Prom Night (1980)

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Directed by Paul Lynch.

Starring Eddie Benton, Antoinette Bower, Jamie Lee Curtis, Leslie Nielsen, Casey Stevens.

This low-budget, tongue-in-cheek horror film of the slasher genre -- which had recently been popularized by Halloween (1978) -- stars that film's lead, Jamie Lee Curtis, as Kim Hammond, a prom queen who becomes a scream queen. Six years ago, a little girl was taunted by four classmates and fell to her death from an abandoned schoolhouse. The quartet of kids promised to keep their complicity in the accident a secret. Now it's their prom night and they've got the jitters because they have recently been receiving phone calls and notes from an ominous, unknown individual claiming to have witnessed the girl's death and vowing revenge. At the prom, the four become fatal victims one by one of a mysterious, axe-wielding, masked, and hooded stalker. The many possibilities of the murderer's identity include Kim, who is the little dead girl's sister, her school-principal father (Leslie Nielsen), or her disc-jockey brother, Alex (Michael Tough). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Prom Night x 2 + Sidney Poitier ...
by dibot in dibot Blog

liked it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"I will never catch up on my reviews. So in my obviously ill-advised quest to watch original horror films and then their remakes, I took in both Prom Nights. The 1980 version starring Jamie Lee Curtis ("The Kid & I") and Leslie Nielsen ("Superhero Movie"), sort of a strange combination, is actually very entertaining. The set-up with some kids playing around in an abandoned building is creepy. And then the deaths are okay, with one really great one involving a severed head. But the remake. I don't even know why these things happen. I don't even know why I go to them. It's a sickness. Anyway, I didn't notice that the new version was PG-13 until we were sitting in the theater. And not that a PG-13 horror movie can't be good, but a PG-13 slasher? The definition of slasher is bloody, violent death. And if you can't see it then the movie must rely on other things, like plot, acting, character development and atmosphere which were all pretty much missing from this mess. It gets two s ... " [More]

R-Rated Prom-ises in a PG-13 ‘P ...
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com

hasn't rated it.

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"Has the PG-13 rating become something of a teaser for R-rated content? I’ve had this suspicion for some time now, but I feel it’s confirmed with the new trailer for the Prom Night remake. The horror flick is another PG-13 redo of an R-rated movie, another example of the contrast between the marketing allowances of now and then. But wait, is it just me, or does the Prom Night trailer feature subject matter that is still inappropriate for kids aged 13 to 16 (and younger, since the rating requires no ID)? Maybe there’s none of the soft-core nudity of the original, but there’s still that idea that prom is time for getting it on in a hotel room. Sure, the idea is nothing new to most kids, but that doesn’t mean it has to be encouraged — even if a slasher film like this can be interpreted as a punishment to those sex-having teens. Regardless, though, of whether or not this movie features anything graphically or thematically inappropriate (disclaimer: I am no puritan nor censor; I saw the ... " [More]

Famous Movie Stars that started ...
by divinemsjunebug in HORROR MOVIES 101

liked it.

"Of course the most obvious one who struggled very hard to break out of the scary movie mold was Jamie Lee Curtis (how many horror movies has she been in? Halloween 1 and 2, Terror Train, The Fog, Prom Night - can't think of any more) but who are some others? I know Johnny Depp was in Nightmare on Elm Street and Kevin Bacon was in the first Friday the 13th and Tara Reid was a little girl in Salem's Lot II (or Return to Salem's Lot) Are there any that you know of? Or even some that maybe we wouldn't even recognize? I'm sure there are a LOT more than what I can think of... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

lost interest.

Prom Night suffers the same problems that hinder a lot of films in the slasher cycle: its "teenagers" are suspiciously long in the tooth, the surprise killer isn't too tough to guess, and a lot of the peripheral characters fall into easily labeled types (the bully, the reluctant virgin, etc.). There is also a lengthy, dated disco-dancing scene sure to make those who hate that musical genre running for the exits. Despite these problems, Prom Night utilizes a surprising amount of skill both behind and in front of the camera as it goes through its paces. Jamie Lee Curtis makes a poised and sympathetic heroine and Leslie Nielsen lends credible support in a pre-Airplane!, non-comedic role as her principal father. Prom Night further benefits from stylish direction by Paul Lynch, who brings an unexpectedly artsy touch to the suspense scenes. Highlights include a creepy chase through a darkened school and the gruesome "crowning" of the prom king and queen near the finale. All in all, Prom Night lacks the clever twists and consistent inspiration of a classic horror film, but offers enough solid frights to please hardcore horror buffs. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide

Tags: highschool , slasher , decapitation , campy , horror-classic
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