Prom Night (2008) Lacks Thrills of the Original

Prom is the best night of everyone’s life.

Arriving at the door in 2008, Prom Night is a remake of the 1980 horror film. Three years after a serial killer murdered her family, Donna attends her prom. To everyone’s dismay, the killer escapes prison and hides in the hotel hosting prom night.

I made the decision to watch the remake of Prom Night before seeing the original. Now I need to compare to see if the original is better than what the hollow remake gave us. Stashed with high school tropes and dumb characters, Prom Night doesn’t bring anything new to the table.

Donna (Brittany Snow) has undergone a tragedy so awful that you’d think she’d suffer ill psychological effects. But no, Donna is more concerned about being separated from her boyfriend to go to college than her family who was murdered by a psycho killer only three years ago! This character had so much wasted potential.

There could have been more exploration of Donna’s emotional toll regarding her family. Her obsession with her boyfriend overshadows the real threat, making her seem incredibly shallow and detached from the horrifying reality unfolding around her. Aside from her lack of emotions, Donna doesn’t do much to help her situation.

One of the most glaring issues with Prom Night is the characters. They come across as two-dimensional, lifeless entities that exist solely to serve the plot's demands. As the ensemble of high school teenagers (played by actors long past their teens), their acting is so terrible and wooden that it just hurts the eyes. And ears with all the cringeworthy dialogue.

I half liked the detective (Collins Pennie). His determination to solve the mystery of the stalker's return adds a glimmer of depth to an otherwise dull cast. However, his efforts are ultimately wasted in the face of the film's many shortcomings. The situation could have been resolved much sooner.

Not just Pennie’s actions but I was all the more put off by the police’s actions. Detective Nash (James Ransone) just follows Pennie around like a dog. The portrayal of law enforcement is laughable in Prom Night! As a killer is running about in the hotel, the police strangely watch Donna at the prom and let teen after teen wander upstairs to get murdered by the killer!

Nelson McCormick utilized one or two horror tropes. What’s with all the fake jump scares? The mirror jump scare is overused. His direction to the cast was awful and there’s hardly any angst to the character’s dilemmas.

It lacks the psychological depth and tension that make for a genuinely gripping horror experience. The stalker's (Johnathan Schaech) presence is often reduced to predictable shock moments, making it difficult to feel a genuine sense of dread or fear. The overutilized high school cliches lack a cohesive story flow.

Who wrote this film anyway? Teenagers, adults who forgot they were once teens or writers who collected ideas from teenagers? Whatever, the case, this remake has poor writing that it’s impossible to take seriously. The film lacks genuine interactions between any of the characters.

The one aspect that saves this film is the setting. That was the only thing that mattered to filmmakers. The prom is held at a gorgeous hotel with lavish rooms. It’s too bad that it exists in a movie like this.

I need to watch the original Prom Night now. The remake is a lousy horror film that lacks spirit. Bad horror films are fun to watch during the Halloween season so take a look at Prom Night if you are interested.