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SYNOPSIS:
Three years ago, Donna (Brittany Snow of John Tucker Must
Die) watched in horror as an obsessed predator (Johnathon
Schaech of That Thing You Do!) murdered her family. Tonight
is her senior prom and although she's anxious about the past,
she's excited to celebrate her future with her friends.
What
Donna doesn't know is that the deranged psychopath has escaped
from the asylum. He's returned to hunt her down, intent on
killing anyone who gets in his way. As the night races towards
its heart-pounding conclusion, the question becomes not who
will be prom queen, but who will survive the killer's rampage.
MOVIE
REVIEW
We have just relived the fond memories of prom night,
thanks to High School Musical 3: Senior Year’s fabulous
musical getups, and along comes this horror slash fest that
takes us to the other end of the spectrum. And we read that
this is a remake? Shouldn’t prom nights be everything
bright, cheerful and romantic? Why would anyone want to remake
such a movie? And for the record, remaking an already dull
and dreary movie into an even duller and drearier one?
The
88 minutes of this unnecessary movie has our protagonist believing
that prom night will be the best night of her life, where
everything sweet and lovely will come together on one magical
night. Her best friends should make her forget her horrific
past. But as the night turns into a murder spree, the poor
girl is reminded of what happened to her years ago, and must
find a way to escape death.
Not
a terribly exciting plot, we hear you say. But this formula
has worked for ages, and people will continue paying money
to enter theatres, hoping to scare themselves with unoriginal
and terribly executed shocks. But who are we to gripe about
this wasteful use of resources? That’s not exactly the
point of this review, so we apologize for digressing.
Back
to the movie, we have Brittany Snow (we thought she was a
hoot in John Tucker Must Die and Hairspray) who tries her
best to look petrified whenever the killer holds up a knife.
We give her credit for her efforts, but the yawn fest of a
movie really doesn’t get anywhere except the finale
where the kids realize that they are at the mercy of a ruthless
psycho, and being running around and screaming their heads
off. Poor them.
The
thriller also stars Scott Porter, Jessica Stroup, Dana Davis
and Johnathon Scaech. Who are these people again? Well, we
have never heard of them ourselves, and this definitely doesn’t
help the already lackluster and tedious thriller to be any
more interesting. Oh, we think we saw Ming Na Wen (of The
Joy Luck Club fame) appearing as a doctor, or something.
Director
Nelson McCormick has no absolute reason to take this project,
because there is no extreme violence or bloodshed, no exciting
plot twist and no scary villain to surprise viewers. What
audiences get instead are stiff performances from the forgettable
cast, and a story so formulaic it becomes tiresome to watch.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
We remain bewildered why the DVD producers would
go the distance to include so many special features for a
movie like this. Is there too much free space on the disc?
Are they hoping that we would like the movie more with the
bulk of information? Are they trying to make things a little
more difficult for DVD reviewers? We have no idea, but we
go through all of them because we love our job.
Commentary with director Nelson McCormick, Brittany
Snow and Johnathan Schaech – The sparse feature
commentary has the director and stars Snow and Scaech talking
about the movie. They start off pretending that they are on
the morning show, and proceed to talk about the songs used
in the movie, how they think the actors are talented and memories
of their own prom.
Deleted Scenes – There are five minutes
worth of five deleted scenes which comes with optional director’s
commentary. One has the resident bitch talking about how she
will be prom queen, and another has a police officer explaining
how a psychotic inmate may have escaped prison.
Alternate
Ending – The 36 second alternate ending has
Snow in the arms of the police officer while hearing the baddie’s
voice. Snow says in the optional commentary that she is glad
this wasn’t the chosen ending.
Gag
Reel – The two minute clip shows the stars
goofing up on set. We love seeing the cast break into laughter
whenever they try to film an intimate scene.
Bridgeport
High Vikings Video Yearbook – The six minute
clip is rather redundant, showing the “students”’
past activities in school. Unless you are hoping to get some
inspiration for your own prom, this is obviously a filler
feature for the DVD.
A
Night to Remember: The Making of Prom Night –
This 13 minute featurette has the cast and crew talking about
how the prom is a strong and powerful subject for a movie,
and how the whole event is a coming of age and symbolic. Someone
says that it’s a death of youth – nice analogy.
Profile
of a Killer – The six minute featurette explains
the psycho killer’s rationale for turning psychotic.
These people look really serious about getting the viewers
informed.
Gothic
Spaces: Creating the Pacific Grand Hotel –
Watch how the Park Plaza Hotel built in 1925 is transformed
into a movie set. The looming music does make us feel spooked
out by its majestic grandeur. The five minute clip has the
cast and crew talking about how the building has a personality
and becomes a character in the movie.
Prom
Night Photo Album: Real Prom Stories from the Cast
– Finally, some fun here. The cast talks about their
memories, how guys would find it so difficult to ask girls
out, and how girls made up lies to reject guys. The six minute
clip is probably the most entertaining clip to watch.
Previews
– Trailers of other Sony releases like Starship Troopers
3: marauder, Lakeview Terrace and Quarantine are included
on the disc.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
After
slamming the movie, we don’t really have much to complain
about the visual transfer, and there are English, Spanish
Portuguese and Thai Dolby Digital 5.1 audio tracks to choose
from.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by John Li
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