The killers are coming? What ever happened to tag you're it? That's the first thought one has when a crazed hide and seek game goes horribly wrong during the opening moments of the 1980 horror film 'Prom Night'.
Ah the slasher film, the seventies birthed them and the the eighties milked them to within an inch of their ever loving lives. But really what's not to love? Angst ridden teens all hoped up on hormones with deep dark hidden secrets, masked killers armed with all manner of weaponry with revenge filled obsessive mutilation on their minds. In the lexicon of these gore laced babies 'Prom Night' is still a top ten contender in this particular horror genre.
It's six years after the tragic death of an eleven year old girl at the hands of a known child molester. Kim (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Nick (Casey Stevens) Hammond are still mourning their sister. So are their parents Mother Hammond (Antoinette Bower) and Father Hammond (Leslie Nielsen) who happens to be their high school principle. You see the night is all a bustle with prom preparations, but crape paper and glitter are taking a back seat to morbid threatening phone calls and vengeance on the cusp. Red herrings abound what with creepy janitors, escaped child killers, and dateless old maids running a muck in the neighborhood. Michael Myers would be proud. Before the night is over blood will shed, cherries will pop, heads will roll, and all to the pump of the disco beat. Canadian film director Paul Lynch gets a lot right in this cliched tale of juvenile mayhem. It's corny and campy but with enough scares to keep you jumping. Popcorn horror to it's silly core.
Synapse Films respects the horror fan and with 'Prom Night' once again delivers a near perfect package. The Blu-ray image is fantastic in it's HD 1080p widescreen specifications, as is the audio featuring DTS-HD 5.1 Surround/Original 2.0 Mono. English subtitles for the deaf are also available.
The special features include audio commentary with Director Paul Lynch and screenwriter William Grey, a making of featurette, a collection of additional scenes added for TV broadcasts, never before seen outtakes that are exclusive to Blu-ray, and finally the usual trailers and still gallery.
Nearly 35 years later 'Prom Night' like all it's 1980 hack and slash film companions seems almost 70's porn like in it's delivery. Sexy slim babes, weak effeminate boys, and hideous get up and boogy soundtracks all swirl us up into a way-back machine vortex of fun and feeling slightly groovy. High-wasted jeans and perms for all.
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