Year of Release: 2008
Director: Nelson McCormick
Starring: Brittany Snow, Scott Porter, Idris Elba, Jessica Stroup, Dana Davis, Collins Pennie, Kelly Blatz, James Ransone, Brianne Davis, Kellan Lutz, Mary Mara, Ming-Na Wen, Johnathon Schaech, Linden Ashby, Jana Kramer, Jessalyn Gilsig, Rachel Specter, Valeri Ross
Genre: Horror
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 1
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Synopsis and Review
Director Nelson McCormick has largely made a career for himself directing a variety of reputable TV shows, which has included "The Man in the High Castle", "Homeland", "The Good Wife", "Southland", and going back even further, "Nip/Tuck" and "ER". And for all his prolific career on TV, this remake of "Prom Night" was his second feature directorial outing. The film follows the narrative of Donna Keppel who is a high school senior currently living with her uncle and aunt following a traumatic occurrence in her life, specifically one where her father, brother and mother were all killed by a stalker she had, her former biology teacher. As Donna prepares for her senior prom, the local detective learns that the killer escaped from the mental hospital where he was being held captive, and in all likelihood is coming for Donna once again. Donna and her boyfriend Bobby, alongside their close friends all head for a hotel where the prom celebration is taking place, only for the killer to start attacking each one of them all with the goal of getting to Donna. The police uncovers the killings, and orders the hotel to be evacuated and Donna and Bobby to be sent home with a series of police patrols escorting them. However the killer is hot on their trail.
The original "Prom Night" came out in 1980 (directed by Paul Lynch) and featured Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielsen in the central roles. It wasn't the most riveting of titles from the time period, and definitely isn't one of the most memorable features in Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielsen's respectable careers. This update however fails to do much with the original source material, failing to provide much substance as to who these characters actually are. Donna who is incarnated in this version by Brittany Snow, is somewhat objectified as a lovely young woman, though the audience hardly ever understands what makes the killer so drawn to her ( or for that matter why should we care). The supporting characters suffer a similar contrived experience, ranging from Donna's friends to the police officers who are responsible for her safeguarding. All this array of characters has hardly any motivation or for that matter, existence, beyond being fodder for that persistent killer. Even the killer himself, it's never truly uncovered the reason for his obsession for that young woman. It's a film that fails to not only provide much dimension to any character, but one that also isn't very subtle in the way it stages the killer's attacks and his methods to get to his target. This does not come across as a slick B-movie, instead it's a poorly realized TV slasher film with very little entertainment value, save for Idris Elba who as always manages to do something with the paltry elements he is given and the always reliable James Ransone who also has very little to do here. The production team is somewhat generic and unmemorable. It's a missed opportunity and a lackluster feature.
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