Review: 'Prom Night' is a cut below the rest

Posted Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 4:47 PM Central

by John Couture

When we talk about the pruding of Hollywood, this film is one of the movies that should be mentioned right up there at the top of the list. All four of the original Prom Night movies were rated R. They knew they were horror films and they embraced the R rating. Heck, the R rating probably helped to sell/rent the films in the first place.

It's a slasher about a high school prom night. That means plenty of bloody violence and plenty of nymphomaniac teenagers that can't wait to take their clothes off. And as anyone who knows "the rules" of horror movies, these two activities are usually closely intertwined.

But no, not only is the PG-13 rated theatrical release neutered of the violence and nudity that this genre usually prides itself on, but the unrated DVD version doesn't contain a speck of bare skin and the violence is laughable at best.

To call Prom Night a remake of the original 1980 Jamie Lee Curtis starrer would be a travesty to the former movie. Jamie Lee Curtis didn't earn the moniker of scream queen to see some third rate actress with a no-nudity clause try and wrestle the tiara from her head. No, the main problem with the new Prom Night is that it's not horror flick and it's barely a suspenseful thriller.

The only thing that the latest offering shares with the original movie is its title and the fact that the plot of both movies revolve around a high school prom. There was no back story connecting the characters, instead opting for a variation of the stalker manifesto and collateral damage. The brilliance of the original Prom Night was its intricate plot turns and the depth of the acting chops by its cast.

Leading the cast as the stalker and stalkee in the new version are Johnathon Schaech and Brittany Snow respectively. Schaech doesn't come off as particularly scary or even creepy which is sort of essential when you decide to ditch the masked killer motif of the original.

As for Brittany, her acting is overly wooden and stiff and for someone who allegedly watched her family get chopped up into pieces, she seems rather disaffected about the whole thing. She adds absolutely no depth to the role and she is neither glammed up to be crowned Prom Queen nor dulled down enough to be the creative and witty best friend. She's a character in search of an identity and the only thing she finds is the one of victim bestowed upon her by the killer.

The rest of the cast is forgettable. The only side arousal from the cast comes from Scott Porter and the realization that he can indeed walk after spending the last two TV seasons playing the wheel-chair bound Jason Street on Friday Night Lights. And interestingly enough, he seems to be playing his exact TV character down to a "T."

I should take a moment to blast the story itself. It's never explained in the movie how Fenton escaped or why the local police weren't alerted for three days of his escape. This bothered me throughout the entire movie because I would think that if someone was obsessed over someone else and killed their entire family and then escaped, that the first place to go and search and notify would the object of the stalker's passion.

I can suspend disbelief with the best of them, but this was a big stretch for even the horror genre. Thankfully, there was an explanation of both how he escaped and why there was a delay in notification in the deleted scenes, but this crucial piece of information needed to be in the final product. Sure, the scene sucked and really stretched the limits of belief, but not anymore so than leaving it out.

Special Features
Ironically, the special features are pretty decent with this movie. In fact, in many ways they far surpass the film itself. The deleted scenes were informative and as mentioned above really add a rich texture to the movie as a whole.

Having not seen this movie in theater, I can't really comment on the "unrated footage" added back into the movie, but I can say that if they took "objectionable" stuff out of this movie, it would be nearly impossible to watch.

The alternate ending is a nice addition that shows the process and how different ideas come together. I think the ending chosen was the better of the two, but it's always good to see the process and reasons behind the choices a filmmaker makes.

The behind the scenes featurettes were particularly illuminating. In fact, at the beginning of the first one, they even admit that they weren't trying to remake the original movie. Huh, well if that were the case, why not choose another title, such "Prom" or "Prom Night Psycho"? It's simple, the filmmakers wanted people to think that it was remake of the beloved classic.

The commentary, which included star Brittany Snow and the gag reel were both interesting additions to a nice package. Brittany is much more personable on the commentary and shows more personality than her character does for the entire movie. It's a sad reminder of just how bad she in the movie.

Overall, I think there are far better alternatives in the marketplace for a horror aficionado to find, but if you absolutely have to see this movie or you like your horror films on the decaf side of things, then I would recommend you rent this movie.