A young boy murders his mother and her lover with a hammer. Ten years later, a wave of teenage murders plagues the same area.
Practical Effects
Gloriously unconvincing gore that somehow works.
Direction
Prior's chaotic zooms and freeze frames: accidental genius.
Production
Entire film shot in one location: a cheap condo.
Director
David A. Prior
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
David A. Prior shot this in 1983 on consumer-grade video equipment, making it one of the earliest shot-on-video slasher films. The entire budget reportedly wouldn't cover a modern iPhone.
Sledgehammer became a VHS rental legend precisely because it looked like homemade snuff, helping define the 'SOV horror' aesthetic that influenced filmmakers like Ti West decades later.
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