THE PROWLER (1981)

 

(a.k.a. ROSEMARY’S KILLER; a.k.a. THE GRADUATION; director/producer: Joseph Zito. Screenwriters: Glenn Leopold and Neal Barbera, with additional dialogue by Eric Lewald.)

 

Review

June 28, 1945. Avalon Bay, California. On lover’s lane, away from the “Class of ’45 Graduation Ball,” Francis Rosemary Chatham (Joy Glaccum) and her amorous new boyfriend are stabbed with a pitchfork by someone in a mask and military gear. A red rose is left in her hand. Their killer disappears─it’s thought that Francis’s war vet ex-boyfriend did the deed.

Thirty-five years to the date pass without a dance in Avalon, but the collegiate class of 1980 is getting theirs. Pam MacDonald, one of the graduates, helps set up the ball along with her friends. The night of the ball, a prowler in a nearby town has been reported, and Pam worries about her boyfriend (Deputy Mark London) who’s acting sheriff while his boss, George Fraser (Farley Granger, STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, 1951) goes on a fishing trip.

Murders begin immediately, committed by someone wearing the military garb and wielding weapons of the 1945 killer. This prowler also leaves roses in the hands of his female victims. Pam (Vicky Dawson) and Mark (Christopher Goutman) quickly realize what’s happening, although the shadowy slayer’s identity is a mystery. Suspects are everywhere, from the kind-of-goofy Otto to the unsettling, possible-puppet-master Major Chatham, father of killed-in-1945 Francis.

If you’re looking for a film with well-developed key characters (with their backstories and motives spoken aloud), this might not be a movie for you. If you’re looking for a film that gives you just enough─if you pay attention─information to suss out who’s likely done/doing what and why, PROWLER might be your slow-kill jam.

PROWLER, shot in Cape May, New Jersey, is solidly written and tightly edited, with a running time of eighty-nine minutes, many of its key terror shots reminiscent of FRIDAY THE 13^th (1980), not necessarily a bad thing, as PROWLER has its own look and feel. (It was director Joseph Zito’s work on PROWLER that got him hired for FRIDAY THE 13^th: THE FINAL CHAPTER, 1984.) Editor Joel Goodman’s choice cuts pace PROWLER’s dreamlike, gritty work in a suspenseful way, its distinctive mood aided by cinematographer João Fernandes’s intense use of light and shadow (Fernandes, billed as Raoul Lomas, was Zito’s cinematographer for FRIDAY THE 13^th: THE FINAL CHAPTER, 1984). Composer Richard Einhorn’s effective, sometimes playful score brings together the best elements of Bernard Hermann’s PSYCHO (1960), Harry Manfredini’s FRIDAY THE 13^th (1980), and other terror flick scores without ripping them off. And Tom Savini’s FX, occasionally over-the-top, complement the overall feel of the film and add to the brutish nature of the spree killer’s (or spree killers’) deeds.

Among its notable players: a frail-looking and barely seen Lawrence Tierney (BORN TO KILL, 1947) as the wheelchair-bound Major Chatham; Cindy Weintraub (HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP, 1980) as Lisa, Pam’s flirtatious friend; and Thom Bray (PRINCE OF DARKNESS, 1987) as Ben, one of the graduate-boyfriends.

This deep-dive into multilayered horror (a ghostly town, PTSD, etc.) is especially dark and distinctive, from its dirty realism, raw, lingering-shot kill scenes, lull-then-sharp score, and overall feel, its closest thematic-companion film perhaps MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981). Both are worth watching and owning if you’re a fan of grit-and-gore Eighties slashers.

NECRONOMICON (1993)

 

(a.k.a. NECRONOMICON: BOOK OF THE DEAD and H.P. LOVECRAFT’S NECRONOMICON; directors: Christophe Gans, Shûsuke Kaneko, and Brian Yuzna. Screenwriters: Brent V. Friedman, Christopher Gans and Kazunori Itô)

 

Review

Plot: This four-part anthology film, inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s “fiction” (says one librarian monk), revolves around Lovecraft visiting a library of rare books, a grieving man who inherits a house with supernatural issues, a murder-beat reporter interviewing a strange woman in freezing circumstances, and a serial killer whose crimes are the tip of a cosmic iceberg.

