I’ll be the first to admit that the original 1980 PROM NIGHT is not a very good film and time has not been kind to it. In fact, the only reason to watch that film is because it is an early film of former Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis and it has a rare non-comedic Leslie Nelson. That film came out on the heels and success of such slahsers as HALLOWEEN, HELL NIGHT, TERROR TRAIN, and a plethora of others and its just as derivative and forgettable as most of the films mentioned (with the exception of HALLOWEEN).
Unlike many of this year’s other remake offerings (i.e. SHUTTER, ONE MISSED CALL, APRIL FOOL’S DAY, DAY OF THE DEAD, etc.) the new 2008 PROM NIGHT didn’t have anything to live up to. Now I know a lot of hard-core horror enthusiast gag when they hear that there is yet another remake of a “beloved” classic that’s been watered down with a PG-13 rating but lets just take a look at the new PROM NIGHT before outright dismissing it.
First of all, this new PROM NIGHT is PG-13 and its target audience is the female teenager as date movie. This is very apparent from both the trailers and from viewing the film itself. There is no gore and about 95% of the violence is off screen when there is violence. The sound editing is used to great effect to illicit scares and dread. There is a lot of time – “plot wise,” spent on establishing the “female perspective” of the prom experience rather than from the male perspective, in fact, the men characters are all secondary to the female characters as if prom night was more a right of passage for females then it is for men. This idea is reinforced by the conversations between the females when they are discussing their relationships with one another and how they will change when they go off to college as well as the females’ conversations with their boyfriends (whom as cliché would put it all want to have sex with their girlfriends as their right of passage after prom) which focus on the women breaking away from the men in order to actually evolve into adult women out into the new world. J.S. Cardone’s screenplay does an excellent job on elaborating on these themes throughout crafting a film that never has any throw away scenes. Even main character Donna’s (Brittany Snow) conversations with her Aunt and Uncle, whom she lives with, focus on these aspects. These deeper truths elevate this film above the standard slasher film fodder.
There is the requisite slasher film trappings. The ludicrous obsessed stalker-killer in Richard Fenton, who while very well captured by actor Johnathon Schaech, is very one-note and uninteresting. Story wise the character works as a foil for the rest of the characters – Donna and her friends are teenagers who are moving into adulthood while Fenton is obsessed with recapturing his young in the form of Donna, who is a character whose conflict lies in the very heart of whether or not she will be able to evolve from child to adult after the tragic events inflicted upon her by Fenton (who you learn at the beginning of the film has killed Donna’s entire family in order to get to her).
Now, all of this is only relevant if you are a young teenage female who can relate to the turmoil that all teenagers must face as a right of passage into adulthood as embodied by the Donna character. There in lies the challenge of the new PROM NIGHT. It is marketed to a specific age group and gender and if you don’t fit within it then you won’t enjoy the film. The film is very simple in terms of plot and very predictable with exception to the fact that some of the people you think should get killed don’t and vice versa. Hard-core horror enthusiast should stay clear because all you’ll see is a derivative film; to this I say you are too jaded. I happened to screen the film with an audience of teenager couples and groups of teenage women who jumped at every suspenseful moment and screamed when the characters screamed. The film hits all the right marks.
Currently the film is enjoying the top spot of one of the highest grossing horror films in 2008 having grossed over $50 million thus far. Now I have no problem with these types of films that are PG-13 because they are geared to a particular audience. My problem lies with the PG-13 films geared to the adult audience that comes off as watered down teenager flicks (i.e. ONE MISSED CALL, THE EYE, or SHUTTER), which all feature adults in adult situations. When this happens neither adults not teenagers (who do not yet identify with the adult characters) bother with the film.
PROM NIGHT 2008 may not be the best film of 2008 but it’s the best remake that has achieved its desired goals especially in the eyes of teenage audience.
Unlike many of this year’s other remake offerings (i.e. SHUTTER, ONE MISSED CALL, APRIL FOOL’S DAY, DAY OF THE DEAD, etc.) the new 2008 PROM NIGHT didn’t have anything to live up to. Now I know a lot of hard-core horror enthusiast gag when they hear that there is yet another remake of a “beloved” classic that’s been watered down with a PG-13 rating but lets just take a look at the new PROM NIGHT before outright dismissing it.
First of all, this new PROM NIGHT is PG-13 and its target audience is the female teenager as date movie. This is very apparent from both the trailers and from viewing the film itself. There is no gore and about 95% of the violence is off screen when there is violence. The sound editing is used to great effect to illicit scares and dread. There is a lot of time – “plot wise,” spent on establishing the “female perspective” of the prom experience rather than from the male perspective, in fact, the men characters are all secondary to the female characters as if prom night was more a right of passage for females then it is for men. This idea is reinforced by the conversations between the females when they are discussing their relationships with one another and how they will change when they go off to college as well as the females’ conversations with their boyfriends (whom as cliché would put it all want to have sex with their girlfriends as their right of passage after prom) which focus on the women breaking away from the men in order to actually evolve into adult women out into the new world. J.S. Cardone’s screenplay does an excellent job on elaborating on these themes throughout crafting a film that never has any throw away scenes. Even main character Donna’s (Brittany Snow) conversations with her Aunt and Uncle, whom she lives with, focus on these aspects. These deeper truths elevate this film above the standard slasher film fodder.
There is the requisite slasher film trappings. The ludicrous obsessed stalker-killer in Richard Fenton, who while very well captured by actor Johnathon Schaech, is very one-note and uninteresting. Story wise the character works as a foil for the rest of the characters – Donna and her friends are teenagers who are moving into adulthood while Fenton is obsessed with recapturing his young in the form of Donna, who is a character whose conflict lies in the very heart of whether or not she will be able to evolve from child to adult after the tragic events inflicted upon her by Fenton (who you learn at the beginning of the film has killed Donna’s entire family in order to get to her).
Now, all of this is only relevant if you are a young teenage female who can relate to the turmoil that all teenagers must face as a right of passage into adulthood as embodied by the Donna character. There in lies the challenge of the new PROM NIGHT. It is marketed to a specific age group and gender and if you don’t fit within it then you won’t enjoy the film. The film is very simple in terms of plot and very predictable with exception to the fact that some of the people you think should get killed don’t and vice versa. Hard-core horror enthusiast should stay clear because all you’ll see is a derivative film; to this I say you are too jaded. I happened to screen the film with an audience of teenager couples and groups of teenage women who jumped at every suspenseful moment and screamed when the characters screamed. The film hits all the right marks.
Currently the film is enjoying the top spot of one of the highest grossing horror films in 2008 having grossed over $50 million thus far. Now I have no problem with these types of films that are PG-13 because they are geared to a particular audience. My problem lies with the PG-13 films geared to the adult audience that comes off as watered down teenager flicks (i.e. ONE MISSED CALL, THE EYE, or SHUTTER), which all feature adults in adult situations. When this happens neither adults not teenagers (who do not yet identify with the adult characters) bother with the film.
PROM NIGHT 2008 may not be the best film of 2008 but it’s the best remake that has achieved its desired goals especially in the eyes of teenage audience.
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