The Slayer (1982)

"Is it a nightmare? Or is it..."

The 'Video Nasties' list that was put together by the DPP in 1983 is a very mixed bag of horror and exploitation films. As the initial idea was to have the distributors prosecuted and have the films banned, you kind of wonder if they did any actual research into what they took a disliking to, or if they just went on word of mouth and outrageous video covers. Some on the list, such as Cannibal Holocaust, The Beast in Heat and Fight For Your Life, were (and still are) fairly offensive films that push the boundaries of taste to the extreme, while others such as Tenebrae, Visiting Hours and Dead & Buried were films that happened to have a few seconds worth of latex gore that set the DPP foaming at the mouth. Only half of the list were successfully prosecuted, while the rest were re-submitted under the Video Recordings Act 1984 and were passed, though most suffered minor edits to explicit violence at some point.

The idiotic nature of the whole scandal aside, many of the films on the original list have fallen into obscurity at this point, some with good reason, others, maybe not so. There only remains a handful of titles that have not been resubmitted for classification at this point, and are still, in effect, 'banned'. This is probably more to do with lack of distributor confidence in the film than anything to do with fear of rejection by the BBFC.With the relaxation in censorship laws at the end of the 90's, we horror fans could finally get our hands on legit copies of Driller Killer and Blood Feast, and a whole glut of budget releases followed.

The Slayer is probably one of the lesser known titles at this stage, and hasn't really been given a huge amount of attention by horror fans. Things start off promising with Kay (Sarah Kendall; The Karate Kid Part II), an abstract artist, waking from a terrifying dream of a monsterous creature attacking her. She has been having similar re-occuring dreams for years, it seems, and her husband, David (Alan McRae; Once Bitten, 3 Ninjas) wants her to see professional help as she is becoming more and more detached from reality. Her brother Eric (Frederick Flynn; Thunder Alley, Shadowzone) decides that they should go to a friends remote island for the weekend, despite the constant complaints from his wife, Brooke (Carol Kottenbrook; Thunder Alley, Survival Quest). She is smart enough to know that Eric will spend the whole time fishing. After getting dropped by plane, they find much of the island is in ruin, including a run-down theatre that Kay is convinced she has seen in her dream. 

Despite being away from home and her paintings, the nightmares continue. A man is sitting on the beach and being stalked by a person unseen, and is brutally murdered with some blunt-force trauma to the skull. Kay wakes up on the beach; was it all a dream? That night her husband goes for a wander during the storm, and finds himself in the basement. As he attempts to stop rain pouring in from a trap door, he is attacked and decapitated. Kay dreams that his severed head is lying in the bed with her. After searching everywhere, her brother finds the remains of David in the old theatre. They soon realise that Kay may be right about her dreams, and that any one of them could be next as the deranged killer continues to stalk them.

The Slayer does many things right, and one of its best features is its atmosphere. The island makes a perfect setting; it is weather beaten, cold, gloomy... an air of decay and despair hangs over the whole film, and suits the mood perfectly. Despite the film belonging squarely in the slasher genre, it is refreshing to see mature adults instead of oafish teens being picked off one by one. It adds to the serious tone of it all, and the humour is kept to a minimum throughout. The acting is reasonable, though not excellent. Sarah Kendall as Kay does an OK job at being lost in her own thoughts and on the edge of madness, and looks like a petrified, gaunt Sigourney Weaver in many instances. Carol Kottenbrook is good as the cranky sister-in-law, but the guys are a bit on the bland side. 

The murder scenes are very effective, and director J.S. Cardone (Thunder Alley, Shadowzone, Wicked Little Things) does a great job with building tension in the stalk-and-slash moments. Even with only 4 or 5 potential victims, the kills feel well placed. Though not overly gory, we do get some wet goods here. The highlight is definitely the most well known scene, where a victim gets a pitchfork through the back and the points come out their chest. I also really liked the stunt where the man is shot in the chest with a flare gun. The violence is generally brutal enough, and the climax is tense and gripping, until...

...the last two minutes. I won't spoil it, but it does something that feels a tad like 'jumping the shark', but can be interpreted in a few different ways. Horror fans usually balk at such endings anyway, and it does feel a tad groan-worthy. It certainly isn't enough to kill the film, but it will piss a few of you off. I understand they were trying to do something different with the nature of dreams and premonitions, but it just doesn't quite work here.

Despite this minor hiccup, the film works surprisingly well as a whole. Special note should be made of the score by Robert Folk (Police Academy, Bachelor Party, Can't Buy Me Love) who went on to have a successful career as a composer after this. The score is fully orchestrated, and suits the gloomy mood throughout. Also, some mention should be made to the surface similarities between The Slayer and a certain other major slasher franchise; the Nightmare on Elm Street series. The Killer only strikes while Kay is asleep, and it seems that he uses this to cross over into reality. We also get plenty of moments where Kay battles to stay awake to keep the killer at bay in the climax, including much drinking of coffee. They are only basic similarities for sure, but they're worth noting.

Overall, if you are a slasher fan, you owe it to yourself to watch The Slayer. It has atmosphere, good kills and even some minor nudity to keep the boob fans happy. If bleak and oppressive sounds like a good time to you, then you will enjoy this one. Hopefully some day in the not-too-distant future it will get the DVD treatment it deserves.