AVCO Embassy Pictures, 1980. Written by William Gray and Robert Guza Jr. Music by Paul Zaza and Carl Zittrer. Directed by Paul Lynch. Starring Jamie Lee Curits, Leslie Nielsen, Casey Stevens, Anne-Marie Martin, Joy Thompson, Mary Beth Rubens, and Michael Tough.

    By Stephen Pytak 

     A "Halloween" knock-off with a touch of "Saturday Night Fever,"
"Prom Night" is one of the better stalk-and-slash flicks of the early
1980s.
     One thing that makes it a classic is Jamie Lee Curtis, fresh from 
her star-making role in John Carpenter's "Halloween." She made a 
career out of slasher films for a little while. That was O.K. because,
well, she was GOOD in them.
     This is a revenge slasher flick with a few interesting twists. For the 
best and most animated brief description of it, watch the interview 
with Director Paul Lynch on the documentary, "Going to Pieces: 
The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006)."
     A killer in funky black ski mask accented by sparkles (at least that's
how it kinda comes off) stalks four teenagers responsible for the
death of a little girl six years earlier. The backdrop: the senior prom.
     "Prom Night" starts off with the death of the little girl, Robin Hammond
(Tammy Bourne). She's playing a game of hide-and-seek in a run down,
vacant school building on the edge of town with four others. 
    The way they're playing the game is kind of strange because the
seeker calls himself, or herself, "the killer" and snarls "the killer is 
coming...the killer is coming..."
    Anyway, the four others gang up on Robin. She backs into a second-
story window. It falls out. So does she. And their fates are sealed.
    We jump ahead six years. The four are now Hamilton High School
seniors. There's nice guy "Nick (Casey Stevens);" the self-conscious 
"Kelly (Anne-Marie Martin)," the easy pick-up, "Jude (Joy Thompson);"
and the bitch, "Wendy (Anne-Marie Martin)."
     What I like about these four are they're not all villians. We like some
of them (probably three out of four). So you can actually root for them,
even though most are damned.
     Jamie Lee plays "Kim Hammond," sister of the girl who died. Other
key players include her father, the high school principal (Leslie Nielsen),
and her younger brother, "Alex (Michael Tough)."
     The flick's got a lot of cool stalker stuff happening in the first hour.
The four targets receive phone calls from a heavy breather who snips
their photo from a year book. And while Kim and Kelly dress in the
girls' locker room, someone off screen cracks, cracks and cracks a large
bathroom mirror, then steals a few shards. Fans of Jamie Lee's fine 
form will find this scene among the most memorable.
     Of course, the film builds up to the prom, which takes place in the
school gym through most of Act II and all of Act III. It's punctuated by
a bunch of disco songs which, according to Internet reports, the 
composers had to come up with in a week.
     I love 'em tho'. They included "Changes," "Love Me 'Till I Die" and,
of course, "Prom Night." There's also a tender ballad over the closing
credits, something called "Fade to Black." It's very emo.
     The killer is fun to watch. He doesn't just slit throats. He stabs people
with glass shards, bangs to them to bits with an ax (even though most
of that's off screen), beheads a guy and even sends a van off a cliff, 
creating a firey conflagration.
    The ending is one of my favorites. Like Brian DePalma's "Carrie," it
involves the crowning of the prom king and queen. Well, someone gets
crowned all right.
    There are a few red herrings in this film, making us wonder who the
killer is. Is it the lunatic blamed for the Hammond girl's death who 
escaped from the booby hatch? Is it the nutty-looking janitor,
"Mr. Sykes (Robert Silverman)?"
    As chaos erupts to the disco beat and blood hits the dance floor, all
is revealed. And the ending packs a punch.
    No true sequel to "Prom Night" was ever made. However, there was
a "Prom Night II," subtitled "Hello Mary Lou (1987)." While it takes 
at Hamilton High, it's a supernatural story about some girl killed
by her boyfriend.  Itsok. It was recently released bare bones by Anchor
Bay on DVD. There's also a "Prom Night III (1990)" and "IV (1992)."
I didn't see those.
     On April 11, 2008, the "Prom Night" remake will hit theaters. I saw
the trailer. I wasn't inspired.