Prom Night | Film Review | Slant Magazine

FILM MOVIE REVIEW

Prom Night **½

by Ed Gonzalez on April 20, 2005 Jump to Comments (1) or Add Your Own

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During Prom Night's memorable opener, a group of kids accidentally kill a little girl and vow never to speak of the crime ever again. Many years later, someone with an ax to grind starts taking out the young punks one by one. Is it Leslie Nielsen? Jamie Lee Curtis's spectacularly horny brother? It's anyone's guess, but judging from the killer's unusually tight black couture and balletic strutting, Mary Lou Retton and John Travolta also seem like distinct possibilities. The film isn't very scary, but its prom night sequence—consisting of a handful of murders cut around an epic-length dancefloor boogie—is certainly some kind of tour-de-force. Boasting some of the best disco knockoffs you'll ever hear, the ultra-rare soundtrack may have more fans than the actual film. In fact, if anyone has a copy of it, feel free to drop us a line.

Director(s): Paul Lynch
Screenplay: William Gray
Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Stevens, Anne-Marie Martin, Antoinette Bower, Michael Tough, Robert A. Silverman, Pita Oliver, David Mucci, Jeff Wincott, Mary Beth Rubens
Distributor: AVCO Embassy Pictures
Runtime: 87 min.
Rating: R
Year: 1980

Comments

No-Personality on December 8, 2010, 03:31 PM: Agreed about the murders intercut with the disco dance scenes. But I was also surprised by how smart the characters were (after watching a parade of Graduation Day, The Initiation, Hell Night, and Happy Birthday to Me type flicks...this class of kids are quite intelligent). (Favorite moment: "Be home in time for dinner." "How the hell should I know?") At least, it's a small incentive to get people to sit through the movie again. Since aside from the end half-hour, some creepy phone call scenes and stalker mirror shattering are the only other things here to keep people awake. "Fade to Black" indeed.