Prom Night (1980) (R, 1980)

Kids play tag in an abandoned building, chanting "The killers are coming!" and terrorize playmate Robin into falling out a broken window to her death. They swear each other to secrecy -- even the victim's sister Kim. Six years later, when they're high school seniors, Kim (Jamie Lee Curtis) is a surprise choice for Hamilton High School Prom Queen, which brings up a lot of bad feelings. At that point a mystery stalker begins phoning threats to all the teens. Confusing flashbacks and cop-talk also tells us a disfigured psycho falsely imprisoned for killing Robin is amok again. Kim's dad (Leslie Nielsen), the principle, has just hired a creepy new janitor. And a class punk, just expelled, plans revenge at the prom. Which one is the black-masked marauder murdering kids during the dance?

PROM NIGHT was among tons of low-grade horror garbage released in slavish imitation of the original Halloween. This had the luck to somehow cast that one's leading lady JamieLee Curtis in a main role. And a lot of the others were heaps worse. Still, it's unoriginal, the characters (who look like 20-somethings rather than teens) are underwritten and unappealing, and the mystery element about who the killer is fizzles out. Only in some death chases is there suspense, and that's pretty bleak, entertainment-wise. Most scary of all -- the climax is practically wall-to-wall disco. Jamie Lee dances nicely, though.

Studio: New Line
Director: Paul Lynch
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Jeff Wincott, Leslie Nielsen
Genre: Horror
Run time: 91 minutes
Theatrical release: July 18, 1980
DVD release: February 18, 1998
MPAA Rating: R