A blog about all things VHS.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Day 28: Prom Night 2

    The original Prom Night was a traditional slasher film about a mysterious killer stalking teenagers on the night of their prom. It's known as one of the better early 80s slasher films and stars the legendary Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis. Prom Night 2 is an entirely different twist to the franchise. Instead relying on supernatural horror and some light comedy.

   Prom Night 1957, Mary Lou Maloney attends the annual dance with her date, Billy. But she has other plans. Mary ditches Billy to hook up with with another guy, Buddy. Billy attempts to ruin her prom queen ceremony by throwing a stink bomb into the stage. However, the fuse lights Mary Lou's dress on fire and she is burnt to death! (You can't make this up) Thirty years later Mary Lou's demonic spirit is accidentally released by a young girl named Vicki Carpenter. Now Mary Lou's spirit is wreaking havoc throughout the high school and attempting to possess Vicki!

     One of Prom Night 2's  best elements is its colorful characters. Everyone is a caricature of 80's trends and culture. One could spend the entire film just spotting outrageous background actors. One memorable ones being a punk attending prom fully clad in studded leather gear. 

     The special effects are great! There are several showcase moments through Elm Street-esque dream sequences. Despite the good effects, most of the kills fail to be truly memorable. Most have a neat supernatural twist to them but fail to measure up comparatively to other 80's supernatural horrors. 

      Prom Night 2 is entertaining overall. It's got fun characters and some cool effects sequences. It fails to do anything truly unique however. Most of it's better moments can be found in the superior Nightmare On Elm Street series. Still, it  can function as a fun look back at my favorite decade more so than a horror film.

Body Count:6
Side Note: Michael Ironside(Scanners ) plays adult Billy. They show his hairline no  mercy! Even his teenage self is receding really bad. He looks like a 30 year old high schooler.

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