In 1945, a spurned soldier kills his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend at her graduation dance. 35 years later, the town holds its first graduation ball since that fateful night, and the soldier returns for some matriculation mutilation.

Not to be confused with the 1951 noir The Prowler or the Iron Maiden song ‘Prowler’, The Prowler (AKA Rosemary’s Killer) is a slasher from 1981 – the same year as the conceptually similar The Burning and My Bloody Valentine; films that followed the anniversary-revenge formula from Halloween, Friday the 13th and Prom Night. But The Prowler is more convincing than My Bloody Valentine, not least because a traumatised soldier makes for a more grounded villain than an evil miner, even if his incongruous use of a pitchfork makes you question his service record. His other weapon is a bayonet, meaning he’s essentially wielding a giant knife and fork.

This army antagonist gives The Prowler a Rambo-like subtext about the trauma of war and the treatment of veterans (and a novel opening newsreel about the epidemic of Dear John letters), though this might be generous for a film that is built around its gory kills. These are masterfully executed by special effects wizard Tom Savini (himself inspired by the horrors he witnessed in Vietnam), particularly a swimming pool murder that leaves you shivering. But in between the bloodshed the movie treads water, without enough characterisation or plot to sustain the momentum, leaving you waiting for the next giant cutlery-based attack sequence.

Director Joseph Zito (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter) handles these with plenty of tension, using ominous lighting and shadows to ramp up the suspense, alongside Richard Einhorn’s anxious score that proved effective enough to warrant removal by European censors, along with Savini’s gore effects. This would make the movie very short, terribly dull and even less coherent. But all considered this is a superior slasher flick, and while its narrative flaws stop it reaching the gold standard of Halloween or Black Christmas, it does enough to take home the silverware.