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Prom Night

Prom Night

Movie · 2008 · 15 people

Directed by Nelson McCormick from J. S. Cardone's screenplay and distributed by Screen Gems, the 2008 American slasher Prom Night closed the Prom Night series as its fifth and last entry. It is a loose remake that takes most of its inspiration from the 1980 film of the same name; before it, the series had produced Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987), Prom Night III: The Last Kiss (1990) and Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil (1992).

The story follows Donna Keppel (Brittany Snow) and her friends as they get ready for senior prom. Donna believes Richard Fenton (Johnathon Schaech), the obsessive killer who murdered her family three years earlier, is dead and gone, but he escapes custody and the night turns deadly. Scott Porter, Jessica Stroup, Dana Davis, Collins Pennie, Kelly Blatz, James Ransone, Brianne Davis and Idris Elba also appear.

Much of the film was shot in Los Angeles. It opened in the United States on 11 April 2008, with a worldwide rollout in May. Critics panned its predictability and PG-13 rating and compared it unfavourably with the 1980 original, yet it grossed $57.2 million worldwide on a budget of about $20 million.

DirectorNelson McCormick
Production companyOriginal Film

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Cast

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Brianne Davis Brianne Davis Actor · 44 years old Idris Elba Idris Elba Actor · 54 years old Brittany Snow Scott Porter Jessica Stroup Dana Davis Collins Pennie Kelly Blatz James Ransone Johnathon Schaech Jana Kramer Joshua Leonard Kellan Lutz Ming-Na Wen Jessalyn Gilsig

Through different eyes

Action & Thriller Fan Puts pace, tension and set pieces first; little patience for slow drama.

An escaped obsessive killer, a prom and a single night: a classic slasher recipe, and the set-up moves fast. But instead of turning the night of murders into a real game of flight and hiding, the film plays it safe; it is as if someone hits the brakes just as the tension starts climbing. Hardcore genre fans looking for real intensity will find it light, but it does the job for a relaxed horror night with friends.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

A loose remake of the 1980 film, Prom Night never comes up with an idea that could carry the weight of the name it borrows. The script assembles the genre's skeleton in full, a young woman with a scarred past, an escaped killer and murders squeezed into a single night, but adds nothing original on top, so the critics' emphasis on predictability is fair. Grossing over 57 million dollars against a budget of about 20 million reveals something interesting, though: for a young audience, a familiar formula can be a safer investment than novelty. In that sense it is less a work of cinema than a well-calculated studio product.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

The PG-13 rating suggests the gore is kept limited, but the subject is still a killer hunting young people. It is not suitable for young children. High-school teens may be drawn in because it is about people their age; if the family is watching, it helps to have an adult there and to talk about it afterwards. In my view it suits older teens looking for a light horror film.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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