Prom Night (1980 film)

Prom Night
File:Promnightfilmposter.jpg Theatrical poster for Prom Night
Directed by	Paul Lynch
Written by	William Gray Robert Guza Jr.
Produced by	Peter R. Simpson Richard Simpson
Starring	Leslie Nielsen Jamie Lee Curtis Casey Stevens Anne-Marie Martin David Gardner Melanie Morse
Cinematography	Robert C. New
Edited by	Brian Ravok
Music by	Paul Zaza Carl Zittrer
Distributed by	Avco Embassy Pictures (theatrical) Alliance Atlantis
Release dates	July 18, 1980
Running time	90 min.
Country	Canada
Language	English
Budget	CAD$1,600,000 (estimated)
Box office	$14,800,000 (USA)

Prom Night is a 1980 Canadian horror film starring Leslie Nielsen and Jamie Lee Curtis, directed by Paul Lynch. The original music score is composed by Paul Zaza and Carl Zittrer.

Prom Night was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from August 7, 1979 to September 13, 1979. The film spawned three sequels. This film was remade (very loosely) in 2008.

Taglines

• If you're not back by midnight... you won't be coming home.
• For some, it's the end of innocence. For others, it's THE END.
• Some will be crowned. Others will lose their heads.

Plot

It is 1974. Four children — Wendy Richards, Jude Cunningham, Kelly Lynch and Nick McBride — are playing a game of hide and seek in an old, abandoned schoolhouse. The children begin to bully Robin Hammond and she falls to her death from a window. The children make a pact to tell nobody and pretend it was all an accident - but there was someone watching who witnessed what had happened.

Six years later, Robin's family deals with the anniversary of her death. Teenagers Kim and Alex Hammond, Robin's sister and brother, are preparing for the school prom, which is being held that night. During the day, Kelly, Jude and Wendy receive obscene phone calls. Kim (Curtis) and her boyfriend Nick decide to go to the prom together while Jude is asked by an easygoing marijuana smoker named Seymour "Slick" Crane. Wendy has no option but to go with the school rebel, Lou Farmer. While changing clothes after gym class, Kim and Kelly discover the locker room's mirror severely cracked.

Meanwhile, Lt. McBride (Nick's father) investigates the escape of a homicidal maniac from his rehabilitation unit through the window. During the senior prom, Kim and Nick perform a dance number together. Kelly and her boyfriend, Drew Shinnick, prepare to have sex in the school changing room, but Kelly decides she is not ready. Drew leaves, angry and annoyed. As Kelly gets dressed, the masked killer slits her throat.

Jude and Slick have sex in a van outside of the school, watched all the while by Kelly's killer, who then kills Jude. Slick brawls with the killer while driving the van. The masked fiend escapes from the van as it tumbles off a cliff and explodes.

Lt. McBride is informed that the maniac he was investigating has been caught. Wendy is then attacked by the killer and is chased through the school. She is eventually murdered with an axe. Kim and Nick prepare to be crowned prom king and queen. Lou and his lackeys tie up Nick, and he plans to be king. The assailant sneaks up behind Lou (thinking he is Nick) and decapitates him.

Momentum from the attack sends Lou's severed head rolling out onto the dance floor. The students witness this and flee. Kim finds and unties Nick only to be attacked by the killer. After a struggle, Kim hits the attacker on the head with his axe. The killer is then revealed to be Alex, Kim's brother, who is avenging the death of their sister Robin, which he witnessed. The film ends as Alex slowly dies.

Cast

• Leslie Nielsen as Mr. Raymond Hammond
• Jamie Lee Curtis as Kim Hammond
• Casey Stevens as Nick McBride
• Anne-Marie Martin as Wendy Richards (as Eddie Benton)
• Antoinette Bower as Mrs. 'Vi' Hammond
• Michael Tough as Alex Hammond
• Robert A. Silverman as Mr. Sykes
• Pita Oliver as Vicki
• David Mucci as The killer
• Jeff Wincott as Drew
• Mary Beth Rubens as Kelly Lynch
• George Touliatos as Lt. McBride
• Melanie Morse as Henri-Anne
• David Gardner as Dr. Fairchild
• Joy Thompson as Jude Cunningham
• Brock Simpson as Young Nick
• Tammy Bourne as Robin Hammond
• Leslie Scott as Young Wendy

Sequels

• Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987)
• Prom Night III: The Last Kiss (1990)
• Prom Night IV: Deliver us from Evil (1992)

Soundtrack

Composer(s):

Carl Zittrer

Paul Zaza

1. All Is Gone - Blue Bazar
2. Prom Night (Version 1)
3. Changes
4. Dancing In The Moonlight
5. Fade to Black - Gordene Simpson
6. All Is Gone (Instrumental) - Blue Bazar
7. Time to Turn Around
8. Love Me Till I Die
9. Prom Night (Version 2)
10. Forever - Blue Bazar

Nominations

• 1981 Genie Awards
  • Best Achievement in Film Editing - Brian Ravok
  • Best Performance by a Foreign Actress - Jamie Lee Curtis

External links

• Prom Night at IMDb
• Prom Night at AllMovie
• Prom Night at Rotten Tomatoes