping on an old mattress in the basement.
For somebody, the war still isn't over.
Is it just me or or does this Mark guy's head seem so big that he looks like a bobblehead?
Otto looks like a simpleton version of Randy Quaid.
Hey Lisa, forget the nail polish-how's about you take that robe off instead?
That scene transition gives a whole new meaning to "let me cut your cake with my knife".
Mark really looks like a bobblehead dancing with Lisa.
Water heater level-infinite.
Here's your favorite WWII vet... The Prowler!
So there's an 80's version of Justin Long? That's pretty great!
What kind of people party in a basement? Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers, perhaps?
Zits and zombies, The Prowler is a top tier slasher film. You can't beat the tension and atmosphere that this pick provides, and this was my second viewing of it which made it even more enjoyable. There are some movies where they get better with every subsequent view, and I believe that The Prowler is one of them. The kills are grade-A, the backstory for why this guy is dressing the way he is and why he is doing what he is doing is definitely different compared to what most of these other kinds of entries contain. I can't think of many (or any) slashers at all where it involves a disgruntled war vet that went a little to nuts with his anger, PTSD and situation with his girl sending him a John letter saying that she wants to move on because she doesn't know if or when he's ever coming home. So out of those feelings with probably some jealousy sprinkled on top, he decides to stab and murder the college kids of the town he resided in after the war was over because if he can't have a solid relationship with his girl, no one else can have one either. Stab me in the shower with the really fucking hot water running and put a rose in my hand because The Prowler is more than a good one-it's a great one.
No comments:
Post a Comment