Prom Night Blu-ray Review
Released on September 9, 2014 by Synapse Films
Movie: 4/5
The original Prom Night arrives in a Special Edition thanks to Synapse Films with a completely new transfer. After waiting over a year since Synapse’s announcement, patience paid off. This transfer is from a new scan done in 2K resolution from the original film elements. The original mono audio is included (in lossless 2.0 and 96kHz), as well as with a brand new remix done in 5.1 discrete surround (in lossless and 96kHz as well).
Prom Night is a weird slasher. Yeah, it came together mostly because of the many slasher films before it that had been successful (and not necessarily in the quality department), and it is not very original either. However, it is also very different in other aspects, including the non-horror elements. Because of this it stands out amongst the others, and it is also why opinions on the quality and amount of enjoyment of this movie are all over the place. For me, it probably falls in second or third place in my list of favorite slashers from that period of time.
On a sunny day inside an abandoned building, a group of four kids are playing a creepy version of hide-and-seek called “kill”. While they are hiding, three siblings happen to pass by. The oldest, Kim, notices she left her book at school and returns for it. The other two stay near the abandoned building to wait for her. A little while later Kim’s sister, Robin, tells her brother, Alex, she is going to play with the other kids. He decides he does not want to play with them and so he leaves. Robin being younger than the other four kids is probably what makes it easier for them to bully her while playing, yelling “kill! kill!” at her. Naturally she gets scared and begins to back away; but an accident occurs and it ends in tragedy, with Robin falling down from a window to her demise. The four kids promise to never tell anyone what happened, and thus the police assume she was murdered by a local maniac. But somebody was watching, and that person will make sure these four kids pay for their actions.
Six years later Kim (Jamie Lee Curtis), Alex, and the other four teenagers, are getting ready for school. The mysterious person who knows their secret calls each of the four teenagers to threaten them. One of them, Nick, is Kim’s boyfriend and date for the prom. Wendy, another of the secret-keepers, was previously going out with Nick, but he has broken up with her because he prefers Kim. One of the other secret-keepers, Jude, is desperate to find a date. Now that the big day is here her hopes are low. Kelly already has a boyfriend. Wendy decides to take Lou as her date and cause mayhem at the prom: she is mad at Kim and Nick, especially since they have been voted king and queen; but this is just perfect for Lou’s and Wendy’s mischief. Jude meets “Slick” while walking to school, and she decides to take him as her date.
Prom Night takes its characters’ high school drama seriously. While it might seem silly, it actually helps the film by allowing the audience to get to know each of them while they are dealing with their own problems. This also creates a story beyond the hacking-and-slashing (which actually does not start until late in the film). We also see how Kim’s parents are dealing with her sister’s passing-away anniversary: Kim’s mother is especially distraught this day. Kim’s father (Mr. Hammond, played by Leslie Nielsen), is the principal of the school and he seems to be doing better.
Once these teenagers are at school the mystery of who the killer is begins. The makers tried hard to point fingers at almost every possible person who could pass for the killer, and although this is fairly obvious, it might actually work in people who are watching it for the first time. However, chances are most seasoned horror fans will guess who it is in the first half.
The second third of the film is the party at the school, and it is disco-heavy. It is actually pretty fun. Boy, does Jamie Lee Curtis know how to dance. Since she is the prom queen, and her boyfriend the king, they get a dancing segment just for them, to officially open the dance floor. This and the climax are easily the best sequences in the film. The third part of the film is when most of the slashing happens. I will venture to say that the scene when Wendy gets chased by the killer was probably one of few scenes from which many slashers that followed got their inspiration for their chase sequences. Prom Night features one of the few genuinely sad endings in scary movies. Not like the grand majority of scary movies which go for either a shocking ending (with a twist or some jump scene), or with the heroine simply surviving. After so many years, Prom Night still manages to be enjoyable in its own way.
Picture Quality: 4.5/5
Synapse’s transfer from the original elements proves to be a major winner. The quality of the picture is extremely accurate in its representation of how the film should look. Colors are realistic, and some “pop” as they should. The cinematography in the film has many bold colors in the latter two thirds (colors on clothing like dresses, the lights at the party), so this attribute is a great thing. In the early scenes colors are more natural, with many sequences taking place outdoors or in domestic settings. In these scenes colors are less vivid but still realistic, and they do not miss a beat. Lighting is weird, but this is how it should look. It is obvious that filters were used during filming. This is why the light looks “heavy” sometimes, making some scenes look almost foggy, or with some haze spread over them. This is how it should look though, along with the heavy grain and an overall soft look. Again, all of these because of the filters used intentionally during the production. There is still great detail in it though, but it is not like how most modern films look. That is alright though, the transfer is extremely satisfying, especially after knowing these facts. The only reason I deducted the 0.5 is because there are two instances where heavy print damage appears. Although they are pretty heavy, they are extremely brief. One of them is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it instance (a medium-sized, and very dark, spot in the lower right corner of the frame). The other one lasts a few seconds (a brief shot of the killer walking in which noise and grain are extremely and unnaturally high; I suspect it might have been a recycled shot, so it might explain the over-processed quality of the shot). There is also very, very, light print damage (white specks) a few times, but I think I would not have noticed them if I had seen it in a screen 60 inches in size or smaller (I did not deduct anything for this). Overall it was very close to being perfect.
Audio Quality: 5/5
Now this one is perfect. Music envelops the viewer through the sound stage thanks to the 5.1 remix. I prefer this one (rather than the mono) also because of the subtle directionality attributes and light surround effects. These enhance the audio and do not introduce anything that might make it sound overdone or unnatural. The track is still front heavy though, and this is a good thing since, again, the original track is a mono one. Voices are clear and there are no artifacts or distortions to be found. That “boxy” effect is retained a little, but this is perfectly acceptable because of the age of the film.
Special Features: 4/5
There is an audio commentary with the director and writer of the movie. A lengthy featurette is included also, with the director and other members of the cast and crew. It is interesting and fun at the same time, with sections in which the participants recall good times during the production. Sadly, Jamie Lee Curtis does not appear, but it is a good featurette nonetheless. There are also some deleted scenes (some add light humor, others try to add more story to the film), as well as some outtakes. The deleted scenes were used in the TV-cut of the film to make up for the footage censored. The outtakes have music-only for the audio as the company could not locate the sound elements (they were probably destroyed). Promotional material is included in the form of trailers, radio and TV spots, as well as a motion-still gallery.
Overall: 4.5/5
Prom Night is a fun slasher that requires an open mind… and a certain appeal to disco. As mentioned above, the drama of the teenagers drives the story for about half the film. One might think this is overdone, and that the movie takes this way too seriously, but, who at that age though their high-school problems were unimportant? I actually find it interesting as we get to meet these characters in this stage of their lives. As opposed to recent slashers, most of the teenage characters in this one are actually likable. Even if we assume most will die due to the genre of the film, we get to know them well enough that we hope most will survive. And yes, the disco element: the movie features disco music (think something like Saturday Night Fever, but less intense) for most of its second half, so if you dislike it I would not recommend it. Otherwise, this one comes as a must-own for anyone who likes horror, slashers, disco, 80s films, just Jamie Lee Curtis, or a combination of any of the above.
Note: For some reason my computer was acting a little crazy when I took the screenshots, however, there are no black bars on the sides like shown in the pictures. The picture actually does fill the entire 16:9 frame. The screen captures of the blu-ray above should not be taken to be good representatives of the quality of the transfer as they have a lower resolution than the blu-ray, they are compressed, and in motion it may look different.
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