 
Prom Night
MPAA Rating:
 for violence and terror, some sexual material, underage drinking, and languageReviewed by: Thaisha Geiger Very Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
 Primary Audience:
Teens
Genre:
Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Remake
Length:
1 hr. 28 min.
Year of Release:
2008
USA Release:
April 11, 2008
“A Night To Die For.” Teens’ Senior proms are often considered to be a magical time, a night most likely never to be forgotten. The film “Prom Night” attempts to tell how one girl’s special night turns to a time of horror. Based loosely on the 1980 version of the same name, “Prom Night” is one night that would be better forgotten. Donna Keppel (Brittany Snow) wants to enjoy her senior prom just like the average teen. Having gone through a traumatic past of witnessing her family’s murder, she wants to enjoy this one magical night. Putting her fears in the shadows of her mind, Donna tries to dance the night away with her friends. What she doesn’t know is that her past is lurking in the shadows, watching her and waiting to make his move. Three years before, Richard Fenton (Jonathan Schaech) was found guilty of murdering Donna’s family. He had been her math teacher who had gotten obsessed with claiming Donna as his own. He was found to be insane and was committed to a criminal asylum. Having escaped, Fenton made his way back to the town to finally claim Donna, killing everyone along the way. The movie is an all-around cheesy failure and unbelievable in its absurdity. It was sad to see Snow’s talent wasted in this movie. It is the epitome of clichés. There are the annoying characters that die off one by one. There are the dead bodies popping out to say “Boo!”. You have the victims who can’t stay quiet, making themselves an effortless find. Lastly, there is the killer who has omniscient traits. He already knew where everyone was and everyone’s next move. He moved with lightning speed and was able to kill several policemen with only a knife. The movie has many absurd plot holes, that if filled, would render the movie a boring drama. For example, Donna returns home after Fenton had a massive killing spree at her prom. Two alert cops are strategically placed in the front and back of her house. However, this does not stop Fenton. He manages to cut the phone line that is right next to one of the cops. And he also kills the cops and one more person inside the house, all within a few minutes. Moral ContentBeing a horror movie, murder and blood is shown throughout the movie. However, the director kept it pretty tame. Fenton’s murder weapon is a knife. Actual stabbings mostly took place off screen. However, the audience could see the killer’s movements and hear the victims’ screams. The film uses the Lord’s name in vain about 10 times. I also counted at least 20 profanities. I never heard any “f” bombs. The most offensive content is the abundance of sexual references. Sadly, the teens could not have a wholesome prom night. There was constant talk about sex and “getting laid.” One of Donna’s friends was proud her dress had low cleavage, since her boyfriend knew he was going “to get some.” They all laughed like it was a normal thing. Their dresses show almost their entire breasts and cover up just enough to avoid an “R” rating. Different teens would sneak off, while their friends joked about their having sex. Donna’s character was the most refreshing. She and her boyfriend shared appropriate kisses and never talked about sleeping together. Students were shown drinking or sneaking-in alcoholic drinks. One teacher is implied to be a lesbian who has a crush on a female student. The dialogue is also full of cruel remarks about other students and shallow delusions about how important being prom queen would be. This movie was a sad portrayal of young teenagers. The teen characters only talked about sex, drinking, and cruel gossip about one another. Although Donna’s character was refreshing and clean, her friends and their moral filth were placed in the spotlight. I wish more movies had leading characters like Donna. We should uplift and encourage our youth with good examples, not moral filth. It reminds me of when Paul wrote an encouraging letter to Timothy, telling him: “Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). I wholeheartedly do not recommend this movie. It is morally filthy and an inaccurate portrayal of youth. Not only does it fail as a loose remake, it completely fails as a horror movie. Most of the audience laughed at the scary moments, many spoke of how lame it was while leaving the theatre. I completely agree. Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: Heavy See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.   Positive
Positive - Ok, so, I watched this movie after reading this review. It is NOT that bad. I mean, yeah the kids talk about sex, but so what? The important part is, is that they do not act upon it. The dresses were inappropriate, I agree with that. However, I have noticed that this reviewer is often too conservative when writing reviews. Just relax. Kids do talk about sex. Although it is wrong, it is okay to laugh about it. I just don't agree that just some sexual talk should make a movie 'very offensive' But I do agree how cheesy the film was! I think Britney Snow did a cool job in acting in this movie. That is why I gave it above 3 stars. I recommend the movie for a fun slumber party, just skip it in the movies. Positive - My husband said he wanted to go out.I said I wanted to go to the movies.So I let him pick a movie.He picked Prom Night because he said he wanted to see a horror movie.I felt so weird because the audience were mostly teenagers.This movie was actually alright.This movie wasn't that boring.I liked it because it made me jump out of my seat and got me scared.I loved the suspense!There wasn't that much sexuality,sexual content,etc.So that made me pretty happy because it stayed on the horror and not on kissing and other sexual things.The language was not that bad.It contained no f words,1 s word,and some a--.One thing I didn't like was the drinking.Besides the drinking and the mild language I liked this movie. Negative
Negative - This movie was so silly...the whole audience participated in making noises when any little thing was about to happen..which made it fun, because the movie was so stupid and poorly done...
The acting was bad, the dialog was bad and it was just a really silly movie. Actually, this movie was more of a comedy than a scary movie.
I wouldn't have gone if I had know it was just so 'BAD'.
Neutral
Neutral - This movie will keep you at the edge of your seat with excitment through out the whole movie. This movie is played very well and I think it's ok. There were some frightening events but that's what made the movie exciting. I love this movie and give it a 4! Neutral - prom night was actually not that bad of a movie cosidering the genre. I have to admit i was very reluctant to go to this movie because I figured it would be filled sex, drugs and full of teenage drinking, but it was actually quite mild considering the movies that are put out there now a days. The cinamatography was good and acting was above average. I know it was about the prom and the girls are going to dress up, but i just thought some of the dresses exposed a bit too much skin. There was really no intense sex scenes in the movie, which was a relief. I was also really suprised that the language was as milld as it was, which was a another plus. The murder scenes were also quite fast, not to much gore. I would recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of these horror flicks. Comments from young people
Positive - I loved this movie. It is one of my favorites. It is a horror movie, so you can't say you don't like how scary it is. If you are mature you can easily get past all of the bad parts. I reccomend this movie to kids that are 13 or older. Positive - I loved this movie sooooo much. Fun and scary parts just waiting tell the next part comes up. I so recomend this movie for any one over 10. Positive - Prom Night started out as just another usual prom night for high school seniors. Once arriving at the prom, the stars of the movie try to make the most of their senior prom by dancing, talking, and sharing some alone time. The movie gets suspenseful when the stars take trips up to their hotel room. Here their are haunted by an obsesed stalker who only has one goal in mind: kill everyone to get to his prized possition, the blonde girl who he has fallen in love with. When he succesfully reaches her at the end of the movie he tries to hold her hostage which leads to his death by the bullet. He causes the blonde girl to have nightmares from when her mother is killed in front of her to his death. The producer does an excellent job at bringing suspense to the movie through mirrors and lighting. |
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