Photo by: Sony Pictures
“Prom Night” offers nothing new in teen horror flicks and is a remake of the 1980 horror film of the same title. The original is the flick in which Jamie Lee Curtis gave her infamous shriek.
This remake does not offer up a new damsel in distress. With all of the big scenes disclosed in the previews, one should not expect to be scared at the many generic special effects of dark rooms, eerie shadows and sudden loud noises. The plot is more depressing and disturbing than truly frightening as the PG-13 rating suggests.
The viewer is forced to ride on a rollercoaster of emotions with the leading quintessential blonde, Donna Keppel (Brittany Snow) and her token friends, who believe they are about to have the best night of their lives at their senior prom. At least they think they will. Donna already has a burden to deal with: she blames herself for the death of her parents and little brother three years earlier when she was stalked by her high school science teacher Richard Fenton (Jonathan Schaech), who is responsible for the deaths.
Thus, it is hard for her to get into the spirit of the senior prom. Although she tries, things go very awry.
Nothing but corny, teeny-bopper lines emerge from the lips of the actors in this film. Even the intense scenes come across somewhat fake and flippant in the acting department. An unnatural light bulb could almost be seen above each actor’s head with each new discovery, throwing any sense of reality out the window. Snow pathetically whimpered and whined, wide eyed, through her stalker’s efforts to capture her, while her peers did nothing but deliver self-concerned and relationship-laden remarks. A typical cast of twenty and thirty something actors playing teenaged seniors in high school is always a stretch and in this film, there is no denying the obvious age differences between the actors and real high school aged kids.
The million dollar hotel prom scenes include plenty of cheesy dialogue and mean girl antics. The teens jam to the D.J. and “request some more J.T.” light heartedly as they wait for king and queen to be announced. Meanwhile, Donna’s life is at stake.
Hardly worth the matinee price deal, this yawner of a flick does not even end with a bang. Do not even bother bringing your stuffed animal or hiding behind your popcorn, this film will hardly want to make you do anything, but jump right out your seat and bolt to the door as soon as the credits roll.
Overall rating: 2 out of 5 Boones
