Baton Rouge Temperature: 86°
Sunday, September 7, 2008
WBRZ: Tracking Gustav

The Advocate Live Edition

Read today's newspaper on your computer

  • Hellboy II: The Golden Army
  • Star Wars: The Clone Wars
  • Hancock
  • The Dark Knight

Movie Review: Prom Night

‘Prom Night’ a night to forget

By Norris Ortolano

2theadvocate.com

Brittany Snow in "Prom Night."
Courtesy of Screen Gems
Brittany Snow in "Prom Night."

Prom Night
PLAY OFFICIAL TRAILER
Starring:
Brittany Snow, Brianne Davis, Kellan Lutz, Kelly Blatz, Andrew Fiscella
Crew:
Director, Nelson McCormick; Writer, J.S. Cardone
(Running time: 1 hr. 38 min.)
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Critic's Rating: out of 4 stars.
Movie Poll:
2theadvocate.com poll
Have you seen "Prom Night?" If so, what did you think? Was it...
Excellent
Good
Fair
Bad
 
A remake in name only, “Prom Night” once again becomes the center of slasher-film lore, though not quite as significantly as its predecessor.

In the ’80s when the original “Prom Night” was released, the slasher genre was just hitting its stride and featured an up-and-coming actress named Jamie Lee Curtis. This time, however, horror films are in a funk, recycling idea after idea that just never delivers like the trailers promise, and usually the actors in these films are never seen or heard from again.

The thing that actually sets this “Prom Night” apart from today’s remakes is that the producers decided to simply use the title as a selling point and not as a basis for the screenplay.

In this updated version, Donna Keppel (Brittany Snow) is three years removed from witnessing the brutal murder of her family at the hands of a psychotically obsessed teacher.

This same killer has escaped from prison just in time for the most important night in Donna’s life: prom.

The premise is good, but the film is just way too formulaic. The original was no ground-breaking achievement by any means, but it was suspenseful and creative.

When you see a movie about a lone killer picking off his victims one by one, you expect to see some really elaborate death scenes. That’s what sets horror movies apart, the scenes of killing. In “Prom Night,” the killer just waits and watches until the victim gets close enough to stab them with his pocket knife. This happens over and over again until you nearly lose interest in the film.

If it weren’t for the performances of the actors, my interest would have been lost altogether.

With that said, there wasn’t anything terribly good or bad to say about their performances. They just all played their parts -- the females screamed and looked terrified, the boyfriends were skilled in sweet-talking and high-fiving, and the police were brilliant at acting as if they couldn’t figure out how to stop one psycho in a hotel.

Apparently, the old beat-up-a-guy-and-steal-his-clothes gag isn’t taught at the academy anymore.

Instead of feeling like you were robbed of an ending, in “Prom Night”, you feel as though you were robbed of a middle. The beginning sets up the story well and the ending is definite, but the bulk of the middle is just a lot of built-up suspense with very little payoff. Even though it would be hard to leave the theater completely satisfied, this movie could have been much, much worse.

I was pretty entertained based on the fact that I was expecting a low-budget horror film shot frame for frame like its predecessor. The final production looked as though some time was put into arranging a solid cast and a decent script. However, I see no need for this film to have ever been made. It does not break any new ground or introduce any young talent I feel will be a household name in the future.

ADVERTISEMENTS


PROMOTIONS


WBRZ CHANNEL 2


 
Envelope icon Have a question, comment, news tip or story idea? Click here to give us some feedback.