The Online Reflector

By J.P. Sinclair, Staff Writer

I don’t know what it is with the latest set of want-to-be horror thrillers dropping their blood, guts and overall grotesqueness simply to make the PG-13 rating. You’d think movies would learn after the downfall of “Alien versus Predator,” that a horror movie without blood is kind of like showing up to a romantic dinner alone. At least the Strause brothers learned from the mistake of “AVP” when they made “Requiem.” However J.S. Cardone, executive producer and writer of “Prom Night,” missed the memo somewhere.

“Prom Night” is a prime example of a movie with great possibility.
It simply tried to target the wrong audience.

It’s a thriller/horror movie that should be targeted to high schooler’s through college students, but with the drop in rating, it seemed to target middle school students. Because its one of the few slasher films with a PG-13 rating, when someone is stabbed, their bodies don’t show stab wounds when they appear again, which just doesn’t seem realistic.

With a fairly straightforward plot that doesn’t go very far, Nelson McCormick’s big-screen directorial debut was at least somewhat successful. The cinematography that McCormick was able to capture was astonishing. It’s very elaborate and the jumps were largely unsuspected.

One of the better credits to Cardone’s writing was the opening sequence, because it throws us into the action and forces us to become enthralled. When main character Donna Keppel played by Brittany Snow (“Hairspray”), who is one of few proven actresses or actors in the film, comes home after a movie with a friend, her actions and mannerisms were realistic. But in the end it was still predictable, which always takes away from a horror/thriller.

Even in this film, we’re not on the edge of our seats because we know who the killer is immediately, so there is no surprise or any unexpected plot twists.

But another positive credit is the fact that this film has some terrific foreshadowing. When Donna says, “This is it. Some of us won’t see each other again,” I was simply giddy inside thinking that it was not only true figuratively but literally.

In a surprise move, we know the killer and his motives very early in the film, so their isn’t a whole lot to the character, but great acting by Richard Fenton made this character creepy and direct, which was true to the script.

Casting directors Lindsey Hayes Kroeger and David Rapaport seem to love their television series, because that’s all the actors consisted of from their previous roles. Kroeger and Rapaport have been part of the casting department of some great films, but as casting directors, neither have a very good streak, including “Vacancy” and “Daddy Day Care.”

This is a movie that shouldn’t even be called a remake. The movie shares its name with a thriller, but this new movie lacks a sense of mystery. And one last thing: when you had your senior prom, was it even in a hotel? That fact only seemed like McCormick had fewer locations to film at. I would only recommend this movie to those who, like Jamie Kennedy’s character in Scream, love to point out the flaws of horror movies.