prom night

Director Paul Lynch gives star Jamie Lee Curtis 75% of the credit for Prom Night’s success. And he’s not being overly generous. After Halloween, which became one of the largest grossing independents ever, having Curtis’ name attached to another film in the horror genre was like winning the lottery. And Prom Night (1980) got the most out of her girl-next-door image as a masked killer stalks the students of Hamilton High during their disco-themed special night.

A prologue introduces us to young Nick, Wendy, Kelly and Jude who accidently push one of their playmates from a three-story plate glass window. They take a vow of silence to never reveal what they did. But fast forward six years later to senior prom: someone knows who was responsible for the tragedy and is making sure they pay the price.

Prom Night is more of a mystery than a slasher per se. There are no on-camera kills until the final 30 minutes and even those are relatively tame by later standards (with one notable exception). Instead the film sets up a ridiculous amount of possible suspects: the school principal (Leslie Nielsen), his grief stricken wife, the neighborhood bully, even the creepy gardener who is the butt (literally) of all the students jokes.

But it’s Jamie Lee Curtis who holds the screen’s attention. All this character building doesn’t work if the audience doesn’t have a likable lead to hunt down all the clues. As the disco-dancing queen of the prom, Curtis just oozes charisma. She’s popular, sexy and seems to be having a great time…miles away from the virginal bookworm Laurie in Halloween. There’s something compulsively watchable about her performance that carries over to the rest of the film.

That’s good; because on it’s own Prom Night would be just another variation on the teens-in-jeopardy formula. It’s well-made, well-shot and you can hardly tell everyone is Canadian. But Curtis proves just how valuable star power is in a genre that usually gets by on gore.

Synapse Films’ special edition blu-ray will be a real shocker to anyone who wrote the film off as a poorly shot mess. Their new transfer provides a huge boost in clarity and colors. Disco might be dead, but it’s never looked so alive! The climactic dance scene is a real stunner. Kudos to the company for their hard work and collecting a great slate of extras including a 40-minute Making Of, deleted scenes from the TV version (which feature a lot more Nielsen), more on-set outtakes and trims, audio commentary with Lynch and screenwriter William Gray plus trailers, TV spots, radio spots, a motion still gallery and a brand-new 5.1 Surround remix that takes it all to the next level.