MOTM June, The Prowler

[HNT]

So, here is a classic that most of you have probably seen. If you haven't, it is pretty readily available and good enough to be worth seeking out. Enjoy and lets discuss

[GL]

Easy 5 here, though why there isn't a poll for this one escapes me. Amazing kills, fantastic gore, top-notch stalking and a great storyline without any real flaws that stick out. I might need a re-watch to find some, though.

[HNT]

I go four. If there is any flaw, it is that I don't really care for mystery killers in my slasher films. It really doesn't much matter who the killer is, and the mystery cannot really be that intense unless time is spent on that story point that takes away from the stalk and slash goodness that is the basis of the film. In this case, the kills and the stalking is absolutely top notch, but the result is that the mystery killer is both predictable and seems tacked on. It'd have been better if they didn't even bother with that aspect. A nameless GI who came home, hot pissed at his girl for abandoning him, and went on a killing spree would have been enough. It does not matter who he was

[HiderInTheHouse]

Cool movie. I like this one a lot. When I get some more money for blank DVDs I'm gonna have to download and burn it.

[CT]

Haven't seen it but certainly want to now based on those favorable ratings. I'll pick it up used within the next couple of weeks.

[The Walking Dude]

I grew up with this film,( as Rosemary's Killer,even the local DVD release in 2007 still retained that title),albeit in a heavily edited version.Imagine my excitement when I imported The Prowler and got to see Savini's unmatched effects in all their g(l)ory .

So a definite 4 from me.I always love these whodunits.

[GL]

May 31, 2011 10:56:53 GMT -5 HNT said:

I go four. If there is any flaw, it is that I don't really care for mystery killers in my slasher films. It really doesn't much matter who the killer is, and the mystery cannot really be that intense unless time is spent on that story point that takes away from the stalk and slash goodness that is the basis of the film. In this case, the kills and the stalking is absolutely top notch, but the result is that the mystery killer is both predictable and seems tacked on. It'd have been better if they didn't even bother with that aspect. A nameless GI who came home, hot pissed at his girl for abandoning him, and went on a killing spree would have been enough. It does not matter who he was

Hmm, I guess that works. Indeed, trying to find out the killer's identity when it's not important who's doing it, only that it's happening, is a pretty stupid tactic, I guess that'll work.

[HiderInTheHouse]

Jun 1, 2011 3:22:17 GMT -5 The Walking Dude said:

I grew up with this film,( as Rosemary's Killer,even the local DVD release in 2007 still retained that title),albeit in a heavily edited version.Imagine my excitement when I imported The Prowler and got to see Savini's unmatched effects in all their g(l)ory .

So a definite 4 from me.I always love these whodunits.

Were the cuts really that severe?

[The Walking Dude]

Yep. All the murders were far less graphic.I'd say it would amount to at least 2 minutes.Ironically though,I don't recall the head explosion scene being that different. I maybe wrong though,as it's been a long time since I watched the Rosemary's Killer version.

[GL]

Yeah, that's one thing you have to accept when it comes to the rest of the world and Horror: not every country will allow you to just throw an "Unrated" tag on a film and let it go through to the general public without being checked in any form. Most of the world still believes in censorship in most forms, so we're lucky in that we only have to censor things that go straight to the theater (although even then that's not true) and Australia's one of the big countries that still heavily censors films, the UK being the other but generally, most countries don't let just anything go through. It has to be checked, even stuff that we get as "Uncensored" or "Unrated."

[HiderInTheHouse]

That sucks. At least you can order your stuff online now. I remember reading about the video nasty era in the UK in this book I use to have called Killing for Culture. Man, that was an awesome book.

[The Walking Dude]

To be honest,I don't know if Rosemary's Killer still remains censored,as I'd already had the uncut Prowler disc,so therefore had no need to get the local release.Besides it had a shitty cover anyway,which actually can be the deciding factor for me of which region to buy.

I wouldn't really say that films here are heavily censored though,for example,Friday the 13th has always been uncut here.I discovered this when I got the Crystal Lake to Manhattan set,and noticed that the deleted scenes were all in the film.The Final Chapter didn't fare so well though.Sometimes it's a case of lazy distributors too.Halloween 3 was intact on the VHS release,but by the time it made it to DVD some gore scenes were missing.

In the last few months we've seen Inside,Salo and A Serbian Film all classified.The latter two, I never would have thought be passed by the ratings board.It helps too that we have the R18+ rating,that is the equivalent of NC17,but distributors aren't as scared of it as their overseas counterparts.

The real battleground is the gaming industry,as we don't have that R18+,and therefore have seen a few titles like Manhunt 2 and the new Mortal Kombat banned outright.

[Jen]

Mortal Kombat banned?!?! Are they insane? Seriously, not having a mature rating for video games makes no sense.

I'd give this a 4. Unlike HNT, I like a mystery killer in slashers, but agree the "mystery" here is weak and obvious. I also agree that the stalking and kill scenes in this are pretty excellent, the effects are great.

[HNT]

I guess Savini became the go to guy for exploding heads. He did three top notch shotgun decapitations. This one and DOTD have my favorites. For some reason Maniac gets all the hype. ITs a great scene, but this one is better

[GL]

Yeah, I always thought Maniac got all the attention because of who was involved in that one, especially once he passed away. It seemed once that happened, people just started heaping undue praise on that one simply because he was dead, and then seeing Savini, Munroe and Lustig involved as well, it became a much more hyped film than it really deserved to be. I agree totally, I love this one the most of the three and really wish it'd get a bigger reputation than it has since not too many people really have that viewpoint as well.