Prom Night
One of a series of early-80s horror flicks designed to capitalize on Jamie Lee Curtisā newfound fame after Halloween, this low-budget Canadian tax shelter effort certainly has its share of visible boom mikes (and crew members), not to mention glaring continuity errors. Here Jamie Lee is cast as the most popular girl in her high school (complete with mongoloid brother) as a killer targets her classmates on the most overrated night in any teenagerās life. One of the problems is the whodunit structure of the story, as it is blatantly obvious who the killer is as soon as he makes his first appearance onscreen (he practically wears a neon sign saying āIām the killer!ā). The first half of the film is dreadfully slow, trying and failing to properly develop the characters due in no small part to its awfully written script. Even as weāre given the usual assortment of clichĆ© red herrings (escaped psycho from a nearby town, the mentally retarded janitor), the easily identifiable killer makes a series of lame prank calls to his intended victims. The second half of the film picks up some, even with the average gore in the kills (except for the climatic beheading), but I had to admit I laughed when the fat stoner kid crashes and burns in his mystery machine van. Leslie Nielsen as the principal / Jamie Leeās dad is as flat as he usually is in his non-comedic roles, gets his own scene during the prom where he dances (badly), and then inexplicably disappears from the film with about 30 minutes left to go, never to return. Casey Stevens as Jamie Leeās prom date is woefully miscast, especially when weāre told that heās āking of the promā. The chase scene between the killer and the character of Wendy played by Anne-Marie Martin (future wife of Michael Crichton) drags on for 10 minutes as she runs to all different areas of the school (though with the prom music playing in the background all the while one wonders why she didnāt retreat to the safety of her friends that were there). Pita Oliver as Jamie Leeās hot blonde friend provides the only bit of nudity or sexuality of any kind when she exposes her perfect ass to the janitor. David Mucci as bad boy Lou does a lame impression of Travolta in Carrie, and is actually seen smoking(!) in the hallways during school hours. And letās not start on future b-action star Jeff Wincott as a jilted date. In the end, Jamie Leeās charm (and robotic dancing) along with a good climax are this flickās only selling points, and Iām truly alarmed that this was considered enough of a āclassicā to warrant a remakeā¦
5/10