A crazed World War 2 soldier kills his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend. He then starts to bump off young teens in the same California town 35 years later.

I remember seeing this a few years ago and thinking it was distinctly average. What a difference a few years can make! I really dug it this time, with the World War 2 newsreel providing a welcome prologue that gave the film its own unique feel. It reminds me of what the mining town setting did for My Bloody Valentine.

Joseph Zito directs well (something he’d later demonstrate even more with Friday the 13th:The Final Chapter). He builds suspense very well and stages key scenes brilliantly.

Tom Savini provides the special effects for the kills here and they’re as great as ever. They are painful to watch and I’ll never look at a pitchfork in the same way again. I actually felt these kills, they were so effective.

Spoiler alert- The killer is played by Farley ‘Strangers on a Train’ Granger!

Rosemary’s Killer is apparently the heavily cut version of The Prowler. Obviously, I watched the uncut version.

4 out of 5 stars