Rosemary’s Killer | 1981 | USA | Joseph Zito

Another slasher picture, this time from Joseph Zito who would net the director’s chair for Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter for his efforts with this movie. Much more recognisable as its original title The Prowler, the plot begins in the 1940s, where a soldier receives a Dear John letter from his sweetheart Rosemary, only for the girl and her new date at the summer dance to both end up killed by a pitchfork-wielding murderer. Decades later after a long curfew on the dance, the event is revived by the Class of ‘81 with a young bunch of students looking forward to the celebration. The pitchfork killer is back however, donned in his army fatigues and armed with machetes and bayonets, ready to slay all over again. Narratively speaking, the story is a little basic and the pacing can be tough, but the experience is worth it for Tom Savini’s goriest and most stellar special effects, which is the reason why it was singled out for prosecution in the first place.