Savage Weekend is a 1979 American slasher film directed by David Paulsen and starring Christopher Allport, David Gale, William Sanderson, and Caitlin O'Heaney. The film follows a woman who retreats to upstate New York with her wealthy boyfriend, her sister, and friend, only to be stalked by a killer in a disfigured mask. Filmed in 1976 under the working title The Upstate Murders, and initially marketed as The Killer Behind the Mask, the film was acquired by the Cannon Group and released theatrically in North America in mid 1979. It has been cited as an early prototype for the slasher film, predating both Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th (1980). Plot Marie Pettis has recently divorced her politician husband Greg, who was involved in a widely-publicized political scandal in New York City. To decompress, she leaves for a weekend trip in upstate New York with her new stockbroker boyfriend Robert, her sister Shirley, and their openly gay friend Nicky. They arrive to the country late in the evening, and stop in a small town. Robert, Marie, and Shirley pick up groceries at a market, where Shirley finds a sinister face mask that she decides to buy as a joke. Meanwhile, Nicky goes to the bar across the street for a drink, and is harassed by two homophobic men whom he beats up. They arrive at the remote farmhouse Robert has recently purchased from Otis, a local man whose father has died, and whom Robert has hired to build a large schooner, a project which is being housed in a barn on the property. Jay Alsop, an engineer and friend of Robert's, arrives to oversee the boat's progress. Mac Macauley, a lumberman providing the wood for the boat, tells Marie of a local rumor involving a young woman who was assaulted by the unhinged Otis, and hints that he may have been responsible for a murder. Jay quickly develops a sexual interest in Shirley. Meanwhile, Marie finds herself attracted to Mac. The following afternoon, Jay goes down to the barn to check on Otis's progress on the boat; there, he is strangled by a killer donning the mask Shirley bought the day before, and his body is hung from the rafters so as to appear as a suicide. That night, the rest of the group dresses up for a formal dinner at the house. After dinner, Marie and Robert go for