PROM NIGHT (1980)
This movie starts out with a group of the creepiest friends ever, playing a game on hide and seek in an abandoned beat up run down school. Only these freakin kids are playing “killers” where they keep saying “the killers are coming” every 5 seconds. Needless to say, an accident happens and one of the little girls ends up dead. Yeah- that’s how this damn thing begins. Years later all these kids are grown up getting ready for prom at their school in the days ahead. At least 4 of these kids are going to be in deep trouble, because someone is out for some revenge. Like the stab you in the chest and cut your head off type of revenge.
First off whenever you add Jamie Lee Curtis to your horror movie, you are increasing your chances of that movie being at all credible. So PROM NIGHT has that going for it. If you also throw in Leslie Nielsen who was mostly known for his comedy, but did his share of horror flicks as well, (including CREEPSHOW), you also help your chances of ending up with a successful film. So for all intents and purposes this thing should have done better than FRIDAY THE 13th. Instead it did less than half that at the box office. Part of the problem could have been the ridiculously long disco dance sequence that served next to no purpose in this movie. Kind of like the misplaced disco sequence in AIRPLANE!. There are also some weird directing choices, one involving a detective working on stuff, then we hear his voice like he’s thinking. What the crap? I think these odd shots could have been better served as a conversation between two officers or detectives, rather than a bizarre narration type of moment. The other problem could have been the ending. I won’t give it away in this review, but that ending might have been what did this thing in.
The good news for PROM NIGHT fans is that this movie has become a bit of a cult classic and it did spawn at least 3 sequels even if they have nothing to do with this movie. What PROM NIGHT does deliver is some decent character development and great creepy atmospherics in that last 20 minutes or so. The acting is very good comparably speaking to a lot of other films in this genre. It’s objectively light years ahead of some of the other movies I’ve reviewed of this type. Part crime drama, part slasher, part Saturday Night Fever, this movie is definitely unique and memorable, but does not have the punch it could have in the final presentation. It’s also dated more than it needed to be given that lame dance scene.
I give PROM NIGHT a solid 5 out of 7. This is not a bad movie and if you like Jamie Lee Curtis, or the original slasher flicks at all, this is probably a must have.
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