6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.3 |
A masked killer stalks four teenagers who were responsible for the accidental death of a classmate six years previously.
Starring: Leslie Nielsen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Stevens, Anne-Marie Martin, Antoinette BowerHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 13% |
Teen | 2% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (96kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (96kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
1980’s “Prom Night” holds a peculiar place in the slasher film spectrum. Created to cash in on the wild success of 1978’s “Halloween,” the movie arrived just before standards for this type of horror dipped into pure financial calculation. It’s a tad slower than its brethren, offers limited violence, and submits a noticeable effort with editing and performances, making it quite interesting if not entirely triumphant. It’s a mixed bag of delights, but “Prom Night” retains appeal through its unusual tone and care with motivation, adding just a hint of real-world torment to ground the masked killer shenanigans. Also adding to the picture’s appeal is its era-specific setting, eschewing timelessness to whip up a disco inferno, gifting the feature a bewitching time capsule-style allure.
The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation has brought "Prom Night" to HD with a truly filmic and respectful restoration effort. Although the movie is inherently soft, fine detail is exceptional, preserving textures on skin and costuming (the killer's mask displays its intended sparkle), while set design achievements and locations retain depth and nuance. Colors are vivid and accurate, emphasizing blazing red dresses and drippy bloodshed, while disco hues also make an impression, covering a range of blues and yellows. Skintones are natural. Grain is managed with ideal results, keeping a celluloid feel to the viewing experience. Blacks are tested throughout, yet delineation remains, with the finale and most of its dark corners open for inspection.
The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix joins the visual elements in giving "Prom Night" a full Blu-ray feel, offering a tasteful sampling of circular movement that envelops the listener with suspense elements and atmospherics. Scoring is felt in full, with crisp instrumentation and steady volume keep up tension. Soundtrack cuts bring a pleasing low-end to the track, sampling the disco beat on numerous occasions. Dialogue exchanges are defined, capturing emotional surges and group dynamic, while echoed hallway activity is isolated without muddiness. Damage isn't detected.
"Prom Night" is artfully composed and nicely edited, delivering a bit more texture than the average slasher enterprise provides. Tension with a masked killer finally arrives in the final act (though violence is muted, with Lynch almost afraid to detail the blood and guts), breaking up the disco carnival with some stalking scenes and chaos, offering a decent payoff to the mystery -- the ending is wonderfully blunt, making its climatic point and hitting the end credits without wasting any time. Sequels followed and a wretched remake arrived in 2008, yet the original "Prom Night" stands as a minor achievement in the genre, content to play down knife-wielding anarchy and track the concerns and suspicions of the personalities involved. And there's disco too. Sweet, sweet disco. Nothing sells a horror show from 1980 like Jamie Lee Curtis catching boogie fever.
1983
1987
2009
1980
Collector's Edition
1981
Collector's Edition
1976
25th Anniversary Edition
1997
1986
2014
Rosemary's Killer
1981
2019
Uncut
2008
1982
Collector's Edition
1989
1981
2016
1986
Remastered | Collector's Edition
1981
Unrated Director's Cut
2010
2009