Film / Sledgehammer (1983)

Unfortunately, he does not talk to his weapon.

"Their bodies had been pounded over and over again by a madman with a sledgehammer, until all that was left was a bloody heap of mangled flesh and shattered bones. There was barely enough of their faces left to match their teeth with their dental records. They never found the boy. Some think he just flipped out and ran off, maybe trying to find help in the forest. If so, he probably died. Police say he was probably taken by the killer. In either case, most believe him to be dead. That is, except for some people around here. Folks in this part of the county say he's still out there, in the night. Just watching. Waiting. Waiting for his mother's killer to return. Waiting to take his revenge. The killer was never caught. The prime suspect was of course the woman's husband. There were no charges brought against him. No one knows who did it. No one. He just might come back... tonight."

— Chuck

Sledgehammer is a 1983 Slasher Movie.

In 1973, an abusive woman locks her son in the closet of the secluded cabin she has gone to to rendezvous with her lover, who she intends to leave her husband for; likewise, the lover plans on abandoning his wife. As the two become intimate, an unseen figure (presumably the boy) bashes in the head of the man with a sledgehammer, then beats the mother to an unrecognizable pulp as she begs for mercy.

Ten years later, a group of seven friends (Chuck, Joni, Jimmy, John, Mary, Carol and Joey) acquire the old house, planning to use it to party through the weekend in complete seclusion, with no phones or vehicles (their van having been taken to the shop for repairs). After the initial bouts of boozing and miscellaneous shenanigans, the group leader, Chuck, after telling everyone about the double murder that had occurred a decade earlier, convinces the others to hold a séance to try and contact the spirits of the dead man and woman, to ask them who their uncaught killer was; in reality, the séance is a sham, merely the cover for an elaborate prank Chuck and Joey are going to perform to scare their friends. Unfortunately for everyone, the séance goes horribly right (as they are prone to do in these types of films) and a hulking being wearing a transparent mask and wielding a sledgehammer is brought to the house. Possessing vast supernatural powers as well as inhuman strength, this enigmatic being (apparently the spirit of the child from the opening, whose possible remains are discovered in a sealed-off closet) sets about killing everyone in the house with its spectral sledgehammer and a big old-fashioned knife.

The film's main claim to fame (or infamy) is that it was one of the first shot on video slashers, along with the likes of Boardinghouse, Blood Cult and The Ripper. After languishing in obscurity for decades, the film received a DVD release in 2011, coming complete with special features such as commentaries, making-of featurettes, and interviews with both the director and horror experts.

This film provides examples of the following tropes:

• Abusive Parents: The mother from the opening manhandles her son, and locks him in a closet while she goes to have sex.

• Batter Up!: Joni wails on the killer with one, but drops it afterward.
• Bedsheet Ladder: Joni tries building one, but gives up rather quickly.
• Big Bad: The unnamed ghost killing everybody.
• Big Damn Heroes: Chuck, thought dead by that point, comes out of nowhere to save Joni from the killer Just in Time.

• Big Ol' Eyebrows: Part of the killer's mask.
• Blood from the Mouth: Joey's death, and Chuck when the killer is bashing him against a wall.
• Broken Heel: While running down a hallway, Joni trips.
• The Brute: The killer's head nearly touches the ceiling, and he's taller than most of the doorways.
• Camp Gay: John acts like one in an early scene.
• Carpet of Virility: A few of the men.

• Carry a Big Stick: John grabs a piece of wood (with a nail in it) for defense, but abandons it in favor of the sledgehammer.

• Closed Circle: There's nothing but forest for miles around.
• Clothing Damage: When Chuck fights the killer the second time, his bloodied and tattered shirt is inexplicably gone.

• Couldn't Find a Pen: A bloody pentagram.
• Covers Always Lie: The mask on it is completely different from the one in the film, and the killer does not have Red Eyes, Take Warning.

• Deadly Prank: In a way, since the joke séance summoned the killer.

• Death Trap: Joni rigs one, using wires to electrocute the killer when he grabs a doorknob. It fails to stop him.

• Direct to Video

• The '80s
• The End... Or Is It?: The film ends with the killer (in child form) staring down from an upstairs window at the escaping Chuck and Joni.

• Establishing Shot: Yes, filmmakers, we know what the house looks like, you can stop showing it to us for inordinate amounts of time.

