The original Prom Night [1980] now has a curious following with two distinct camps those that following Oscar winning star Jamie Lee Curtis and the fanatics of the slasher subgenre that enjoy this slow-burn flick. However, none of that relates to a strange sequel that emerged seven years later sharing only the setting of Hamilton High School, nothing else connects these movies. The difficult part about this film is its bizarre plot, which contains scenes of a rocking-horse sexualized fetish, a daughter seducing her father scene, and a girl’s locker room kill scene with subtext, although that still doesn’t cover everything in a truly disjointed plot. Nevertheless, the film introduces an unknown prom queen wronged by a jealous ex-boyfriend that spurs a homicidal vindictive killing spree via possession in the form of Mary Lou Mahoney. This is brought to you by Bruce Pittman (Mark of Cain [1986]) who filmed it in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with a convoluted screenplay from Ron Oliver who went on to pen Prom Night III: The Last Kiss [1990].

The story starts in 1957, Mary Lou Maloney (Lisa Schrage (Food of the Gods II [1989])) is confessing a litany of sins, to a priest while leaving a note about a good time to call in lipstick while sinfully listing her pleasures of the flesh in a joyous fashion, it jumps ahead to the prom arriving with Bill Nordham (Steve Atkinson), only to ditch him for Buddy Cooper (Robert Lewis). Bill, filled with hatred for her, decides an impromptu prank that goes horrifically wrong resulting setting her ablaze. There seems to be no consequences from the murder arose as the movie does a time jump to the 80s, and Bill (Michael Ironside (Scanners [1981])) is the principal of the same school and his son, Craig (Justin Louis (Dawn of the Dead [2004])) is dating an innocent Vicky (Wendy Lyon (Kaw [2007])) who is competing for the Prom Queen Crown.

Michael – WTF this movie???

She’s displeased with her over-conservative and highly religious mother’s negative look about the prom, that she strolls into the basement of the school’s prop room and stumbles upon a black trunk, which for some bizarre reason holds Mary Lou’s clothing, personal items, a cape and tiara, – um yeah okay… it awakens her vengeful spirit as it transfers into Vicky. As a janitor finishes late at night, he tells Jess to lock up when she’s done – huh? What kind of school allows this… The first person to encounter Mary’s ghostly presence is Jess (Beth Gondek), who personally dislikes the entire prom (which its theme is vintage throwback) tries to pry the jewels from the tiara, which of course results in a terrible decision deemed a suicide. Meanwhile there’s a series of weirdness that occurs such as a rocking horse in Vicky’s bedroom, don’t even question what it’s doing there except somehow transforms to having glowing red eyes and lecherous tongue action.

A Strange Rocking Horse

A subtle scene occurs with a priest that incorporates a point of religious horror, in which he states he’s protected from the demon spirit because of who he is, well we know it didn’t save Father Karras in The Exorcist [1973], furthermore in the film we learn of his misdeeds of covering-up a murder somehow in his warped view saves him because he serves the Lord. Needless to say, a possessed Vicky realizes her best friend Monica (Brenda Hendry) has become a threat, and it leads to an explicit sequence in the girl’s locker room plenty of T&A, for the skin lovers. Oh, don’t fret too much, the oddness continues, she seduces her father with a lengthy kiss, and a highly distraught mother, and speechless Dad (Wendall Smith (Kill Syndrome [2006]). The kill scenes are strange, as her powers allow her to manipulate computer voting programs while frying the tech guy, Josh (Brock Simpson, more on him in moment) who was ‘blow away’ by Vicky’s competition, Kelly Hennenlotter (Terri Hawkes (Killer Party [1986])).

Too Much Computer Time

It’s the final few minutes that allows the special effects to enter as Mary Lou emerges from Vicky’s body and presents herself to the student body and unleashes her destructive powers that rival Carrie’s explosive finish. The close-out scene hints a sequel and clearly inspired from A Nightmare on Elm Street [1984], watch carefully both films for the comparison at the end scenes.

Mary Reborn

True horror fans will hear the characters’ names, as they are named after the famous author Mr. King or well-known director Mr. Romero and even one individual makes a very direct connection to Linda Blair so gives a little extra to enjoy the film. The film’s script takes cues from Carrie [1976] and the popular subgenre of slashers and makes sure Mary Lou has some personality, rather than a mindless killer. As for the rest of the cast they do a fair performance in stereotypical roles, with Ironside giving his best with the limited scope of his character while Lyon equally performs well as she transforms her traits from innocent to risqué and sinister, a sort of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde dynamics. In addition, there was two other carryovers from the first is very strange, but here goes, Brock Simpson somehow managed to star in in four films but as different characters, even when a character died, it stops him from starring in the entire series. The second composer Paul Zaza (My Bloody Valentine [1981], in fact he would go on to do the compositions for two more sequels in the short-lived franchise. The film makes sure to include the song “Mary Lou” by Ronnie Hawkins, which if you listen to the lyrics carefully the movie, reflects key moments in the song.

Lastly, it clearly obvious the filmmakers had an extremely tight budget, since there is not much the 50s music played in the movie unlike that of Christine [1983], though after a kill a possessed Vicky mentions a line or hums a classic tune such as Little Richard “Tutti Frutti” or Bill Haley & His Comets “Rock Around The Clock”.

It’s easy to comprehend that this film contains a lot of items that popular themes in the horror genre from psychic powers, to possession to rising slasher body count, with a measured amount of T&A and some truly risqué themes. if one is willing to overlook the sheer absurdity of the plot there are some interesting aspects to enjoy, especially for those seeking a trip down memory lane back to 1987. As for the horror trivia buffs that seek a game note all the references to horror films, including the line for Frankenstein [1931] it only shows the vastness of influences used in the production of the film.

TAGLINES:

• Mary Lou is back … God help the students of Hamilton High.
• An Old Flame Returns
• She’s dying to get even!
• It started with Prom Night in 1957. Now… it’s happening again
• In 1957, Mary Lou Maloney went up in flames. Now she’s back. And she’s burning mad.
• Vengeance never rests in peace!
• It’s Prom Night 1957 at Hamilton High.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093176/

IMDb Rating: 5.7/10

Baron’s Rating: 5.0/10

Follows:

Prom Night (1980)

Followed By:

Prom Night III: The Last Kiss (1990)

Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil (1991)