“Prom Night” - Standard slasher film with mild scares

This horror film is loosely based on the 1980 film starring Jamie Lee Curtis - in that someone is killing students at a senior prom. The rest of the back story is completely different, including the noteworthy change to the horror convention that the killer does not hide his face. The psychotic is known to the students, because he was their high school teacher before he went nuts. This gives the terror a different feel, as audiences see the twisted look on the killers face and the dawning recognition on the victims. The rest of the horror movie conventions and clichés are firmly in place, turning what could have been cutting edge horror revisionism into a mediocre re-treading of the same tired plots.

The film starts with a prologue, where it explores what happened to the main character, Donna (Brittany Snow; “Hairspray“), and her family at the hands of her deranged high school teacher, Richard Fenton. Three years have passed and Donna has gotten her paranoia under control through counseling and prescribed medications. Mr. Fenton has been imprisoned, but she still has occasional nightmares about him. On this special night - the night of her senior prom - she tries to forgotten all that has happened before and enjoy the company of her friends. Mr. Fenton’s escape from prison and his single-minded pursuit of his infatuation will make this night memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Donna is an appealing character, with her hang-ups and timid attempts at normalcy. Her boyfriend is supportive and her friends are your standard popular-type characters, as if pulled directly out of “Clueless”. The prom experience is successfully recreated, giving the feel of a once-in-a-lifetime moment. The dialogue is uninspired - a bunch of pretty people standing around talking about nothing. The horror movie clichés overwhelm many of the attempts at horror, with girls tripping over nothing, the killer not checking under the bed, and the traumatized victim running upstairs during a fire alarm. The characters are also given little opportunity to fight back, having a harder time against a regular guy than a Jason or Freddy. Some mild scares are found along the way, but ultimately “Prom Night” is a standard slasher film with only a minor twist.

Rated PG-13 for violence and terror, some sexual material, underage drinking and language.