• Fade to Black: After the first two murders, the film fades to red.
• The Faceless: We never see the face of the killer's adult form.
• Fan Disservice: Carol and Jimmy are naked when they die.
• Fanservice: Carol and Jimmy's sex scene, and Chuck's rampant shirtlessness.
• Fetish: John wears a mask during sex... but not on his face.
• Fight Scene: The killer fights John, then Chuck.
• Final Girl: Joni (and Chuck).
• Food Fight: Joni gets food coughed into her face during dinner, and things degenerate from there.

• Gorn
• Gory Discretion Shot: The mother getting hammered, which is shown via the sledgehammer's shadow, and blood spattering on a wall.
• Groin Attack: Joni nails the killer between the legs, causing him to let out a Godzilla-like roar.

• Hand of Death: Used before Jimmy and Carol's death.
• Hate Sink: The killer's mother spends most of her screentime berating her son for "ruining" previous attempts to cheat on her husband and locks him in a closet to get him out of the way.

• Heartbeat Soundtrack
• Hoist by His Own Petard: The killer gets his face bashed in with his own sledgehammer.

• Hollywood Satanism: Jimmy and Carol's bodies randomly appear seated at a table, with a pentagram on the wall behind them.

• Implacable Man: The killer is knifed, bludgeoned, electrocuted, cleavered, beaten, and has his skull caved in.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Chuck can sometimes come off as... less than endearing.
  "Now that's my girl. Now do me a favor, will ya? Get this shit outta here, I gotta go get a beer."
• Just Hit Him: The killer slams Chuck into the wall a couple times, then tosses him aside.

• Letter Motif: Joni, Joey, Jimmy and John.

• Malevolent Masked Men: A creepy translucent one, like in Alice, Sweet Alice or Don't Open Till Christmas.

• Mind over Matter: Though nothing beyond opening and closing doors.

• Monochrome Past: When reshown, the opening is in sepia tone.

• Mundane Made Awesome: So much random slow motion and freeze frame.

• Neck Snap: Carol's death.

• No Name Given: The boy, his mother, and her lover.
• No-Tell Motel: Mentioned by the mother and lover.
• Not Quite Dead: The killer drops after being knifed, but recovers after a few minutes.
• Once is Not Enough: Though John was admittedly injured in the fight, so stabbing the killer a few more times probably wasn't his first priority.
• One-Word Title
• Our Ghosts Are Different: These are vengeful byproducts of violent ends, who think everybody they come across is their victimizer(s). They can take multiple forms, including what they looked like when they died, and are corporeal, being able to use weapons and be injured.
• Parlor Games: Charades.
• Peek-a-Boo Corpse: Joni opens a door, and Joey's body falls out. Later, the killer goes the extra mile of hiding it again, this time suspending it from the ceiling with wires.
• Perpetual Smiler: The killer, though maybe Perpetual Grimacer might be more accurate.
• Pie in the Face: Happens to Chuck during the Food Fight.

• Pintsized Powerhouse: The killer, in his child form. To give an example, he bitch slaps the muscle bound Chuck to the floor.

• Revenge Before Reason: After finding John, Mary grabs a knife and blindly rushes towards the killer, and is knifed to death in a few seconds flat.
• Runaway Bride: Chuck asked Joni to marry him, but has started getting cold feet.

• The '70s: The opening.
• Sexy Discretion Shot: The mother may or may not have been giving her lover head when they were so rudely interrupted.

• Shower Scene: But it gets interrupted.
• Similarly Named Works: The television series Sledge Hammer!, which began airing in 1986.

• Surreal Horror: Even some detractors admit it succeeds in creating a weird, nightmarish atmosphere.
• Tears of Blood: The boy's skull is found with blood dripping from the eyes.
• Teleporters and Transporters: The killer appears and disappears at random, and also teleports John and Mary.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: It's hard to tell how many knives are sticking out of Mary's body.
• They Really Do Love Each Other: Mary may be annoyed by John, but after he's killed the first thing she tries to do is avenge him.
• Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: The killer is summoned from the closet.
• Title In: Ten Years Later.

• Too Dumb to Live: When the others fall asleep, John (who is looking for a fight) wanders off alone.

• Unusual Euphemism: "And don't worry about your van, I'll have the transmission shifting gears like a good woman on her honeymoon night!"
• Video Credits
• Visible Boom Mic: In the Shower Scene.
• The Voiceless: The killer never speaks in his adult form.

• Wild Teen Party: They're presumably supposed to be teenagers.

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