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.

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

If you're not back by midnight... you won't be coming home.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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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

The line, "It's not who you come with, it's who takes you home," appears in all the Prom Night movies.

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Goofs

When Wendy leaves home to go to school, after she gets into car and closes the door, camera and crew is reflected on the car door.

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Quotes

Alex: [Kim sprays him with perfume] Don't do that, I smell like the inside of the ladies' room.
Kim Hammond: And how would you know what the ladies room smells like?

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Connections

Followed by Prom Night II (1987)

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Soundtracks

"Fade to Black"
Sung by Gordene Simpson

User Reviews

Sit this one out

Another average slasher flick, one of two that scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis made back to back during her time in Canada fresh from her fame in John Carpenter's Halloween in 1978. It opens with four young kids in an abandoned building playing a macarible game when one girl joins them and it leads to her accidently falling out of a second floor window to her death. The four kids (three girls and a boy) make a pack never to mention it to anyone. But six years later, someone knows about the killing and decides to get those four responsible. As it also happens the anniversary of the death coincides with the big high school prom which the kids are all attending, making it convenient to borrow big ideas from movies like Carrie (1976) among others for the characters, situations and subplots.

Although it has some good qualities and was moderately successful when first released, the movie is bloodless in almost every respect, plus the murders are so murky and dimly lit. Jamie Lee Curtis, playing Kim, the older sister of the murdered young girl, is good as the popular student who wants to be elected prom queen. But she, unfortunatly, is not one of the four students targeted by the masked ax-weilding killer. In fact, she frequently becomes a suspect along with her father the school principal, as well as her younger brother Alex, the creepy school janitor, and the school bully. But the identity of the killer is fairly obvious. But so much time is spent on establishing red herrings that more than two-thirds of the movie pass before any of the killings begin. The production values are also good, but the film is starting to show its age.

Contents: Six killings, scant blood, one decapitation, Jamie Lee Curtis as prom queen, no nudity, no real suspense, no pace, lots of disco music and dancing, sit this one out.