Based on the 1980 horror starring Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis, the Prom Night remake changes the story up a bit and really offers nothing more than a TON of cheap scares built around a rather ridiculous story.
Screen cutie, the 22-year-old Brittany Snow is at the center of our story playing a high school senior along with five other twenty-somethings (Scott Porter is actually 28) and it’s prom night. The biggest night of a high schooler’s life… or so they say. Only problem, Donna (Snow) is still coping with the murder of her family a few years earlier at the hand of a crazed teacher obsessed with her. She’s over that now and dancing and the future are all that matter. Woo hoo!
But wait! A curious fax comes in at the police department and boom! It’s on like Donkey Kong! The killer has escaped from prison by slitting the throat of some dude and escaping through the ventilation. Yeah, not a lot of thought went into selling us on that. The cops are worried he may show up at the prom or even at Donna’s house where she lives with her aunt and uncle. Guess what. He does!
This is a by-the-numbers flick that I would honestly be shocked if you even jumped once. They use the old, face in a mirror gag, birds flying out of nowhere and even a frightening lamp gag. What, you aren’t scared of your lamps?
The worst of the bunch seems to be something third-rate horrors always fall back on. What is it about hotels in movies, even plush hotels like the one in this flick, all having a floor that’s under construction and somehow one of the victims ultimately ends up running around on the floor, spilling paint buckets alerting the killer where they are and yup, that’s where the birds were. Birds? Inside a five star hotel? Really?
The blood is limited to a few cuts and abrasions to secure a PG-13 rating. The killer looks like a clean cut pedophile. And the Bridgeport High School’s graduating class is one of the most attractive graduating classes you’ll ever see.
Overall, this film is trash and the fact that people will be bored enough to go see it simply speaks to the levels people will stoop to not to get exercise or read a book. By supporting films that show no effort you only encourage more like them. Stop it. Stop it now.
