Prom Night (1980)

July 5, 2018

Earlier this week I had watched the original Halloween for the first time and decided to watch another Jamie Lee Curtis slasher movie. I knew Prom Night spawned several sequels so I thought I would give it a chance. Plus, I have always liked the slashers that took place at school. However, I was disappointed with Prom Night. It had a some great moments and a cool (although by 2018 expected) twist at the end, but it left me bored and wanting more.

The film begins (like Halloween) with Jamie Lee Curtis' character's sister being killed. Four children scare Curtis' sister out of a window and then a falling piece of glass finishes the job. The kids decide to keep it a secret (like I Know What You Did Last Summer) and we flashforward six years when someone has decided to kill those kids on Prom Night. Meanwhile there is a subplot where a jealous woman and her dim boyfriend are going to play a prank on Jamie Lee because she got prom queen (like Carrie).

The killer wears a glittery mask which one critic aptly said the killer looks like Filipino Spiderman. It is once of the silliest disguises in horror history. One thing that was interesting about the killer was that he was bumbling as you would expect an amateur murderer to be. Occasionally he gets his victim the first time, but usually he stumbles around chasing one of them for what seems like the entire movie.... run back into the prom girl! Why are you running away from everyone else?

The soundtrack is horrible disco crap. There is also a really long choreographed disco dance scene with Jamie Lee and her prom date. I guess the filmmakers were trying to cash in on the disco fad. All it did was remind me how much I hate disco.

The film does have one of the great 1980s bullies that rivals "Sweep the Leg Johnny" of Cobra Kai in the Karate Kid. The guy his a unibrow and looks like a damn Neanderthal. He spends the entire film open mouth chewing gum, drinking, checking out chicks, a overall being a gross asshole. He will eventually get decapitated as when his prank fails (their prank was to tie up Jamie Lee and the prom king and go out on stage instead of them... how is that a prank?)

At the end we find out the killer is Jamie Lee's brother (like Halloween) and we feel for the killer (like Carrie). The brother also maybe had split personality disorder with one of his personalities being his dead sister (like Pyscho). In the end, the movie is a cross between diet versions of Carrie and Halloween at a disco. Not a very good slasher. I read the original script was going to be about a killer gynecologist. I'd like to see that movie instead.

Leave a comment if you agree or disagree.