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Prom Night (1980) - Paul Lynch


I am dedicating this review to Leslie Neillsen who passed away recently at the age of 84. He was one of my favorite comedians and he will be missed. I am a huge fan of not only his comedy but also his more serious roles. Roles like Mr. Hammond. I am providing a link at the bottom of this review. The link is going to take you to my review of Creepshow that also features Leslie Neilsen.


There might be spoilers...

I figure that in order to honor Leslie Neilsen everyone is going to be watching Airplane! or Naked Gun and since I review horror movies, and I didn't want to be left out, I decided to watch Prom Night. This film facilitates my favorite Leslie Neilsen role; he is so calm and collected as a killer and his straight-man shtick is perfect. It is beyond reproach.

Leslie Neilsen does a great job of nailing home the sad father role. He plays a Principal whose child is murdered and now six years later someone is picking off the people who were responsible.

The movie was brutal and realistic, that is what I really liked about it, but some of the acting is sub par. It felt like the majority of the actors in the film didn't care about being there.

Aside from the horrendous soundtrack, that was mostly made up of crappy disco tunes, and the fact that you have obvious twenty-somethings playing seniors in High School; and the acting of some selected individuals, and aside from the fact that Leslie Neilsen needed more screen time; Prom Night was pretty good. The movie is decent but it is a tried and worn skin that the film is wearing. I guess it was the height of Slasher pictures though.

Here's to you Mr. Neilsen
  • This was the first of three sequels and one remake.
  • Part of Jamie Lee Curtis' scream queen horror movies.
  • The soundtrack is a huge hit with disco fans.


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