The Slayer (film)
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| The Slayer | |
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| File:The slayer 1982 vhs video.jpg
Vipco video cover (2001)
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| Directed by | J. S. Cardone |
| Produced by | William R. Ewing Eric Weston Anne Kimmel |
| Written by | William R. Ewing |
| Starring | Sarah Kendall Frederick Flynn Carol Kottenbrook Alan McRae |
| Music by | Robert Folk |
| Cinematography | Karen Grossman |
| Edited by | M. Edward Salier |
| Distributed by | 21st Century Film Corporation International Picture Show Continental Video Inc. Marquis Video Planet Video Inc. |
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Release dates
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Running time
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80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Slayer (also known as Nightmare Island) is a 1982 horror film directed by J. S. Cardone. The film gained notoriety and was classified in the UK as a video nasty in the 1980s.
Contents
Plot
Upon awaking from a nightmare in which she is attacked by a beast-like creature, Kay (Sarah Kendall), an abstract artist is informed by her husband David (Alan McRae) that it's time to get ready for a long-awaited vacation that was planned by her brother, Eric (Frederick Flynn). Kay, feeling tense and anxious about the vacation tells David that it may not be the right time to leave. For many years, Kay has been plagued since childhood by recurring prophetic nightmares in which she is stalked and slain in a burning room by a deformed figure and during her waking hours she paints what she has seen in her dreams. Upon arriving on the island destination, Kay, Eric, David and Eric's wife Brooke (Karen Kottenbrooke) is informed by the sinister pilot, Marsh (Michael Holmes) that the island is deserted.
Kay begins to realize that the island is not what it seems and once they get settled into their beach home, Kay continues to have recurring nightmares unaware that her dreams are slowly becoming reality. As Kay tries to warn the others of what is going to happen, they dismiss her. On a stormy night, David hears noises from the basement and goes to investigate; there the trap door of the basement slams shut on his neck and he is killed. Kay has a nightmare that she is kissing David in bed and once she discovers that the rest of his body is missing, she realizes he is gone. On spending the day searching for David, Eric, unwilling to believe that he is dead, becomes convinced that Kay is insane. Kay later discovers David's body in the old theater and has no proof of this when it later goes missing. Brooke is becoming more and more certain that Kay could be telling the truth. Eric is forced to subdue Kay and resume the search for David. While on the search, Eric is murdered when he is caught by a fishing hook. While Brooke is investigating the boat house, she killed when a pitchfork is rammed through her chest. The following morning, Kay goes to look for Eric and Brooke and stumbles upon their bodies. In a panic, she locks herself inside the beach house and as night falls, she struggles to stay awake. She soon realizes that someone is trying to enter the house, and while trying to force their entry, she attacks them and shoots them with a flare gun only to discover that it was the pilot, Marsh on his way to rescue her. While the house becomes engulfed with flames, Kay runs upstairs and tries to escape. Once she opens the front door, there she comes face-to-face with "The Slayer", the skeletal creature which has been stalking her dreams. As the beast wails and howls, Kay is heard screaming in fear.
In a moment from her past, Kay, as a child, is awakened on Christmas morning by her parents, where she tells them that she had a nightmare. Eric then enters the room in excitement, while her father presents her with a black cat that she receives as a Christmas gift. A frightened Kay looks at the cat with fear and terror.
Cast
- Sarah Kendall as Kay
- Frederick Flynn as Eric
- Carol Kottenbrook as Brooke
- Alan McRae as David
- Michael Holmes as Marsh
- Paul Gandolfo as Fisherman
- Newell Alexander as Kay's Father
- Ivy Jones as Kay's Mother
- Richard Van Brakel as Eric (as a child)
- Jennifer Gaffin as Kay (as a child)
- Carl Kraines as The Slayer
- Alan McRae as Stripper
Release
Critical reception
Allmovie wrote "The Slayer boasts some effectively eerie atmosphere and a dark, downbeat attitude. Unfortunately, sluggish pacing eliminates the tension that might have been established between the minimal cast and the sinister deserted-island setting."[1]
Home Video
The film has been released on VHS and DVD format. The Slayer was released in the U.S. on double feature video format by Continental Video alongside another feature - Scalps. It was cut by five minutes or so, in order to make room for the second feature, but all the gruesome scenes and violence are intact.[2] The film has never been made available on DVD in the U.S.
In the UK, the film has had several releases. It was initially released in the UK on VHS uncut from Vipco before being banned when it became one of the several films to appear on the video nasty list in October of 1983. It remained on the list before being dropped in April 1985. It received a new release in 1992 by Vipco, with 14 seconds cut by the BBFC. However, in 2001 the film was released once again by Vipco on VHS and for the first time on DVD and was passed uncut by the BBFC. The same DVD version was released in 2010, uncut by Cornerstone Media, but it is only the outer packaging that is new, the disc is from Vipco's release. The extras include trailers and filmographies. Both DVD's have an aspect ratio of 4:3 full screen.[3]