 

In “The Library” (NECRONOMICON ‘s frame story), set in America in the 1920s, a plotting H.P. Lovecraft enters an arcane library maintained by secretive monks─a place where he’s a regular visitor. When he goes into an off-limits area, he unwittingly(?) courts cataclysmic events.

Jeffrey Combs (HOLIDAY HELL, 2019) played a nervous, thrilled Lovecraft.  Tony Azito (THE ADDAMS FAMILY, 1991) played a “Librarian.” Juan Fernández (THE COLLECTOR, 2009) played an “Attendant.” “Library” director Brian Yuzna played Lovecraft’s “Cabbie.” Brent V. Friedman (TICKS, 1993) wrote “Library”’s screenplay.

 

“The Drowned” centers around Edward De Lapoer, a grieving widower, who inherits his family’s empty oceanside hotel, a business with a supernatural history─one that threatens his immediate, housebound circumstances.

Bruce Payne (HOWLING VI: THE FREAKS, 1991) played Edward Da Lapoer. Richard Lynch (HALLOWEEN, 2007) played Jethro Da Lapoer. Belinda Bauer (SERVANTS OF TWILIGHT, 1991) played Nancy Gallmore. Maria Ford (SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE III, 1990) played Clara Lapoer, Edward’s dead wife. Denice D. Lewis (END OF DAYS, 1999) played Emma Da Lapoer, Edward’s ancestor. An uncredited Vincent Hammond (THE RELIC, 1997) played “Darkman,” a seaborne creature who brings Edward a horrifying gift.

Christophe Gans (SILENT HILL, 2006) directed “Drowned,” and co-authored it with author Brent V. Friedman.

For those inclined toward reading, “Drowned” sports elements seen in Lovecraft’s real-life 1923 story “The Rats in the Walls.”

 

In “The Cold,” based on Lovecraft’s 1926 story “Cool Air,” a Boston-based reporter (Dale Porkel) interviews a young woman in a gelid apartment while she tells him about a former occupant (Emily Osterman) whose meeting with the strange but seemingly harmless Dr. Madden radically changes her life.

Shûsuke Kaneko (DEATH NOTE, 2006) helmed “Cold,” co-penning it with writers Kazunori Itô (GHOST IN THE SHELL, 1995) and Brent V. Friedman.

Dennis Christopher (FADE TO BLACK, 1980) played Dale Porkel. Bess Meyer (HEATHERS, 1988) played Emily Osterman. David Warner (THE OMEN, 1976) played Dr. Richard Madden. Millie Perkins (THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA, 1976) played Lena, Dr. Madden’s intense, longtime assistant.

 

“Whispers” concerns a pregnant police officer, Sarah (Signy Coleman) and fellow officer Paul investigating a series of murders committed by the media-dubbed “Butcher,” a task made more difficult when a car crash in a bad warehouse area opens them to more brutal, occult terrors.

Obba Babatundé (THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, 1991) played Paul, Sarah’s frustrated partner in love and cop-work. Judith Drake (HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES, 2003) played Mrs. Benedict. Don Calfa (THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, 1985) played Mr. Benedict.

“Whispers,” inspired by Lovecraft’s 1930 novella The Whisperer in the Darkness, was directed by Brian Yuzna, who co-wrote it with (again) Brent V. Friedman.

 

NECRONOMICON is a standout portmanteau film, from its excellent actors (putting in genre-true, often over-the-top performances), wow-worthy gore FX (provided by Tom Savini, Screaming Mad George and others), its all-around behind-the-scenes talent, and mostly solid pacing (the last two segments run a scoche long). As a Lovecraft-based work, it’s one of the better adaptations, NECRONOMICON is worth checking out, if you’re looking for a great-talent-creating-a-B-movie flick, and don’t expect it to reinvent the horrifying anthology subgenre.