Prom Night (1980)

Prom Night (1980) 

After playing the titular character in John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), Jamie Lee Curtis plays an all to similar character in the low-budget Canadian 'slasher' flick Prom Night (1980). If you've seen Halloween it's the same basic plot. Some backstory, then Jamie Lee Curtis' friends start dropping off by a mysterious killer, then the great reveal/the end.

That description makes the film, and others within the genre, sound bland. Which is totally not the case.....totally.

After playing a game of, what i can only assume is called, 'killer' (a bit like tiggie mixed with hide and go seek) One of the girls gets cornered, and in a paralysis of fear she then falls from a great height out of a window. Shocked, the kids make a pact to never talk about the situation to anyone in fear of being put in jail.

Soon after, a police detective turns up. Deducting that the girl was probably cornered by a rapist, and in an attempt to resist, she committed suicide.

The film transitions to six years later, the girl died in 1974 and now it's 1980. But the crime is still unsolved...

The detective still suspects the same culprit, a crazed man who was put into an institution. Much like Micheal Myers, this man escapes, and killings are starting to happen again. But who's behind them?

Is it the creepy groundskeeper Mr. Sykes, who has a weird habit of sticking his tongue out and appearing at the scene of strange events?. Is it one of the innocent kids that inadvertently killed the girl?, or is it the detective spot on?

While the production isn't as good as Halloween, but then again, who can touch Carpenter at his prime?, Prom Night is well filmed. The pacing is great, especially the odd occurrences before the killings start. Such as the shattered mirror in the girls room and the school photos from 1974 that appear in the kids' lockers. Prom Night establishes itself as a cult slasher flick, one of the first of the 80s tradition, and some would argue that it's one of the best. 

Full Film: Prom Night (1980)

Too Much Horror Business!

+++Happy Halloweenie!+++

Who doesn't like a good horror movie? Okay, so loads of people don't. But i do, and this is my blog, bro. Seriously, I spend most of my time on Halloween watching horror movies and listening to punk rock. So here is a list (complete with Youtube links to the full movies) to some of my favorite horror flicks! Enjoy and......as The Misfits say, BEWARE!

Trick Or Treat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33nGwh0ADIA
With a cameo by Ozzy Osbourne playing the part of a TV evangelist, Trick or Treat is a cool film about a young metalhead who is crushed after his idol has died. When he aquires the acetate of Sammi Curr's new record from a sympathetic friend, Gene Simmons no less!, he gets more than he bargained for! When playing the record backwards, he hears the voice of his idol-speaking directly from the grave!

Dolls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v0TMGFRpgQ
A great film about a family who find a house, owned by an odd couple, to take refuge in- after their car has broken down on a stormy night. Much like many 'haunted house' flicks/books, others soon find themselves in the same predicament. In 'Dolls' case we have some lame 80's new wave/punkettes with terrible Bwitish acciints and a bumbling goofball 'Ralph Morris'.
Soon, murders are happening...and it all leads to the dolls that the eccentric owner creates.

Clownhouse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tv6VoOYok4
Although the film will forever be plagued with the directors alleged molestation of the youngest cast member, Clownhouse is a decent clown based horror romp. Three brothers are left alone for Halloween night, at the same time, a group of mental-cases have escaped their asylum, killed some clowns, and taken their uniforms. As expected, the two worlds collide, teenage boys being stalked by killer 'clowns'.

Basketcase
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsGZyilpLb8
A personal favorite, Basketcase! This is one absolutely bonkers flick about a boy, Duane, who moves to the city. The strange thing is, he always carries a straw box around. Well, it turns out that in this box is his 'twin' brother, who was separated at an early age by some dodgy surgeons. The 'twin', Belial, is a large tumour-like creature with a face and arms. Jealous of his 'normal' looking brother, Belial gets Duane to find the dodgy surgeons who split them up so that they can take care of them. But, his murderous jealously hits breaking point when Duane forms a relationship with a local nurse!

Braindead
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9SJP27mR1g
Before Peter Jackson became known as the 'Lord of the Rings' director, he directed many low-budget films such as the fantastic 'The Frighteners', 'Bad Taste', and this gore-tastic gem, 'Braindead'. A 'rat-monkey' gets taken from its native 'Skull Island' and put in an Australian zoo. Our main character, Lionel, becomes 'romantically entangled' with a local Mexican woman. While on a date, Lionel's controlling mother follows him to the zoo where she gets bitten by the 'rat-monkey' and becomes a zombie-like creature that starts to infect the unfortunates that enter her house.
For the majority of the film Lionel is hiding and tranquilizing these zombies in his house, until the body count becomes too much after an unexpected party...where the bloodbath begins.

+++Happy Halloween+++

+++I Can't Wait To Hear You Scream!+++