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Prom Night

Play trailer 1:39 Poster for Prom Night R Released Jul 18, 1980 1h 29m Horror Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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45% Tomatometer 22 Reviews 34% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
This slasher movie follows a relentless killer who is out to avenge the death of a young girl who died after being bullied and teased by four of her classmates. Now high-school students, the guilt-ridden kids have kept their involvement a secret, but when they start being murdered, one by one, it's clear that someone knows the truth. Also coping with the past are members of the dead girl's family, most notably her prom-queen sister, Kim Hammond.
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Prom Night

Prom Night

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Critics Consensus

Horror aficionados might have a ball with Prom Night, but a lack of mystery and inability to capitalize on the dance hall setting makes for a generic night of mayhem.

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Critics Reviews

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Variety Staff Variety Director Paul Lynch seems to capture the spirit of the genre here, but spends a little too much time setting up each murder, thus eliminating some suspense. Apr 10, 2008 Full Review Time Out If you forget motivation, the visual trick-or-treat of slow revenge is entertaining enough. Jun 24, 2006 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Why do people go to these movies? Rated: 0.5/4 Oct 23, 2004 Full Review John Brosnan Starburst Prom Night proves once again that it's not sufficient to simply rip-off a successful movie formula — you've got to add something to it, even if it's simply coming up with ingenious new ways of disposing of your victims. Jul 26, 2022 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins While it endeavors to be genuinely scary, it rarely succeeds, only becoming a cult B-movie due to boundary-pushing violence, which has since been tremendously surpassed. Rated: 4/10 Sep 7, 2020 Full Review Larry Vitacco Philadelphia Gay News [Leslie Nielsen and Jamie Lee Curtis] perform well. In fact, Curtis (an alumna of Halloween and The Fog, and soon to be seen in Terror Train) is very good... it would be great to watch her perform in a riproaring comedy or a searing drama. Rated: 2.5/4 May 27, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member ScreamQueen Jamie Lee Curtis slasher from the 80s. OMFG Leslie Nielsen is in this 😂. The first kill came with 30:08 left in the movie talk about SLOW BURN movie. This was a little better than Jamie Lee Curtis Terror Train . I will admit I was leaning towards it being bad but the two kills in this made the movie just ok . OMFG disco music. I swear all the high school kids looked like they were in their 30s lol. It was a 5/10 borderline ok but if I want a epic fantastic Jamie Lee Curtis horror movie I will lwatch The Fog or the OG Halloween . Rated 2 out of 5 stars 10/16/24 Full Review Jordan W This is the horror movie equivalent of wasting time for the sake of wasting time. Prom Night is a dreadfully boring movie that wastes so much of its runtime on endlessly unimportant side characters, side plots, a main plot about the prom itself (how exciting!) and a ridiculous amount of red herrings that-at a point-- it actually becomes insulting to watch. Jamie Lee Curtis is fine, everyone’s acting is fine. But why was Leslie Nelson in this? Why did he agree to be in this? So much of this movie is dreadfully boring and then by an hour in there’s a disco sequence that goes on for what feels like another 30 minutes. Why? To waste more of our time. Then the killings finally happen and they’re all so drawn out and boring too. Zero suspense. And then the twist happens! And then the movie just ends without explaining the dozen other narrative conveniences and plot holes that you’d have to rewatch the whole film to mentally figure out if the reveal makes any sense. And I fundamentally refuse to watch this boring movie again. This sucks. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 09/23/24 Full Review Charles P If you like slashers this is for you. Seen more times then I can count for 40 yrs. Also Jamie Lee Curtis disco dancing. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 09/20/24 Full Review Blu B Just your stereotypical slasher with the potential for a great underlying mystery but never in the slightest can make it work. This gets very boring especially the 5 minute prom dancing scene which is pointless. Camerawork isn't bad but direction is basic along with the actin gand soundtrack. Everything else is subpar. This never is able to make the killer/stalker mystery and the slasher elements work together in the slightest. It's very meandering for most of the runtime bouncing around between the different kids and stuff just happens...very boring stuff. The kills are back loaded at the very end and even they drag out. This needed much more focus and to space the kills out throughout the runtime better. Even the opening scene is just alright and that's probably the best thing here. Skip This. Even for JLC fans there isn't anything ehre really. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 09/11/24 Full Review Lucas t I thought it was pretty good, I like the kills, and the plot reminds a bit of Terror Train, which came out that same year and also stars Jamie Lee (note it is her worst film ever). This film in my opinion is not as bad as people say. 6.7/10. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/11/24 Full Review Thom G Prom Night exhibits uneven execution, characterized by fluctuations in the story and an erratic pace, likely to elicit mixed reactions. While it offers some satisfying moments for an evening's entertainment, particularly for fans of 80's slashers, it falls short of being groundbreaking. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/26/24 Full Review Read all reviews
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Movie Info

Synopsis This slasher movie follows a relentless killer who is out to avenge the death of a young girl who died after being bullied and teased by four of her classmates. Now high-school students, the guilt-ridden kids have kept their involvement a secret, but when they start being murdered, one by one, it's clear that someone knows the truth. Also coping with the past are members of the dead girl's family, most notably her prom-queen sister, Kim Hammond.
Director
Paul Lynch
Producer
Peter R. Simpson
Distributor
Astral Films
Production Co
Guardian Trust Company
Rating
R
Genre
Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 18, 1980, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
May 31, 2017
Runtime
1h 29m
Sound Mix
Surround
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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