Susan Granger’s review of “Prom Night” (Screen Gems/Sony Pictures)
With its impressive box-office tally, this remake of the slasher thriller “Prom Night” has put some bite back into the horror genre although, surprisingly, the violence has actually decreased this time ‘round in order to get that coveted PG-13 rating.
Bridgeport High School senior Donna Keppel (Brittany Snow of “Hairspray”) lives with her aunt and uncle (Jessalyn Gilsig, Linden Ashby). As shown in flashback, three years earlier, as she hid under the bed, her parents were butchered by Richard Fenton (Johnathon Schaech), a psychopathic teacher who’s obsessed with her. Now fiendish Fenton has escaped from a maximum security prison.
Unsuspecting Donna is looking forward to spending prom night with Bobby (Scott Porter of “Friday Night Lights”) and their friends (Dana Davis, Collins Pennie, Jessica Stroup, Kelly Blatz) who have booked a stretch limo and a suite at the Pacific Grand Hotel for their own private ‘after prom’ celebration which is crashed by the knife-toting killer, trailed by a dim-witted cop (Idris Elba).
Veteran TV director Nelson McCormick (“Prison Break,” “CSI”) makes his directing debut, working from an inane script by J.S. Cardone (“The Covenant”). It’s tepid fare with a vacuous cast, particularly when compared with the previous 1980 version featuring Jamie Lee Curtis as the scream queen.
The only memorable line of dialogue is delivered by Brianne Davis, as nasty Crissy, who disses her prom date, noting: “If he were any dumber, I’d have to water him.”
And it’s truly unfortunate that Johnathon Schaech (“That Thing You Do”) lumbers around looking like a demented Forrest Gump. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Prom Night” loses its bloomin’ corsage with an easily forgotten 2. Or, as another critic cryptically remarked, “Many people in this picture actually died of boredom.”
