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Prom Night

A murderous rampage less stress-inducing than yearbook signing

By Matt Pais

Metromix
April 11, 2008

Critic's Rating:

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Wooooo, prom’s going to be the best night ever! Well, not for Donna (Brittany Snow), whose bash is crashed by a former teacher (Johnathon Schaech) who escapes from a mental institution--three years after his obsession with Donna drove him to murder her family. Idris Elba (“This Christmas”) stars as the incompetent cop on the case, and a bunch of “CSI: Miami” and “Zoey 101” vets play Donna’s friends.

Big question: Can this remake improve upon the dated 1980 flick about high school kids hunted down as revenge for an accidental murder, since all the films have in common is pretty teens dancing their final steps?

Skip it: Any creep factor generated by a killer who seems like a real-life wackjob disappears when that guy behaves more like an onscreen psycho than a teacher gone wild. It’s also tough to be terrified by his absurdly methodical pursuit of Donna’s friends, who he has no reason to kill besides maybe coveting their seats at the lunch table.

Catch it: For Detective Winn’s (Elba) hilarious response after his partner says that Donna’s pretty: “… and alive. And I want her to stay that way.”

Bottom line: The scariest thing here is the acting: No one but Snow looks like they’d deserve an audition for “Gossip Girl,” since everyone delivers their lines as if seconds later they turned to the director and said, “Was that OK”? While this “Prom Night” is more streamlined and avoids the original’s mid-movie dance sequence, most viewers would probably prefer seeing a minute-long disco boogie than every horror cliche in the book.

Bonus: After her boyfriend (Kellan Lutz) expresses his disinterest in becoming prom king and queen, senior class snob Crissy (Brianne Davis) declares, “If he were any dumber, I’d have to water him.” Nice to see such environmental awareness in today’s youth!

What do you think of 'Prom Night'? Email me: mpais@tribune.com