The film was originally released in late 1982- it was the directorial debut of J.S. Cardone- a Californian based  Writer, director and producer.He has since gone on to be involved in a fair selection of horror & mystery films( as director, writer, or producer)- including the remakes of Prom Night, and Stepfather( I’m I the only person that rather enjoyed the Prom night remake?).  And as film debuts go The Slayer is quite impressive, managing to add some original turns to the slasher genre, as well as been a surprisingly well produced, filmed, and sound tracked film- which you can’t say for many films in the wider slasher genre.

The film's plot follows troubled female artists Kay, her husband, brother, and sister-in-law traveling to a remote island for a holiday. Fairly soon people are been knocked off one by one, and when each killing occurs Kay is seemingly asleep- so is the killer a strange inhabitant of the island, Kay her self, one of her friends, or something much more unexpected & terrifying?

The Slayer features a slightly older cast by slasher norms, and we get a wonderfully stark & mysterious setting for the island it’s self- which seemingly only has two buildings on it- a single house( where the group stay) & an abounded theatre. Added to this we get a classy & dramatic fully orchestrated score. On the whole, the films pace is fairly slow & considered by slasher standards- so don’t expect a death every 15 minutes. But when the killings do occur they are brutal, often prolonged, and very gory.  On the whole the films a nice balance of often fairly bleak mood, mystery, and effective shots of gore. So it’s not really a pizza & beer, watch with your buddies slasher- it’s more of a thoughtful slow burn slasher, that rewards repeated viewings.

Moving on to the extras, and we get a nice selection. We get two commentaries- one from the director, one of the film's actress, and executive in charge of production. And another from the always worthy The Hysteria Continues (a group of four slasher fans/ experts). The first commentary is most interesting, and fact filled- and one does get a very good insight into the films sciprt writing, shooting & production.  But The Hysteria Continues one is great, & one of the best I’ve heard from them.  It finds the guys on top form- discussing how they all originally discovered the film, its place on the video nasty lists, the films actors, its production, and really everything else related to the film- it’s another highly informative, well researched & enjoyable track from the group.

Next, we get a new & fairly lengthy doc about the film’s making entitled Nightmare Island. This mainly takes in interviews with the films director, producer- but we also get input from director of photography, special effects artist, and one of the films actors. The doc comes in at fifty-two minutes, it's well put together, and interesting.
Other extras take in a selection of isolated moments from the score, with the film's composer discussing it. A tour of the islands key scene locations today, and lastly footage of a showing of the film in Tybee Post Theatre -which was the then abandon theatre in the film.

So in summing up this is much deserved 4K reissue of this fairly distinctive & moody 1980’s slasher-with Arrow offering up their usual selection of high quality & rewarding extras. All making this a must have item for any fan of the golden age of the slasher film.