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Prom Night
RRP: £49.99
Our Price: £13.75 (subject to change)
The Prom Night Series
Review date: 2008-01-24 Rating: 6 out of 10
This is The Hamilton High Collection box of all four Prom Night films, each for the first time on DVD. In terms of the package itself, it all comes in a nice box but, with the exception of the original film, the sequels are mid-quality transfers from VHS and all discs only include the trailer as an extra. Disappointingly, Prom Night III appears to have been scissored a little, losing part of my favourite line from the finale! So, a technically cheap set, but with these films it's not like there's going to be a lot of added value as it is, so I'm just happy to upgrade from my ex-rental VHS's.
The original Prom Night was a reactionary project to the success of Halloween and Jamie Lee Curtis' second foray in her scream queen shoes, this time fending off a killer who is out to avenge the death of a young girl six years earlier at the hands of a quartet of high schoolers who thought they were the only ones who knew about their crime. While tame in comparison to the likes of Friday the 13th and The Prowler from the same time frame, Prom Night - when it finally shifts into gear in the final third - is an exercise in visual tension that its 2008 remake will have a hard time replicating. This factor is epitomised during the prolonged chase scene where nasty piece of work Wendy is stalked through the abandoned high school by the axe-wielding killer. The shots fragment and the space becomes confused, keeping us guessing where the killer might spring from and when. It's a cheesy film to watch now, but still one of the better examples from the hey-day.
Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is the weakest film in the series, related only to the original by the same high school where events unfold. In this one, a teenage girl accidentally unleashes the evil spirit of Mary Lou Maloney, a floozy who was burned to death at her prom in 1957 and hell bent (literally) on revenge. The mid-80s fashion disasters prove the high point of interest in this otherwise derivative Elm Street rip-off.
Mary Lou returns for Prom Night III: The Last Kiss, but this time it's played for laughs as she seduces a high schooler and then gets mad when he rejects her in favour of his goody-goody girlfriend. The Elm Street-lite scenarios provide some laughs and it's god humoured if not forgettable.
Finally, Prom Night IV: Deliver Us From Evil reboots the format to straight-up stalk n' slash with two couples skipping their prom to spend the night in a remote house where they are laid to waste by a fallen priest who feels they have transgressed the laws of the Bible. It's a slow one, but houses a few neat tricks along the way.
Conclusively, the first film - the only one in widescreen and digitally remastered - is the key ingredient here. Hopefully we'll get a special edition of it after the remake surfaces.
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Reviews
could of been alot better
Review date: 2006-12-08 Rating: 4 out of 10
i know it's an older film, but compared to the brilliant halloween, this just lacked alot.
jamie lee curtis was the only good thing in this movie, the whole film was a little "seen it all before" for me anyway.
wasn't that impressed and wouldnt really reccomend it. unless you are a huge horror fan. but then i am and still didn't find it good.
very out dated film now.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Leslie Nielsen
Michael Ironside
Tim Conlon
Wendy Lyon
Jamie Lee Curtis
Creators:
Jamie Lee Curtis (Primary Contributor)
Leslie Nielsen (Primary Contributor)
Recording label: Network
Manufacturer: Network
EAN: 5027626233341
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 4
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2005-10-24
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 380 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)