So, I had never heard of _The Slayer_, and it's typically a bad sign when I have never heard anything about an '80s horror movie.
The movie is trying to play in two different subgenres, and fails at both. The story is simple enough: two couples - Kay, David, and Kay's brother, Eric, and his wife, Brooke - go to an old house on a deserted island, murders happen. A slasher movie? Well, sort of. Throughout the movie, it is set up that Kay has prophetic dreams or at least thinks she does. A supernatural horror? Kind of.

[spoiler]The movie is trying very hard to get us to believe Kay has some type of link to the location. She seems to know information, but it's all very vague. We have a very small cast, aside from our couples we only have two other people on the island. The first one is a random guy just hanging out on the beach - pretty obvious slasher move to pad the body count with some nobody - he is killed with an oar, in a way that we do not get even a slight hint as to who swung it. The next person to die is David; similarly, we do not see who or what kills him. David is third, and he's killed by a fishing pole, while is the first clear indication we are dealing with something supernatural. Last is Brooke - who gets the only good death scene - she is taken out by a pitchfork, but is it being held by someone?Since Kay is our only survivor, I thought it was pretty clear that the "slayer" was going to be a manifestation of her subconscious, basically an evil dream twin. We do get one final, misdirect kill - the pilot who took them to the island shows up... out of nowhere... but Kay stabs him. Then, finally, we get to see the "slayer," and it's... a cheesy monster. Are you kidding? Actually, yeah. I mean, we see a monster, but only for a second. You see, it was all a dream. Turns out the movie we suffered through was a bad dream little Kay was having about her possible adult future. The it-was-all-a-dream twist may be the laziest end for any movie. I hate it.[/spoiler]

_The Slayer_ doesn't have much to offer: the characters are unlikeable - especially the men, unholy Hell, I know this was the early '80s, but these guys were complete dicks. The music didn't fit half the time. It had a low body count. The ending was a huge letdown.
Kay was the only aspect of the movie I liked. I really felt for her as she began to unravel at the end.
It makes sense why I never heard about this film, and it deserves to be forgotten... like a bad dream.

***Undeservedly obscure atmospheric coastal horror***

Two couples in their 30s take a vacation to a secluded isle off the coast when a storm hits and people mysteriously start dying one-by-one. Kay, a troubled artist (Sarah Kendall), says she sees everything in her nightmares before it happens.

I suppose “The Slayer” (1982), aka "Nightmare Island," could be classified as a slasher flick, but it’s more accurately a mystery-horror with haunting remote island ambiance, sort of like “The Shuttered Room” (1967), but mixed with elements of moody coastal horror, such as “The Fog” (1980). “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer” (1998) took the stormy island setting to forge a more conventional slasher.

The filmmaking is top-notch for the time period, including the superb score. Carol Kottenbrook as Brooke is a highlight, lookin’ good in tight jeans. Kendall shows her acting chops as the haunted protagonist. Meanwhile the titular character is diabolically hideous, but you barely get to see him. Yet there’s a twist and, even then, the movie’s an enigma wrapped in a riddle.

The film runs 1 hour, 29 minutes, and was shot on Tybee Island, Georgia, and nearby Savannah.

GRADE: B