The Slayer, The Perils of Sleeping and Fishing Hooks

I know what all of you are thirsting for. Yep, that perfect movie which combines elements of the classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" with the 1984 slasher classic The Mutilator . After all, how many of us have fallen asleep and had nightmares about fishing hooks and creepy fishing shacks. Yep...ranks right up there with dreaming about going to high school wearing pajamas. Hence today we delve into 1982's "The Slayer."

Kay (Sarah Kendall, a cross between Sigourney Weaver and Amy Irving), a surrealist painter, has nightmares. This will be tragic news for her friends. Her beau David (Alan McRae, who's mere looks annoy us and we hope he will die horribly) and she will join her brother Eric (Frederick Flynn) and his wife Brooke (Carol Kottenbrook) on an island getaway. When we first see Brooke, it is during a gratuitous shower scene...can you guess her fate? Kay is uneasy as she dreams that bad things will happen to all of them during this excursion...and of course, that she has been there before.

They will be the only four on the island, apparently, and are warned by a creepy pilot (Michael Holmes) that nothing good happens at this island. Like an answer to prayer, David gets his head squeezed off by a trapdoor in a creepy fishing shack. As the others look for David, Kay tells them that he is dead...she dreamed it. Kay is convinced that if she falls asleep again, they will all die horribly. Annoyed at his weird sister, Eric spikes her coffee with sleeping pills and Kay is out like a mangy old dog. A storm hits, and the beautiful Brooke and Eric split up to look for David and more flares. The best pitchfork murder in the history of slasher films and a very ironic fishhook scene await.

Will Kay ever awake? If she does, will whatever is terrorizing the island set its sights on her? If she survives, now with no boyfriend, will Kay begin painting lighthouses and fruit bowls instead of her horrific paintings that no sane person would buy? The kills are quite gory and the end is kind of neat. For some classic 1980s slasher fare, treat yourself to "The Slayer," filmed at Tybee Island, Georgia.