Prom Night

On paper, Prom Night checks all the boxes for me. Slasher movie: check. Jamie Lee Curtis as the final girl: Check. 80’s horror: check. So does Prom Night live up to other slashers? What I can say is that David Mucci’s (who plays Lou) eyebrows should be their own character. Damn! 

<img src="Promnight.jpg" alt="Prom Night.">

Photo Credit: Prom Night Productions

Released: July 18, 1980

Runtime: 92 mins

Director: Paul Lynch

Writer: William Gray, Robert Guza Jr.

Actors: Leslie Nielsen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Stevens

PLOT

It's not who you go with, honey. It's who takes you home.--Wendy

A group of teens is being stalked and killed at their Senior Prom. Does it have to do with the death of a girl several years prior?

MY THOUGHTS

Prom night has a decent amount of kills, but most you don’t see the kills. The camera points away so you can see it. Also, despite the early death, there’s quite a bit of time that passes before we get anymore kills. Some blood and no gore really. There is a decapitated head but not really gory. Though I will say that kill would have to be my favorite from this movie.

Pretty decent acting with this cast. We have Jamie Lee Curtis (known for Terror Train, The Fog, Road Games and several Halloween movies) as Kim, the final girl who’s friends start dying off. Leslie Nielsen (known for Creepshow, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Scary Movie 3 & 4, and lots more comedies) is Mr. Hammond, principal and Kim’s dad.

Rounding out the cast is Anne-Marie Martin (known for Halloween 2 and The Boogens) plays mean girl Wendy. And Michael Tough (known more for being a location manager) plays Kim’s younger brother.

Prom Night opens six years prior where some kids are playing in an abandoned building. Three other kids see them playing but two leave and the third goes into the building to see what's going on. The kids don’t like the intrusion and an accident happens, and one child is killed.

Fast forward 6 years and Prom Night is happening. Here’s where we have two different stories happen. One is where the guy who was accused of killing the child escapes a mental hospital and the cops are trying to find him. And then you have the teens getting ready for the prom. 

The day of the prom, three of the four people receive menacing phone calls but choose to ignore them. Instead we fall into the typical teen drama. Whether it’s trying to find dates, fighting over the same boy, or getting expelled from school.

The prom starts and the killings finally begin. Though it’s odd that nobody notices people start disappearing or anything is happening until the Prom King is supposed to walk out. That’s when people run and we get the final fight scene between Kim and the killer.

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Overall it’s a middle of the road slasher. I hate saying that because my favorite final girl, Jamie Lee Curtis, is the final girl.

For the positives:

  • The idea for this movie had such potential. Revenge is always good.

  • Jamie Lee Curtis’ dancing is worth it.

  • I couldn’t guess who the killer was. But then again I didn’t really care.

  • It’s an 80’s slasher (which tends to be my favorites).

  • There is some nudity in it. Surprisingly.

For the negatives:

  • Prom Night felt more like a PG-13 (despite the boob and bare butt scenes) movie rather than an R.

  • The kills were off screen. I wanted more blood and to see the kills.

  • Too much teen drama rather than horror.

If you like 80’s slashers or a fan of early Jamie Lee Curtis, then watch it. Or have nothing better to do. But there are better slashers out there.

And now for your Forever Final Girl Exclusive…Did you know?:

  • The line "It's not who you come with, it's who takes you home" appears in all four Prom Night movies.

  • Hamilton High School is the one setting that all of the Prom Night movies have in common.

  • Brock Simpson is the only actor who appeared in all four Prom Night movies.

  • Jamie Lee Curtis did her own stunts at the movie's ending.

  • Jamie Lee Curtis and Casey Stevens, who play an onscreen couple in the film, briefly dated during production.

  • According to Paul Zaza, the prom scene was shot with actual disco hits that the production company later realized they could not afford the rights to. This gave Zaza a week and a half to create similar, original disco songs for this movie that were close, but not so close that they could be sued.

  • Director Paul Lynch claims the van that goes off the cliff in the movie was actually stolen by the stunt coordinator.


Check out my other reviews here: Forever Final Girl

Let’s get into the rankings:

Kills/Blood/Gore: 3/5

Sex/Nudity: 1.5/5

Scare factor: 2/5

Enjoyment factor: 3.5/5

My Rank: 2.5/5

IMDB: 5.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes: critics:  4.8/10  audience:  3.4/10

Letterboxd: 2.7/5