Written By: Jase Marsiglia
Six years after a poor young girl is essentially bullied into accidentally falling through a high window in an abandoned convent, the group of pre-teens (now high school seniors) responsible for her death (and who subsequently kept their misdeed a secret this whole time) are now receiving threatening phone calls from a psycho in a balaclava who promises violent retribution come prom night. Seems someone let the secret slip, or worse, someone among them can’t live with the guilt and is looking for them all to go down together.
Prom Night would be the second of three consecutive slasher films starring Halloween star Jamie Lee Curtis in 1980, flanked by Airplane! icon Leslie Nielsen as her father, the principal of the school and possible red herring (it was his child who died six years ago), catty bitch Wendy ("Days of Our Lives" star and future Twister screenwriter Anne-Marie Martin), mousy, virginal Kelly (Mary Beth Rubens – gotta watch those quiet ones), guilt-stricken Nick (Casey Stevens), and unibrow-sporting oaf Lou (David Mucci), who certainly wants revenge against the grieving family for his school suspension after a scuffle with Curtis's brother Alex (Michael Tough). Did I mention that the child predator who took the rap for the child's death six years ago has escaped the psychiatric hospital he's been in and is prowling the streets?
Prom Night (1980)
⭐️⭐️⭐️
With a combined mixture of Halloween and Carrie, and enough disco to make you ALMOST forget it was dead, director Paul Lynch and screenwriter William Gray's mystery slasher Prom Night certainly lines 'em up and knocks 'em down in short, entertaining order. For every homage to Halloween in Scream, I think even the horror-obsessed cinephile Randy Meeks would agree that Kevin Williamson's script owed an equal amount of debt to Gray's "whodunnit" from 1980. Fast-paced and mean-spirited, the kills are nasty, the motive heartbreaking, and the killer, a fast, agile son of a bitch, will keep you guessing and invested clear to the blood-soaked finale under the disco ball!
HOME VIDEO
Prom Night has always been a home video favorite and has made its rounds through distributors such as MCA, Virgin Vision, New Line, Columbia Home Video, and Anchor Bay Entertainment. But the biggest flag-waver stateside for the film has always been Synapse Films, which released a Special Edition Blu-ray in 2014 that showered it with plenty of great bonus features.
However, coming this August 3, they're re-releasing it on 4K, porting over everything from the 2014 release while adding a few new exclusives. Let's take a look at what's coming:
- ALL-NEW 4K remaster of the original 35mm camera negative by Synapse Films.
- ALL-NEW Dolby Atmos Surround Sound mix created by Synapse Films.
- ALL-NEW Horror's Hallowed Grounds: Prom Night, hosted by Sean Clark and ScottOnTape.
- ALL-NEW slipcase with newly commissioned artwork by Sean Longmore.
- Reversible cover artwork featuring two different theatrical one-sheet designs (the Mask/Knife and the Jamie Lee Curtis with a Bouquet and Axe).
- (Archival) Audio commentary with director Paul Lynch and screenwriter William Gray.
- (Archival) The Horrors of Hamilton High: The Making of Prom Night.
- (Archival) Collection of additional scenes added for television broadcasts.
- (Archival) Outtakes.
- (Archival) Motion still gallery.
- (Archival) Trailer and TV spots.
Now, for those of us who suffer from BFCS (Bonus Feature Completist Syndrome – not just the President, also a Client), there was a Limited Edition release from the UK's 101 Films, which released Prom Night in a pretty impressive set in 2019.
It contains all of the archival material from Synapse Films' 2014 Blu-ray release but has these additional exclusives as well:
- Audio commentary with FrightFest's Paul McEvoy and filmmaker Jake West.
- Chasing the Final Girl: A new documentary on the "Final Girl" in horror films.
- An interview with director Paul Lynch.
-
Limited Edition booklet featuring two new essays:
- Just Some F***** Nerdy Brother: Prom Night and the Strange Case of Canadian Slashers* by Dave Alexander.
- Dance 'Til You're Dead: Composer Paul Zaza Remembers the Music of Prom Night by James Burrell.
It goes for a pretty penny, as it's currently out of print, but for completists and mega-fans of Prom Night, it could be worth the hunt!
BITS 'N' PIECES
Traum-A-Meter:
2 out of 4.
It's not a super-gory film by any means, though there are a lot of stabbings and slit throats. But the real showstopper is a decapitation by axe that kills a guy deader than disco!
Today's Jam: "Magic" by Olivia Newton-John would be playing as you cruised out to theaters for some disco and death that weekend in 1980.
0 comments