‘I want you to be my date, Rose…’
1981 was a landmark year for the slasher subgenre seeing the release of The Burning, My Bloody Valentine and The Prowler as well as the second instalment in both the Halloween and Friday the 13th franchises. My Bloody Valentine and The Prowler offer up an interesting juxtaposition. The former is all goofy scares, big death scenes and larger-than-life characters while the latter is much darker and broodier. Horror legend Tom Savini provides the special effects and in many ways, this is the most violent slasher movie of the era…
The plot is very similar to many slasher films from this era. 35 years after a double murder, a guy dressed in a WWII army uniform shows up in a small California town and starts offing teenagers with a garden rake (amongst other things). Local deputy and lothario Mark London (Christopher Goutman) fights back along with resourceful final girl Vicky Dawson (Pam MacDonald).
Pretty standard stuff then. The characters are bland and forgettable (aside from the two mentioned in the synopsis – MacDonald really carries this film in its duller moments). The plot is derivative and familiar. What sets it apart is the shocking violence. The film was heavily cut for its European release and it’s easy to see why. Savini’s groundbreaking effects are as realistic and effective as ever, undoubtedly due to the necessity of practical effects over CGI.
While the whodunit aspect of The Prowler never threatens to become interesting or even cohesive, it is a superior film to many slasher films of this era, including most of the films in the Friday the 13th franchise, and its status as a cult horror classic is assured.