The Prowler (1981)

I just recently watched The Prowler for the first time. Oddly enough I have managed to overlook this gem which is a mystery because it features the early work of legendary make up artist Tom Savini who has done work in some of the Friday the 13th films,  George Romero's Dawn of the Dead, and many other iconic horrors. This film is also directed by Joseph Zito who ends up working with Savini again in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter in 1984.

So already this film has the ingredients for a successful slasher, not to mention some pretty sick cover art. You get in this movie what you see on the cover: an awesomely bad ass killer in WWII army gear prowling on the youth. The movie starts off with a handwritten break up letter written to a soldier called to duty. Apparently him being away was too hard for his lady, Rosemary, so she decides to move on and see other people. Shortly after a ship of soldiers coming home back to the states arrive. The year is 1945. Rosemary, now with a new man, is at her college graduation dance. The lovers decide to escape to a romantically lit dock on the water. Our prowler of course appears and kills them both with a pitchfork. Revenge! After the double murder the town decides, NO MORE DANCES! So our heart broken killer hushes down for quite some time. 

We fast forward to 35 years later, 1980, where the town prepares to bring back the graduation dance. This of course stirs up a bit of controversy at the town of Avalon Bay. This takes plan in New Jersey and was filmed in Cape May. I myself am a New Jersey native so already I have a biased opinion and think this is fucking awesome. Our masked killer makes a come back the night of the dance and starts to pick off his victims. Some of these deaths include a pitchfork to the stomach shower scene, a jock stabbed in the head so hard his eyes roll back in shock, a few standard throat slices, and a lot of wandering...and more wandering. Yes, this film starts off on a high note and at about 25 minutes in it starts to slow down, almost to a grinding halt. We have a decent kill count, but they almost become filler. Our last 10 minutes however pick back up with an intense chase scene. We find out who our masked WWII killer is, and it's so incredibly obvious that even Helen Keller could figure it out in the first 15 minutes. The end does have an epic head explosion via gun shot. Tom Savini at his best! 

The vibe of this film is very much like Friday the 13th meets Prom Night. Not the most clever writing, but we have 3 satisfying kills and one really cool looking killer. This is the sort of film that follows the classic rules of the early slashers, so it is definitely a crowd pleaser and worth seeing. Plus who doesn't want to go on a killing spree 35 years after getting your heart broken?

Blood Diner (1987)

There is nothing I love more than obscure 80s horror, especially ones that are "bad" because it probably means that there is a killer soundtrack, weird deaths, funny dialogue, and some really cool post punk outfits. Just recently I decided to give Blood Diner a stab since I have never had the chance to see it. It was just, awful. Believe me...I always love a low budget obscure horror...but this was just...awful. 

Based on the cover I assumed it was going to be about a hole in the wall diner out in the middle of nowhere in which the owners probably killed people in the diner and then served them for a lunch special the next day. They should have called this movie Blood What the Hell am I Watching? There is TOO Much Going on, Is this Movie Over Yet, Is This Even a Horror or a Comedy? Because that is exactly what I thought.

The film starts off with 2 brothers as kids (Mikey and Georgie) left at home by their mother, who literally leaves them alone at the house to go to the grocery store to, and I quote, "get some god damn tampons". Shortly after their crazy Uncle Anwar (who even has a name like "Anwar"?) busts through the door with a meat cleaver and tells the boys who are making pretend food his good byes, for moments after police shoot him dead in front of their house since he had been on a killing spree. We fast forward about 10-20 years in time to the 2 brothers as adults. They are digging up their dead uncle for his brain for they want to resurrect him from the dead. They do so, however, their uncle is nothing more than a talking brain and a set of eyes in a jar. After this resurrection the uncle demands that the brothers find the sleaziest women to kill and take their body parts to restore the life of the hell goddess Sheetar. In between all this they also run a diner that serves healthy food...vegetable dishes with human parts mixed in. Okay, now we can call it "Blood Diner". 

This film is sort of like Maniac meets Frankenhooker meets Street Trash. Slasher flicks usually have some comedy elements in slashers which is what makes them so fun to watch, but normally it was still 80% horror and 20% comedy. (I just pulled these numbers out of my ass, but I'd say it's pretty accurate). Slashers in general leave a lot of room for fantasy and creativity. Blood Diner really didn't have a good story. The movie kept going on, and on. There was no balance. It seems to me like they were throwing everything they could at the viewer for the sake of shock value. To be honest, I didn't care about the story, the characters, or overall style. This is coming from the person who will love a movie that has a shitty plot but an amazing atmosphere. I can't believe I am saying this about an 80's horror, but I really hated it and don't plan on ever seeing it again. Surprisingly enough, a lot of people seem to like this movie! I have read a lot of reviews, and I feel like I am working against the grain on this one. I understand why it has it's cult following, but it just wasn't for me. 

However, I will give credit where credit is due. Some scenes worth calling out are the naked aerobics massacre, the vegetarian trucker throwing up all over the diner, and the end ritual zombie scene at the goth bar blasting some Rammstein esque music. By all means, give this one a shot if you love your VHS era films and splatter punk.