Prom Night

R4 DVD

Sony 2008

Prom Night was a 1980 slasher which was rather successful for the time, while it was somewhat derivative of other slasher horror films of the period; it had its moments and is still quite a favourite among cult film aficionados. The 2008 Prom Night is really only similar in name only and its setting within the slasher genre.

The plot for Prom Night is fairly predictable “cut and run” fair, though does offer some occasional twists. Richard Fenton, a young biology teacher develops an obsession with a Donna, one of his female students. When his love is not reciprocated and he is warned off in no uncertain terms, he becomes unhinged and slaughters her family. She survives, though psychologically scarred and spends some years in therapy. He is sent down for a long time, however, pleading insanity ends in an institution. Some years later and a few days before her school prom he escapes, for some reason the institution does not notify the police until sometime later. By now he has made his way to the prom and once again the slaughter begins. Anyone who gets in his way is given the short shift with a sharp blade, he wants Donna and this time is not taking prisoners.

Prom Night may be predictable, however, it is saved from total disaster by good quality cinematography, suspenseful mood music, superb sets (the Hotel looks awesome) and the deliberate use of misdirection to create tension. Sure, we are all used to deliberate fake leads, tension that leads nowhere and then an unexpected shock, but it does work in Prom Night. The acting varies greatly. Johnathon Schaech as Fenton, the madly obsessed teacher is extremely impressive and as discussed in the extra on the nature of obsessional killers, spend a lot of time reading about erotomania and it shows in his performance. However, the various teen characters are pretty bland and the lead character Brittany Snow as Donna is no Jamie Lee Curtis and is insipid and fairly two dimensional. When you start thinking that the only interesting character in the film is the killer you should start to worry. It is very hard to be concerned about characters getting killed when they have so little depth that you do not develop any emotional contact with them.

Prom Night looks good and certainly works; it did well at the box office and has many fans. Sadly, however, it did not take risks and hence succeeded by being a “safe slasher”. The violence and horror is fairly tame (it is M rated in Australia) and while the tension and suspense makes it worth a watch on a slow night, it is not a high point of cinema. Even though the uncut edition is promoted as having extra footage not seen in the cinema etc, it is not a radical improvement and no great achievement. I am not saying Prom Night it not an enjoyable slasher romp, I just feel that this genre has been (no pun intended) done to death and if you are going to do such a film in the modern film market you need to show some real innovation and creativity and not just churn out a “made to formula” film with pretty teens and a killer with a blade.

It is currently on sale cheaply at many online DVD stores at a bargain price so is worth getting cheaply for a slow night.