The movie Prom Night was released on Netflix on May 23. Set in the tragically obscure and tortured city of Shadyside, the movie showcases how the six candidates for the 1988 prom queen at the local high school are being hunted and killed by a mysterious entity wearing a long bright red coat with a dark mask.
The six candidates include four of the most popular girls at Shadyside High: Tiffany Falconer (Fina Strazza), Melissa McKendrick (Ella Rubin), Debbie Winters (Rebecca Ablack), and Linda Harper (Ilan O’Driscoll). The two candidates are more unexpected: Lori Granger (India Fowler) and Christy Renault (Ariana Greenblatt). Lori Granger is considered to be an outsider and the “weird girl” from school; her father was killed at his prom, and there are rumors that her mother was the killer. The last candidate is Christy Renault, a rebellious girl known for causing trouble.
In the movie, the protagonist Lori Granger faces challenges such as standing up for herself and gaining acknowledgement from her peers at school and during prom. While Christy only entered the contest to provoke the school’s queen bee, Tiffany, Lori hopes to alter the town’s perception of her by becoming Prom Queen.
Prom Night includes the general theme from the franchise Fear Street through its mystery and the killings, and by displaying Shadyside as a cursed place where death and murder are always close behind. The movie also references other mass killings that took place in other movies, like the ‘78 incident at the summer camp.
While it is undeniable that this spin-off movie is directly connected to the original films, it takes a different approach to exploring the motives of the killer and does not adhere to the supernatural causes established in the original franchise. While Prom Night featured satisfactory mystery and thriller elements, the film did not meet all the expectations that the past films from the franchise set for fans: its cinematographic quality, graphic nature of the scenes and the overall atmosphere differ significantly from those found in the original films.
Nevertheless, this movie did provide for the mystery, thriller and horror elements that horror movie fans look for. The film contains elements of mystery, gruesome scenes of disturbing events and a few shocking revelations as viewers uncover the identity of the killer and their motives. Additionally, it features impeccable transitions from gory movie scenes and more uplifting ones, effectively capturing the essence of the 80s. In conclusion, I would rate this movie a solid 7 out of 10 due to its general good horror movie characteristics, yet it did leave fans of the Fear Street franchise a bit disappointed on the overall approach of the movie.
