The Prowler

On March 12, 1944 in Avalon Bay, during World War II, a woman named Rosemary Chatham writes a letter to her boyfriend, breaking up with him. On June 28, 1945, Rosemary is attending a graduation dance with her new boyfriend Roy. The couple leave the dance to a lakeside gazebo. There, they are attacked by a mysterious prowler wearing an army combat uniform, who impales them both with a pitchfork and leaves behind a red rose. On June 28, 1980, college senior Pam MacDonald is making last-minute arrangements for that night's graduation ball, the first to be held since the 1945 murders. Helping Pam are her friends Lisa, Sherry and Sherry's love interest Carl. Later while visiting her boyfriend and the town's deputy, Mark London, Pam overhears a report of a prowler. She expresses her concern about Mark's safety because Sheriff George Fraser is leaving town for a fishing trip. Mark reassures her and promises to meet her at the dance. Pam then heads back to the dorm to get ready and eventually leaves with her friends. Sherry stays behind to shower and receives a surprise visit from Carl. While undressing, he is attacked and killed with a bayonet. The killer then impales Sherry with a pitchfork in the shower. At the dance, Pam spots Mark and motions him over. As he walks towards her, Lisa asks him to dance. Mark agrees, which upsets Pam. Mark then walks over to Pam and the two share a brief but tense exchange. A moment later, Lisa walks up and bumps Mark, which causes him to spill his drink on her dress. She returns to the dorm to change and is chased by the same prowler, but escapes. She runs outside into elderly wheelchair user Major Chatham who grabs her arm. Pam escapes his grasp and soon reunites with Mark. She tells him about the prowler, so he investigates. After checking the dorm, Mark only finds boot prints and wheelchair tracks outside. The two then go investigate the Major's home. Pam realizes that his daughter was Rosemary and that her killer was never caught. Convinced the prowler from earlier is the same killer, Mark and Pam head back to the dance and warn the chaperone, Allison, about the possible danger. Meanwhile, Lisa goes out to a nearby swimming pool to cool off and encounters the killer, who slits her throat with the bayonet. Paul, Lisa's boyfriend, is arrested by Mark for disturbing the peace. Allison goes to find Lisa but is stabbed and killed also. Mark and Pam go to investigate the cemetery and discover an open grave with Lisa's body in it. Mark tries to call the lodge that Sheriff Fraser went to, but is ignored by the desk clerk. Mark next calls the state police for help. He informs Pam that the state police told him that the reported prowler had been caught three hours earlier and could not have killed Lisa. Pam suspects that Lisa's killer is the same killer who murdered Rosemary and Roy in 1945. They go to investigate Major Chatham's house again. Mark is attacked as the prowler chases Pam through the house. Otto, a slow-witted employee of the local convenience store and an armed member of a small posse patrolling the neighborhood for the prowler, appears and shoots the prowler with a rifle, but he quickly recovers and shoots Otto dead with a sawed-off shotgun before again attacking Pam by reloading the shotgun. While pinned to the ground, Pam manages to unmask the prowler, revealed to be Sheriff Fraser. Pam wrests the shotgun from his hands, then eventually puts it under his chin and pulls the trigger, killing Fraser. The next day, Mark returns Pam to her dorm and she goes up alone. Discovering Sherry and Carl's bodies in the shower, she screams as Carl briefly seems to come to life and grab her arm before returning to his dead state.