4.7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Donna's senior prom is supposed to be the best night of her life. After surviving a horrible tragedy, she has finally moved on and is enjoying her last year of high school. Surrounded by her best friends, she should be safe from the horrors of her past. But when the night turns deadly, there is only one person who could be responsible... a man she thought was gone forever. Now, Donna and her friends must find a way to escape the sadistic rampage of an obsessed killer, and survive a night "to die for."
Starring: Brittany Snow, Scott Porter (III), Jessica Stroup, Dana Davis (I), Collins PennieHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 69% |
Teen | 22% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
Portuguese: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, English SDH, Portuguese, Spanish, Cantonese, Indonesian, Korean, Thai
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
Region free
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The memories of that night will come and go and fade with time but you will never forget
it.
It could almost be considered a minor form of torture to review The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a
Warrior and Prom Night consecutively. Fortunately, while Prom Night
is no great shakes, it's so remarkably better than The Scorpion King 2 that I hope I
remain objective in reviewing it, because if these were the only two movies in the world, this one
would look like Citizen Kane next to that direct-to-video nonsense which is
TSK2:ROAW (there's an acronym that won't have much play). Prom Night
did
hold my interest throughout, and it was never a great struggle to have to sit through it, which is
in and of itself a major triumph for the film. Generally, these kinds of movies leave me bored out
of my mind about a third of the way through. If nothing else, the disc's main menu had me
hooked. The music was good for what I fully expected to be a typical teen slasher
flick with minimal violence and plot. The visuals that looped over the menu and the content of
the movie that runs at a brisk 89 minutes backed up my suspicions, but I guess pumping
out the good music over the menu would be like hiding a moldy cake with a fresh can of frosting.
Luckily,
Prom Night is still edible, but it's not quite as good as a freshly baked and heavily frosted
delight, replete with plenty of ice cream on the side.
Be afraid, little girl, because those pretty blue eyes have seen this scene a dozen times before.
Prom Night slashes onto Blu-ray with a fine looking 1080p, 2.40:1-framed transfer. Black levels are rock-solid throughout. Flesh tones are natural and pleasant, and the transfer sports a nice, film-like look. Detail is not impeccable, but it's strong. Facial detail in particular is nice. A scar on Brittany Snow's forehead never fails to stand out, which is not a bad thing because it makes her more human. Likewise, the first time we see a close-up of Fenton, his facial hair and blemishes stand out well and look very natural. Colors are strong and genuine; the various colors of prom dresses, the interiors of the hotel, and that of Donna's home, for example, look just fine. Textures aren't as well-defined as we've seen in other transfers, and there are rarely any moments in the film that beg you to reach out and touch something we see. Likewise, while the transfer is strong, it never leaps off the screen. There is a very subtle layer of grain over the image that never stands out and should not bother Blu-ray fans who would rather not see grain on their screens. Prom Night is a good-looking disc that should not disappoint anyone who chooses to watch it.
Sony takes us to Prom Night with a decent Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless surround sound mix. Decent, tense music, fairly typical of the genre, but not bad, is heard throughout. The music pleasantly fills the room, and as it emanates from all the speakers, it creates a modicum of tension. Dialogue is a little weak in volume. During the prom sequences in chapter five, the music never dominates the dialogue. In fact, it comes across as rather subdued, but it does save dialogue clarity. However, the soundtrack suffers from sounding a bit unrealistic as a result. Granted, there is a fine line that must be placed just so in order to retain realism and allow audiences to hear dialogue (you know how it goes at loud parties where you have to shout right into someone's ear just to be heard), and Prom Night seems to turn down the ambient music a bit too much. During the scenes where music dominates the prom scenes, it sounds fine with solid, though infrequent, lows and a good surround presence. The music leaks into the back but remains focused across the front. There are some nice musical cues used as minor ambience during the more "tense" scenes of the movie. I'd definitely label music as the film's strong suit, not counting the popular music that plays during the prom scenes, but rather Paul Haslinger's (Shoot 'Em Up) score. This is a soundtrack that does its job but never goes above and beyond the call of duty.
