It’s a Silly Ritual, If You AXE Me!!

Maybe I'm just being cynical, but could the impetus for this latest remake/rip-off of an old horror movie be the fact that the 1980 original (which starred a very young Jamie Lee Curits) spawned no less than THREE SEQUELS (IMDb LINK)?

You can kinda guess at the quality of those older sequels by noting that the first of 'em came along SEVEN YEARS after the 1980 "Prom Night"...and Scream Queen Curits had absolutely NOTHING to do with any of the follow-ups!!

 

The three SEQUELS #1 Film Freak was referring to are:

Prom Night II: Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987)
Prom Night III: The Last Kiss (1990)
Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil (1992)

Originally posted by #1-Film Freak!! ...the 1980 original spawned no less than THREE SEQUELS...

 

I HATED this movie. Me and my parents were able to predict every death before they even happened! The only reason it's not the worst movie of the year is because of "In The Name Of The King". Worst Picture, Director, Actress, Supporting Actor (for Jonathan Scheach as the deranged teacher), Worst Screenplay, Worst Screen Couple (Snow and Scheach), and Worst Remake and Rip-Off. This is way worse than "Deal".

What was the point in creating this film?  The original was terrible enough and this only makes it worse.

Donnas senior prom is supposed to be the best night of her life, one of
magic, beauty, and love. Surrounded by her best friends, she should be
safe from the horrors of her past. But when the night turns from magic
to murder there is only one man who could be responsible, the man she
thought was gone forever. Now, Donna and her friends must find a way to
escape the sadistic rampage of an obsessed killer, and survive their
Prom Night.

Forget about what you've heard about this movie. Forget about the
critics panning this film. Forget all of that. This movie isn't bad as
people said it was. When horror fans think "slasher" and "PG-13," they
assume it won't mix well, because the base formula for a slasher is
blood, guts, and gore. Unfortunately, since this movie is PG-13, it has
barely any of that.

Now here comes the catcher: This movie relies more on suspense, a
brooding, ominous atmosphere, and sound effects to scare the audience,
which, more or less works. The bad thing is that there are some
clichés. The good thing is it's different from everyday slashers. Like
I said, barely any blood is spilled in here.

If you don't like the sound of that, well, skip this movie. It isn't
for you. Yes, the clichés are still there, like some big "WTF" moments
pop out in the middle of some scenes because of some characters' stupid
moves. Other "WTF" moments, in my opinion, is the unusually high body
count, which is ten or more. I found some kills very unnecessary but I
guess it was to please the gore hounds out there, which obviously
didn't work. I was also disappointed in the end.

Apart from those flaws, the film stands up pretty well. I appreciate
that the film was trying to do something new. I love the use of sound
here, and if you know me, I usually don't praise horror movies for
their sound effects. The use of sound makes this movie more suspenseful
and gives it a more dark tone. I also love the way the kills were shot.
It was different and unique.

I also liked the fact the filmmakers decided to show the killer's face
within five minutes into the movie. Judging from the trailer, you would
think they'll show it in the end but you're wrong. The performances
were good. I also felt some sympathy for the characters, which is also
another high point in the movie.

Overall, the way this film was shot, the use of sound, and some other
magical elements in this film, like the young, unknown cast, gave the
film some life. The film is not perfect in any way but I liked that it
was trying to be different, and although it may have failed with many
viewers, whom weren't likely the target demographic in the first place,
I appreciated that. 6/10

I can see some of what you are saying, some of the the sound and ominous techniques might work if they were given some better direction and if the teens in peril were not complete idiots who have apparently never watched a horror movie before. And as you said, the movie is saturated in cliches and formula(you know that old cliche where the damsel in distress jumps from something she thought was the killer and it ends up being something completely harmless? That happens to Donna about 10 times).

And another thing, why would they show us the everything the killer does, there's never a moment of shock or surprise. You even see the killer check in to the hotel while another one of the teens get keys for the room. DON'T SHOW US THAT! Let us find out later and let us connect the dots you draw out. Another thing, why are you showing us a killer for so often and not tell us his motives? My best guess is that its for sexual desires, so he slaughters her family to get to her or some kind of crap like that.

Which brings me to another point, I find it hard to believe that Donna would be able to heal so quickly after her teacher/killer slaughtered her brother and dad and she watched him kill her mom while she hid under the bed. From the other psychological movies and Dr. Phil I've watched, my best guess would be she ends up dropping out of school and become a drug addict that works out on sixth street. But hey, I haven't had anyone kill my family, maybe I could move on and live my life like nothing happened too.

This movie might have been scary if you were to erase all the horror movies that have come in the past 30 years starting with the original Halloween, but after seeing as many horrors as I have, this is as the consensus says, "a dim and predictable remake of an already dull slasher flick".

Originally posted by moviewizguy Overall, the way this film was shot, the use of sound, and some other magical elements in this film, like the young, unknown cast, gave the film some life. The film is not perfect in any way but I liked that it was trying to be different, and although it may have failed with many viewers, whom weren't likely the target demographic in the first place, I appreciated that. 6/10

Again with the usual 6/10 rating. So with the exception of three or four movies listed in this forum, all of them are about "average" in your view.

Well, moviewizguy would be happy to know this movie was only listed as Worst Remake on our first voting ballot, but managed to get away without anything else...