THE PROWLER (1981) Directed by Joseph Zito
VCII Home Video VHS
THE FILM
When I began going horror movie-crazy in high school, I was in it for the gore. (In some cases, I was in it for the killings and the implied gore). I waded patiently through repetitive plots and awful characters to get to that moment. Some films piled them on (the Friday the 13th films); some films made each killing a little event. The Prowler has some of my favorite murders. Brutal, painful and realistic, this is some of Tom Savini's best work. But, since I first watched the film, my tastes have changed. Oh sure, I like a good gore-up as much as the next guy but I tend to look for different things now.
I usually find myself, especially while watching the First Wave of Slashers, paying more attention to everything around the killings: the characters, the setting, the little details, the way the film is made. I find that the sooner the all-out killing or running from the killer begins, the less interested I become in the film. The longer the characters can go about their lives, the more I enjoy it. In that respect, The Prowler is a bit of an "uh oh" film.*
It begins just fine. Small-town college in New York State, 1945. A woman sends a "Dear John" letter to her fiancé over in Europe. At the big graduation dance, the woman and her current fella are brutally murdered by some jerk with a pitchfork. 35 years later, the college decides to start up the dance again. Unfortunately, the Sheriff is going out of town and the Deputy has been left in charge. Even more unfortunately, a dangerous criminal is on the run and heading towards their town, (Hey! Prom Night, you have a friend!). How will the dance go? Is everyone going to be all right?
Strangely enough, the answer is yes.
No. I'm kidding. Most of them die.
The Prowler is a professional looking film that hits the "uh oh" mark around 25 minutes in when the Final Girl discovers The Prowler. She and the Deputy spend most of the next hour sneaking around various dark places. As they are the only things resembling characters in the movie, I wish they were more interesting. They're not. We spend a lot of time watching these two people meander about making little revelations and startling each other. When we cut to the rockin' party, it's a real relief. All too soon, however, we're back with the two leads as they go to another location and creep around.
Before you accuse me of having little or no patience...I love Humongous. When I'm in the mood, the film is sheer joy. Over half of Humongous is folks wandering around an island or a house. Before the wandering, the film has a laborious set-up that leads us to all this endless strolling. Maybe that's why I like it. Humongous starts off slow and low and dazzles by its ability to never perk itself up. The Prowler starts off strong and then suddenly drags on and on and on. The younger me would have loved it for all that great gore. For some reason, the grown-up me wanted to watch Splatter University instead.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
What's more exciting than a shiny widescreen DVD of The Prowler, which can be purchased just about anywhere? The VCII VHS. It's the way this film was meant to be seen. Dark, muddy, muffled, and a lot of odd red shimmering on each side; you just can't go wrong with a crummy old tape.
EXTRAS
A Tom Savini commentary? Trailers and TV spots? No thank you. I'll take the big, color sticker that appears on the actual video cassette. It depicts the pool scene and says, "The Prowler". It's great. In addition, there are 15 minutes of previews, which show up verbatim on other VCII tapes (Night Of The Demon for one). Again, you just can't go wrong.
FINAL THOUGHTS
First time viewers should really enjoy The Prowler. It's got a lot of suspense, some good scares and some great killings. But, upon repeat viewings, I find myself becoming a bit bored. There aren't a lot of interesting revelations and all that creeping around doesn't amount to much when you already know exactly where it's going, (it's almost like a giallo film without that little touch of sleaze.) I've noticed that a bunch of the First Wave Slashers (Prom Night, Night School) don't really hold up when I watch them multiple times. The Second Wave of Slashers (The Last Slumber Party) and the really weird ones (Don't Go in The Woods), hold up forever. If I could go back to the first time I saw The Prowler, I would. In fact, that might be fun.
* "Uh oh" films are those that seem to be going great and then slowly begin to de-rail. Fifteen minutes into the Final Girl's running away from the Prowler and searching around, I though, "Uh oh. This just might go on for the rest of the film." Another example of a slasher that hits the "Uh oh" is Hell Night. We spend a lot of time watching the leads maneuver around that old mansion. A non-horror example: Lots of 80s comedies (Summer Rental, Stripes, National Lampoon's European Vacation) go "uh oh" in their last half hour when plots suddenly take over from the hi-jinks.
— Dan Budnik, 02.15.07 | 
They spell relief
P-fork peak
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