Prom Night (Widescreen)
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Movie Reviews of Prom Night (Widescreen)
Movie Review: See Ya Later Alligator
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay, so plot pretty simple:
A group of young kids accidentely kill a young girl durring a game of "killer" (ummmm), someone saw what happened....and is out for revenge.
YEARS before "I Know What You Did Last Summer" was written there was "Prom Night". The idea is pretty much the same, although the kids as teen-agers don't really seem to show any remorse for what they did (besides Jamie Lee's boyfriend). So it's hard to connect the teens to the killing they did when they were little.
This movie is ALL about red herrings. The killer is a mental patient, the killer is the Bully at school, the killer is the janitor....I'm surprised they didn't put a pair of black gloves in Jamie Lee's locker....it doesn't matter though, the killer's identity was a surprise to me at least, when I first watched it when I was 15 (I'm 21 now). The Red herrings work I guess, although I never really thought it was the Janitor or the mental patient. Speaking of the mental patient, I guess he got blamed for the little girls death, and escapes years later leading the police to think he's coming back to Hamilton High. This part of the film was disstracting to me, but after knowing the ending it's become downright unbearable. TOTAL miss-direction, and once you know it for what it is...it gets boring.
However I think that it's good they put it there, to keep you guessing.
The death scenes are not that great, except for the little girl falling through the window in the beginning. There's definete style to this film and came on the radar just after Halloween, but before Nightmare and Friday...so it wasn't stock in the sense that that it's bimbo's running around naked. The characters are actually developed though not that like-able.
Jamie Lee's character is pretty much what you would expect from her in those early days, so I won't go into that.
My favorite part is the prom...and the music....I WISH I could have had a light up dance floor at mine, and the music (though all the songs kinda sound the same) went great along-side the flashing lights....really creating an atmosphere of glitz, lights and dance. Just what Prom should be. A Night to remember....or dismember...lol, sorry.
One thing I did hate about the film, is the ten minute chase scene. The killer goes after Wendy, the bitchy popular girl (though she never really seemed to have friends) who looks like she's 30! It goes on and on, and the song is the same "Prom Night...everything is allright" so it gets very old, very fast.
But overall, it's a fun slasher....a slasher that came out before the genre got tired. If you love disco, this will be your wet dream. If you love Sexy ladies....this probably won't do much for you. The girls weren't really that attractive (besides Jamie Lee, though that hair made me wanna pull it out strand by strand). But it was nice that the teens (who did look a bit too old) were normal. They looked like every-day kids, which is great considering the New Prom Night movie is gonna be all hotties like Brittney Snow....lame.
This stays in my collection as one of the greats. And it kicked off an...interesting series to say the least. Let's hope Prom Night 2008 will get us a special edition release of the original with commentary from Jamie Lee! (hey, I can dream!)
-DeNis
Movie Review: "The killer's gonna getcha!"
Summary: 5 Stars
Canada was one of the key players at the forefront of the slasher movie wave of the early 1980s. "Prom Night" was released during the crest of this phenomenon and the filmmakers were among the "A" list of Canadian horror, considering that the excellent music score skills contributed by Paul Zaza would turn up in the following year's "My Bloody Valentine" (another one of the best) and that "Prom Night's" writing/directing team of William Gray and Paul Lynch would go on to make 1981's "Humongous" (which has never seen a DVD release).
Still, "Prom Night," though filmed in Toronto, is set in the U.S. and features some familiar faces like Leslie Nielsen and Jamie Lee Curtis, the latter of whom was still riding high on the success of "Halloween" (and would also star in another 1980 Canadian slasher production "Terror Train").
"Prom Night" is just one fun movie. It has a good, attractive cast, a sense of humor, and an overriding teenage innocence to it that is very appealing.
The characters are largely adolescent caricature archetypes. You have the likable and popular prom queen Kim (Curtis), the hormonally driven, van driving, pot smoking burnout Slick (Sheldon Rybowski), the violent, aggressive miscreant Lou (David Mucci), and my favorite, the spiteful and malicious (I'm avoiding using the "B" word here) but oh so hot Wendy (Anne-Marie Martin, billed here as Eddie Benton), who zooms around in a fast sports car and has a cat fight-like rivalry with Kim over the attention of prom king and common love interest Nick (Casey Stevens).
That said, one of the common gripes against the film from seasoned cinema gore hounds is that it doesn't feature enough nudity or red stuff spurting out of bodies. I would respond by saying that while compared to some others it is somewhat light in the sex and gore quotient (though a good decapitation and dismembered corpse, not to mention a hot girl mooning someone are notable exceptions), it more than makes up for it in being an otherwise so appealing and classy effort, and one of the best and most fun slashers ever. Highly recommended.
Movie Review: one problem
Summary: 5 Stars
I honestly don't know if anyone else will care about this or not, but I do notice one problem with this dvd. There is a noticeable difference in the sound. This criticism does not really apply to the first half of the film. However, once the prom itself begins, you can immediately discern a disparity in the pace of the music. It has an odd sound, kind of like what it used to sound like if you put a record on a turntable but played it on the wrong speed. It has a sort of 'sped up' quality to it. Another reviewer here has made note of the fact that this dvd is three or four minutes shorter than the prior release, so perhaps this is what accounts for the difference.At any rate, it was enough to render the dvd all but unuseable for me. This is the sort of movie where the soundtrack is like one of the characters. Change it, and you've got a different movie. As I said, this may not be relevant to many people besides myself. But it is something you might consider before making the purchase.
As for the movie itself, this is one of my 3 favorite slasher films(along with Friday the 13th and Halloween.) If the altered tempo of the soundtrack doesn't bother you, then this is a fine dvd. The picture quality is quite good.
Prom Night is one of the absolute essentials. If you regard slasher movies as predominately freak shows, like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Hatchet, then this may not be your cup of tea. But if you like them with some aura of mystery about them, and even some emotional resonance, then this is about as good as it gets.
Movie Review: ANOTHER REASON TO LOVE THE SLASHER GENRE!!
Summary: 5 Stars
If you are a horror/slasher fan, then Prom Night is an excelent addition to your collection. (note: get the Echo Bridge version rather then the other version. they're the same movie, but the Echo Bridge copy has a better visual and the wide screen version) For starters, it has a young Jamie Lee Curtis, need i say more. Secondly, it has everything a slasher flick needs. flashback sequence for the cause of a killer, unsuspecting
teen victims, and of course your deranged killer who chases after one person in particular who ends up killing him or her in the end. What more do you want hahaha. Anyways...if you claim that you love the horror/slasher genre like do, pick it up. And hell, while your at it, pick up the other three Prom Night's for your compleate collection.
Movie Review: A fun slasher/disco film! Sat. night fever turned horror!
Summary: 5 Stars
The killer isn't after Jamie lee in this one. A real gem. Great music and suspense. The film has quite a few dark(literally) moments and until they released this dvd, the echo bridge production, you couldn't see a thing. The picture quality on this DVD is excellent (colors are bright and dark sequences are visible) and the audio is great too. Wish they made a CD for this heart-pounding disco soundtrack! Jamie gives a great performance and this particular slasher inspired many of the new horror films such as Scream and Urban Leggend. This is definitely a horror classic!!!