Prom Night is Not a
Particularly Great Movie, but...
Prom Night
illustrates the 80s style of horror eloquently. This one has got free
love, high school drama and Jamie Lee as Disco Queen!
Written
by The Horror Czar Don
Sumner October 17, 2007
Release:
1980 Directed by: Paul Lynch Written by: Robert Guza Jr. and Peter R. Simpson
Starring:
Leslie Nielsen as Mr. Raymond Hammond Jamie Lee Curtis as Kim Hammond Casey Stevens as Nick McBride Eddie Benton as Wendy Richards Antoinette Bower as Mrs. 'Vi' Hammond Michael Tough as Alex Hammond
Prom Night is generally regarded as one of
the staples of 80s horror. Sure, the “rules of
horror” were not yet written (drugs and sex equals death),
but this is a member of the series of horror films that brought the
incomparable “Scream Queen” Jamie Lee Curtis to the
forefront for horror genre fans.
The story begins with several children playing a disturbing game in an
abandoned school building. The game, it seems, is called “The
Killer is Coming”. It begins innocently enough…one
player hides their eyes and counts to 100 while the others run and
hide. Hide and seek, right? Well, not exactly. Being found means that
you are a candidate for murder and the ring leader (Wendy Richards,
played by Eddie Benton) taunts the findee with wild-eyed chants of an
untimely demise. Scary, but relatively sane.
Sane,
that is until an unsuspecting schoolgirl ventures into the building to
play with the children, desperately wanting to be part of the
“in crowd”. When the youngster is discovered by the
murder-playing children they surround her and begin their
“The Killer is Coming” chant. This frightens the
little tyke who backs away and falls from a 3rd story window to her
(real) death.
Inexplicably
the children decide to conceal the events of the day, convinced by
ring-leader Wendy that to tell would mean certain jail time (They are
like 10, okay?). Each
of the guilty culprits flees the scene and goes about their lives.
Eight
years later we meet Kim Hammond (Jamie Lee Curtis), and she is bouncing
around high school preparing for the senior prom. Kim is the older
sister of the victim of the Killer game, but she seems to have
recovered well over the years. Unfortunately prom night will not be
filled with wonderful starry memories this year – somebody
has emerged to deliver retribution to each of the children responsible
for the murder years ago.This is
not a great movie. It is, however, a perfect example of early 80s
horror and can remind us all of the roots of our beloved genre. The top
reasons to watch Prom Night are:
Jamie
Lee Curtis is absolutely wonderful
in this film –
especially during her highly choreographed disco dance routine at the
prom. Sometimes I re-watch Prom Night JUST for the
Jamie Lee Disco Fever…Don’t miss this folks.
Leslie
Neilson plays a “straight” role as the police
detective father of Jamie Lee and the poor deceased girl. Although he
didn’t crack a single joke, I was on the edge of my seat
waiting for him to say “I am serious…and
don’t call me Shirley.”
The
kill scenes are generally mild, but there is one decapitation scene
where the head of a victim rolls out on stage in front of a crowd of
prom revelers. I LOVED it!
The
classic “whodunit” elements of the film are great
– see if you can figure out who the killer is!
There
are not really any reasons not to watch Prom Night,
but make sure your expectations are in check. This movie is a low
budget horror film from the very early 80s with no money for
effects and marginal writing. Still, Jamie Lee Curtis saves the day
with a stellar performance. If you want to see an example of the early
days of slasher horror, or if you want to witness first hand why the
Scream Queen Jamie Lee is such a horror icon, then Prom Night
is just the ticket. Look out Travolta! Questions
or comments about Prom
Night? Contact us!
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Each
of the guilty culprits flees the scene and goes about their lives. 
There
are not really any reasons not to watch Prom Night,
but make sure your expectations are in check. This movie is a low
budget horror film from the very early 80s with no money for
effects and marginal writing. Still, Jamie Lee Curtis saves the day
with a stellar performance. If you want to see an example of the early
days of slasher horror, or if you want to witness first hand why the
Scream Queen Jamie Lee is such a horror icon, then Prom Night
is just the ticket. Look out Travolta! 
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