Horrorfest 2014 Presents: Prom Night (1980, Paul Lynch)

From the eerie opening flashback to the suspenseful last act, Prom Night is a well made early 1980s slasher that is another quality entry in the subgenre. Long before slasher movies fell into parody and tired cliches Jamie Lee Curtis made a couple of them after doing the first two Halloween films. She was a great scream queen and here she plays a girl who is still dealing with her sister’s death years earlier. Also her father is Leslie Nielsen and prom night is approaching. The stage has been set for terror and mayhem.

Unlike later slasher films this one has a lower death count and the first kill doesn’t even happen until much later in the film. Prom Night takes its time building up the chills and thrills while also keeping the audience guessing who the killer could be. After all that’s part of the fun in a movie like this. Well that and the disco scenes which have some pretty radical music. This film feels more like a 1970s one to me although it is campy at times. I much prefer smart slasher films such as this one even if I also enjoy the dumb ones.