Horror Crush: Vicky Dawson

It's time for another induction into this site's Horror Crush section. And, that induction is the beautiful Vicky Dawson!

Vicky Dawson was born in Columbus, Ohio and grew up in Summit, New Jersey. She has been acting since the age of 10. And, while she is still involved in the movie biz, she only appeared in one horror movie. But, it's a cult favorite in the form of The Prowler!

The Prowler (also known as Rosemary's Killer and The Pitchfork of Death) starts off telling us about soldiers coming back home from World War II. But, one of them has been dumped by his girlfriend, Rosemary, via a letter. At a dance, a girl and the dude she is with are killed by an unseen man. 35 years a college graduation dance is being held. And, if you guessed that murders start occurring again, you are correct!

Directed by Joseph (Invasion USA, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter) Zito, The Prowler rises above the usual slasher dreck and is a solid and entertaining, good time. Zito's directing gives us some suspenseful moments. It's also a nice looking movie with some good use of shadows. It all builds up to a really kick ass climax. The killer, in his army fatigues, has a cool look and loves to use a bayonet, pitchfork, and a sawed-off shotgun. This makes him one of the few slashers smart enough to use a firearm, which makes sense as we know he is a war vet. What really helps it to stand out, though, is the graphic and bloody splatter FX by Tom Savini. This includes: throat slashing, bayonets to the head, wall painting squibs, a spectacular exploding head, and more. If only more slashers actually reached this level of splatter, I might be more of a fan of them.

Another highlight is that there is some character development, which is oh so rare in this sort of movies. Well, OK it's really only limited to our lead couple but still. One of those two leads is Christopher Goutman who is believable and likable as cop Mark London. Dawson plays his girlfriend Pam MacDonald. As our final girl, Pam is truly great, being spunky and someone you actually give a flying fuck about. Plus, she really stands her ground against the Prowler in the aforementioned climax. As Pam, Dawson is also naturally beautiful and the girl you wish you could take to the dance, or anywhere else for a date.

While, her work in the genre isn't the biggest, she stands out cause she's great in her one horror role. That it is in such a bloody, fun, and endlessly rewatchable slasher like The Prowler, is the icing on the gory cake. So, it is with great joy and much honor that Vicky Dawson is named an official Horror Crush!