Although the movie is generally considered a flop, Sony went all-out to make this a
feature-packed
special edition. Leading things off is a feature-length commentary track with director Nelson
McCormick and actors Brittany Snow and Johnathon Schaech. While providing decent
information
with each trying their best to impress and heap the praise on one another, and also on the rest of
the cast and crew, the track becomes meddlesome rather quickly. Snow's scratchy voice begins
to
sound
like fingernails on a chalk board after a while. McCormick provides the best information and
delves
more into the technical aspects of the film, such as where shots are filmed, a discussion of props
used throughout the film (including the evolution of the killer's knife), and the change in pace the
film's visuals underwent at a particular point in the film (beginning almost exactly one hour into
the
film). This track is for diehard fans only. Next is Bonus View Picture-In Picture Storyboard
Track. Here, fans are treated to the film's storyboards as they pertain to each scene in the
film. This is offered in an unobtrusive, small box on the bottom right hand corner of the screen.
Interactive Poll: Where is the Best Place to Hide a Body? is a throwaway online feature
where fans can vote on where they would hide a body: in a bathtub, a car trunk, a deserted hotel
floor, in a closet, in the ceiling, or under a bed. I voted for "in the ceiling," which currently ranks
as the most popular choice at 63.6%. The rest of the BD-Live page features little more than a
selection of trailers and a FAQ. A series of five deleted scenes (480p, 4:55) and an alternate
ending (480p, 0:35) with optional director commentary are included, as is a gag reel (480p,
1:59). Next up is Bridgeport High Vikings Video Yearbook (480p, 5:36). This is a
series of stills and video footage of the high school students that looks like footage shown on a
screen during the film's prom sequences. Profile of a Killer (480p, 5:59) is a look at the
motivations and actions of the film's killer as described by various members of the cast and crew.
Gothic Spaces: Creating The Pacific Hotel (480p, 4:47) examines the film's primary set
piece. Prom Night Photo Album: Real Prom Stories From the Cast (480p,
6:12) features the cast members discussing their own prom memories. Rounding out the extras
are the film's trailer (1080p, 2:18), TV Spot (480p, 0:18), and additional trailers for You Don't Mess With the
Zohan, Made of Honor, Vantage Point, Persepolis, The Other Boleyn
Girl, 21, Across the Universe,
Married Life, 30 Days of Night,
Wind Chill, I Know Who Killed
Me, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox
Story, Starship Troopers 3:
Marauder, Resident Evil:
Degeneration, and a preview for a Playstation 3 game, Pain.
I'll admit to enjoying Prom Night more than I had anticipated. It's far from original, but it follows formula very well and does a few things to set itself apart from the crowd. Groundbreaking cinema this is not, however. It's definitely drivel, but it is drivel done well, and if nothing else, the movie is mostly entertaining to watch. It's a "no harm, no foul" movie that really has no reason to exist, but since it's here, enjoy it for what it is. Sony's Blu-ray presentation of Prom Night is not exceptional, but it's good. Featuring a pleasant video quality, a decent lossless audio presentation, and far more supplements than a movie like this one deserves, the package, taken as a whole, is not that bad. I could see myself watching Prom Night again in a few years, maybe back-to-back with the older film of the same name starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielsen that I own on LaserDisc. I'd recommend Prom Night to the curious as a rental. You just might find it slightly more entertaining than expected.
2009
2010
Scre4m
2011
2000
25th Anniversary Edition
1997
2000
Collector's Edition
2005
1998
2006
Unrated Director's Cut
2007
Collector's Edition
1978
Unrated Edition
2006
Unrated Edition
2005
Special Edition
1980
2010
Unrated Director's Cut
2008
Uncut Edition
2009
2006
2018
Saw 3D
2010