Another day, another horror setting. Adding to the recent slew of 80’s horror remakes comes semi-remake ‘Prom Night’. A retelling of the popular Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielsen slasher movie. And even when I say semi I mean that in the loosest fashion possible and there’s nothing more than the title that this tame and lame ‘remake’ shares with its originator.
Brittany bubblegum Snow seeps more sugary and virginal bounce onto our screens this time as bintish Donna Keppel. Donna sadly lost members of her immediate family when a crazed ex-teacher from her school decides to stalk and slash them all in a somewhat twisted method of gaining Donna’s affections. Of course this top notch plan falters greatly when he is arrested and committed only to years later escape and stalk Miss Snow once again on the notable eve of her high school prom.
It was an odd choice to reveal the killer so early on the movie and run with it but hey I guess it’s better than carbon copying the original for us all to have guessed the outcome 80 minutes before it happened. But even with that in mind there’s a mass of cliché up the ying-yang. And whether my negative opinions are fueled by the appearance of spoilt American teenagers and secretly I’m truly jealous that this bunch of sex addicted morons shared something more financially sound than my weak-ass prom night is neither here nor there.
Performances all round a little lackluster to say the least but then the material is nothing noteworthy or even decides at any point to tremble over the line from cliché and stereotyping. Although that said Brit actor Idris Elba, better known to many as Stringer on hit show ‘The Wire’ still manages to perform solidly with what he has. Schaech, playing the deranged Richard, also should get a well deserved mention.
Within the mess of overlooked plot holes, often used remarkably in the attackers favour, is the longing and needy requirement that the viewer is forever craving – some decent action, some brutal surprisingly killing and not to have to sit and be shown uber amounts of predictable claptrap. The only hope was maybe a possible and shocking twist to end on, but no, even that was missing and I’ve never felt such an overwhelming sense of elation when bam(!) those credits began a-rolling.
OVERALL SUMMARY
I’m not one to scoff at the lack of gore in a movie but this PG-13 (US)/15 (UK) is as weak as its ratings. It feels long gone are the days of real intense slashers that are as smart as they are brutal. Let’s not drain this sub-genre of its energy much longer. Rob Zombie proved it can be still being done right; it just need’s someone willing to break the rules and get their hands dirty.
