Prom Night (1980)
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29% of critics liked it
(17 reviews) -
41% of users liked it
(19,701 ratings)
This low-budget, tongue-in-cheek horror film of the slasher genre -- which had recently been popularized by Halloween (1978) -- stars that film's lead, Jamie Lee Curtis, as Kim Hammond, a prom queen who becomes a scream queen. Six years ago, a little girl was taunted by four classmates and fell… More This low-budget, tongue-in-cheek horror film of the slasher genre -- which had recently been popularized by Halloween (1978) -- stars that film's lead, Jamie Lee Curtis, as Kim Hammond, a prom queen who becomes a scream queen. Six years ago, a little girl was taunted by four classmates and fell to her death from an abandoned schoolhouse. The quartet of kids promised to keep their complicity in the accident a secret. Now it's their prom night and they've got the jitters because they have recently been receiving phone calls and notes from an ominous, unknown individual claiming to have witnessed the girl's death and vowing revenge. At the prom, the four become fatal victims one by one of a mysterious, axe-wielding, masked, and hooded stalker. The many possibilities of the murderer's identity include Kim, who is the little dead girl's sister, her school-principal father (Leslie Nielsen), or her disc-jockey brother, Alex (Michael Tough). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Directed By
- Paul Lynch
- Genres
- Horror
- In Theaters
- Aug 15, 1980 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Variety Staff, Variety
Director Paul Lynch seems to capture the spirit of the genre here, but spends a little too much time setting up each murder, thus eliminating some suspense.
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, Time Out
If you forget motivation, the visual trick-or-treat of slow revenge is entertaining enough.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Why do people go to these movies?
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Vincent Canby, New York Times
Because it's quite easy to figure out the killer's identity by simply keeping track of who is off screen a lot, much of the movie is just vamping for time.
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Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media
Schoolhouse horror -- go to the back of the class.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Leslie Nielsen
as Mr. Hammond
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Jamie Lee Curtis
as Kim
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Casey Stevens
as Nick
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Eddie Benton
as Wendy
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Antoinette Bower
as Mrs. Hammond
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Michael Tough
as Alex
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Robert A. Silverman
as Sykes
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Pita Oliver
as Vicki
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David Mucci
as Lou
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Jeff Wincott
as Drew
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Marybeth Rubins
as Kelly
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Joy Thompson
as Jude
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Brock Simpson
as Young Nick
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Debbie Greenfield
as Child
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Tammy Bourne
as Child
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Dean Bosacki
as Young Alex
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Leslie Scott
as Child
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Beth Amos
as Housekeeper
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David Bolt
as Weller
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David Gardner
as Dr. Fairchild
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George Touliatos
as McBride
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Sonia Zimmer
as Melanie
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Rob Garrison
as Sayer
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Pam Henry
as Car Hop
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Sylvia Martin
as Mrs. Cunningham
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Ardon Bess
as Teacher
- Sheldon Rybowski

