Prom Night (2008) - PG-13

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Tedious slasher flick is both gory and boring.

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Rating: PG-13 for violence and terror, some sexual material, underage drinking, and language. Studio: Screen Gems Directed By: Nelson McCormick Cast: Brittany Snow, Jonathan Schaech, Dana Davis Running Time: 88 minutes Release Date: 04/11/2008 Genre: Horror

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that this violent (yet curiously dull) slasher-style teen horror film -- which is a loose remake of the identically named 1980 Jamie Lee Curtis movie -- includes a constant stream of stabbings, stranglings, and other murders, all of which are committed without craft, tension, or any subtlety whatsoever. It's just a string of killings and gory bloodshed. There's also some discussion of sex and sexuality, references to underage drinking, and strong language ("s--t").

Families can talk about the appeal of horror films. How would you describe the experience of watching them? Why do they so often put young women in peril? Families can also discuss the difference between shock and suspense and the difference between violence and tension. Main character Donna is dealing with a clear case of post-traumatic stress syndrome; families can talk about trying to recover from tragedy and violence.

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: James Rocchi

Donna Kepple (Brittany Snow) is haunted by nightmares; three years ago, her teacher, Mr. Fenton (Jonathon Schaech), became obsessed with her, and that madness turned murderous. After a series of killings, Fenton was caught, and while Donna is safe with her aunt and uncle, she's still troubled by what happened to her. Now it's PROM NIGHT, and Donna and her friends are off for the crowning evening of their high school careers -- which, of course, is when viewers find out that Fenton has escaped custody. Soon, Donna and her friends are all marked for death as a killer stalks the hotel halls. ...

Prom Night is a fairly plotless film, even by the low standards of horror moviemaking. From the outset, we're told who the killer is and what he wants, so there are no red herrings or misdirection, just a series of slashings and stabbings as various prom attendees and innocent bystanders are picked off one by one. Schaech's Fenton is a shabby, thinly-drawn bad guy, and Snow's Donna is a plucky, standard-issue horror film heroine. Even the superb Idris Elba (The Wire) is wasted as a cardboard caricature cop who's infuriatingly inept. Prom Night feels more generic than anything else -- like it was assembled from a box labeled "Horror Movie Scenes."

Deeply flawed, Prom Night is a by-the-numbers horror flick that confuses mere violence with real vitality and substitutes shock for suspense. Compared to better-done examples of the genre (see below), it manages to be both violent and deathly dull.

For better-made teen horror, try the grisly-but-inventive Scream, or the original Halloween; they aren't less violent than Prom Night (indeed, they're more so), but they're actually suspenseful and intriguing.

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content Cleavage discussed and on display; characters talk about "alone time," "looking sexy," and "getting laid." The protagonist's stalker is clearly motivated by romantic/sexual pathology. A group of older men invite female teens up to their hotel rooms; the young women laugh it off. On-screen sexuality is limited to light making out in the context of committed relationships.
Violence A total of 13 murders, mostly committed with a knife (although there are some stranglings and a shooting as well, plus scuffling, someone's face getting smashed into a mirror, and kicks to the face). Many of the murders occur off screen, and viewers never see a knife cutting or stabbing into flesh, but there's plenty of spurting blood and shots of bloody murder weapons. Several corpses with visible bloody stab wounds or lying in pools of blood are shown.
Language Language includes "goddamn," "s--t," "damn," "hell," and "bitch."
Message
	Social Behavior Some discussion of class; a rival for prom queen notes that "I just want Crissy to know she can't buy everything." Crissy is also referred to as a "rich bitch." And then there are all the killings...
	Commercialism Only one logo visible -- Jones Soda -- although one character offers another "a Midol" for cramps.
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco A group of teens hoists a beer keg into the hotel; another underage attendee is busted trying to smuggle a bottle into the prom. A third character pours alcohol from a flask into his soda. The lead character has been taking Klonpin for anxiety, but at the start of the film has not been taking it for a week: "I don't want to feel numb ... I should be a little bit nervous on prom night, right?" Later, she does take one, albeit with good reason.