This is one film I feel like was conned into watching. Being the horror fan that I am, I of course am always on the look out for the next great horror film. I am a big fan of Joseph Zito's work in Friday the 13th the Final Chapter. That film came out three years after this one, so maybe he had a few years to polish his skills. Or maybe, it isn't his fault that this film is not very good, maybe the film isn't very good because the story is just terrible.
To sum up the story, this is essentially what happens. A guy dressed in a World War II outfit decides to murder people. Why he does this, is really not clear. There is a back story about how some guy murdered two people at a party when soldiers were coming home in 1945. But we are now in 1981, more than 30 years later, and this guy decides he is going to start killing people because of a dance. A girl is murdered in the shower, and it is probably the best part of the film. The gore is outstanding as you actually think you are seeing a woman getting a pitchfork in the chest. And the next scene is quite good also, as the female protagonist sees a scary looking man dressed in some funky uniform. In most horror films, she would stand there and ask silly questions like, "Who are you?" "What are you doing here?" "Would you like some dinner?" But not in this film. In here, she sees him, senses danger and then runs like the wind. Fantastic up until this point.
Unfortunately we are about 20 minutes into the film. The rest of the film has one good kill, an exploding head and lots of boring and tedious scenes of our heroes looking through a house (twice) for a killer that may or may not be there. At this point, they don't even know if there is a killer. All they have seen is just some scary looking guy in a weird costume. The time they spend looking for this guy is very, very tedious. They hunt through the house from top to bottom with no suspense, no thrills and not much else to keep the viewers interested. In between you have one good kill in a pool and lots of red herrings thrown in to make the film 90 minutes instead of 50.
I was very disappointed with The Prowler. For a film like this to have the reputation that it does, it really lacks in all areas that make a horror film a horror film. If you are looking for nice, hidden gems from the 80's, try My Bloody Valentine, Suspiria and The Gates to Hell. The Prowler is a fairly prosaic effort by Zito.
5/10
To sum up the story, this is essentially what happens. A guy dressed in a World War II outfit decides to murder people. Why he does this, is really not clear. There is a back story about how some guy murdered two people at a party when soldiers were coming home in 1945. But we are now in 1981, more than 30 years later, and this guy decides he is going to start killing people because of a dance. A girl is murdered in the shower, and it is probably the best part of the film. The gore is outstanding as you actually think you are seeing a woman getting a pitchfork in the chest. And the next scene is quite good also, as the female protagonist sees a scary looking man dressed in some funky uniform. In most horror films, she would stand there and ask silly questions like, "Who are you?" "What are you doing here?" "Would you like some dinner?" But not in this film. In here, she sees him, senses danger and then runs like the wind. Fantastic up until this point.
Unfortunately we are about 20 minutes into the film. The rest of the film has one good kill, an exploding head and lots of boring and tedious scenes of our heroes looking through a house (twice) for a killer that may or may not be there. At this point, they don't even know if there is a killer. All they have seen is just some scary looking guy in a weird costume. The time they spend looking for this guy is very, very tedious. They hunt through the house from top to bottom with no suspense, no thrills and not much else to keep the viewers interested. In between you have one good kill in a pool and lots of red herrings thrown in to make the film 90 minutes instead of 50.
I was very disappointed with The Prowler. For a film like this to have the reputation that it does, it really lacks in all areas that make a horror film a horror film. If you are looking for nice, hidden gems from the 80's, try My Bloody Valentine, Suspiria and The Gates to Hell. The Prowler is a fairly prosaic effort by Zito.
5/10