Sledgehammer

Sledgehammer is a 1983 independent slasher film written and directed by David A. Prior. The film tells the story of a young boy who murdered his mother and her lover with a sledgehammer. Ten years after the murder and the child's mysterious disappearance, a group of teens stay in the house for a weekend when they are terrorized by the ghost of the little boy. Sledgehammer was one of the earliest horror films to be shot-on-video, though not the first, a distinction claimed by Boardinghouse which was released one year earlier. However, while Boardinghouse received a limited theatrical release, Sledgehammer was originally released direct-to-video. It has retained a cult following, and was re-released on DVD in 2011 by Intervision, a sub-label of cult film distributor Severin Films. Plot In a remote house, an abusive mother locks her young son in a closet, then goes into another room to meet the man she is cheating on her husband with. The man and woman intend to abandon their respective spouses, but their plans are cut short when an unseen killer appears and murders them with a sledgehammer. The bodies are found by the authorities, with the exception of the boy, who is presumed dead. Ten years later, seven friends have rented out the house to party in. They are driven to the house in a van by a local mechanic, who leaves with the intent of picking them up afterwards. When night falls, Chuck convinces the others to participate in a séance to try and summon the spirits of the couple that died in the house, so they can learn who killed them. In actuality, the séance is an elaborate prank concocted by Chuck and Joey, but it succeeds in bringing forth the ghost of the missing boy, which appears as a towering man in a smiling translucent mask. The spirit murders Joey with a knife through the neck, then hides his body. The next day, it murders Jimmy and Carol while they are having sex, snapping Carol's neck and hitting Jimmy in the chest with a sledgehammer.