Prom Night (1980)

A masked killer stalks four teens responsible for the accidential death of a child six years earlier at their high school's senior prom.

Director:

Paul Lynch

Writers:

William Gray (screenplay), Robert Guza Jr. (story)

Stars:

Leslie Nielsen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Stevens

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leslie Nielsen	...	Mr. Hammond
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Kim
Casey Stevens	...	Nick
Anne-Marie Martin	...	Wendy (as Eddie Benton)
Antoinette Bower	...	Mrs. Hammond
Michael Tough	...	Alex
Robert A. Silverman	...	Sykes (as Robert Silverman)
Pita Oliver	...	Vicki
David Mucci	...	Lou
Jeff Wincott	...	Drew
Mary Beth Rubens	...	Kelly (as Marybeth Rubens)
George Touliatos	...	McBride
Melanie Morse MacQuarrie	...	Henri-Anne
David Gardner	...	Dr. Fairchild
Joy Thompson	...	Jude

Storyline

For six long years, Hamilton High School seniors Kelly, Jude, Wendy, and Nick have been hiding the truth of what happened to ten-year-old Robin Hammond the day her broken body was discovered near an old abandoned convent. The foursome kept secret how they taunted Robin - backed her into a corner until, frightened, she stood on a window ledge... and fell to her death. Though an accident, the then-twelve-year-olds feared they'd be held responsible and vowed never to tell. But someone else was there that day... watching. And now, that someone is ready to exact murderous revenge-on prom night.

---

Plot Keywords:

high school | prom | hiding | night | masked killer | 

---

Taglines:

There's a special night in the lives of all of us. A night to be beautiful. To be desirable. A night we can break all the rules and make our own. Prom night.

---

Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 July 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Morte Convida para Dançar

Filming Locations:

Don Mills Collegiate, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 1,600,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Simcom Limited, Guardian Trust Company, Prom Night Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

'David Mucci', who played troublemaker Lou, had a serious medical condition. He was forced to be immobilized underneath the stage for the scene in which Lou is decapitated. He was terrified that something would happen while he was trapped there so director Paul Lynch held his hand for the duration of the scene to assure him everything would be all right.

---

Goofs

Kelly gets spooked and heads to the door to check to see if anyone is around. She proceeds to open the front door and the scene quickly cuts to an exterior shot of her looking out the door, and right above the door is a black boom microphone.

---

Quotes

Alex: I know they did it, they killed her, they, killed her... Robin, Robin!

---

Connections

Referenced in Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Prom (1999)

---

Soundtracks

"Fade to Black"
Sung by Gordene Simpson

User Reviews

Killer moves on the dance floor.

Six years ago four kids make a pack to keep a secret, which involved the mysterious death of child Robin Hammond. They thought that were the only ones who knew what had happened, but some else witnessed it to. Now that person strings them along, to eventually plan their revenge during Prom night.

A real thank-you to the commercial success of "Halloween (1977)" and "Friday the 13th (1980), which saw the influx of slasher films and "Prom Night" was one of the first to step up. Too bad that we have here is an unspectacular so-so, if slick looking slasher effort that got caught labouring along with very little happening and providing us with corny school melodramatics. When it came to the crunch, most of the Prom Night sequences was about getting the groove on and listening to funky dory disco soundtrack. Oh it just makes you want to bogey; well it didn't stop Jamie Lee Curtis from strutting her stuff. However when it came to the good stuff, I thought the novel deaths were soundly executed, and there's a certain unpleasantness about them. When the black hooded killer (who's quite fast on their feet and would make for a good shaker too) is tormenting and stalking the victims (from be it to the phone calls or hanging about in the shadowy corridors) there's an ominous air to proceedings, which director Paul Lynch pulls off rather well. It's just too bad that most of the time is used setting this all up with ineffective red herrings and below par, drawn out script. Too many loose ends creep in, even though the premise is quite slight and you can find yourself laughing at its unintentional goofiness and picking up on it predictability.

Robert New's stunningly vivid camera movements are atmospherically airy and Paul Zaza and Carl Zittrer's sorrowfully twisted musical score gets it cues right. The performances from the cast are acceptable with a likable Jamie Lee Curtis (earning her scream queen tag at the time) proves herself as an upcoming talent. Weak character, but well judged performance. Leslie Nielsen looks awkwardly distracted, and seems to duck off in a phone-in performance and George Touliatos gives the film some solidarity. Anne-Marie Martin is a delight as the scheming sexpot Wendy, David Mucci is perfect as the boorish brute Lou and Casey Stevens is modest as Curtis' prom date Nick.

This post-Halloween slasher is familiar and slowly plotted, but its competent technical handling helps.