Fiona Poh
Prom Night is a movie that guys will want to bring girls to on their first date. Kellan Lutz who plays a supporting role in the movie agrees, saying that “I don’t get too scared myself, ’cause you know, I’m a man and what not. But I like taking girls to the movie and when they jump up, I can put my arm around them and it’s cool.”
The Plot
Prom Night is about a girl, her teacher and a couple of dead people getting killed here and there. Donna Keppel (Played by Brittany Snow) is a pretty girl who unfortunately incurred the obsessive ‘love’ of her teacher Richard Fenton (Played by Johnathon Scheach) who will do anything to be with her, never mind the fact that she has a long time boyfriend or that her family has already taken out a restraining order against him.
Think John Hinckley, Jr. and Jodie Foster; both Fenton and Hinckley suffer from ‘erotomania‘. According to Director Nelson McCormick in the production notes, it is a condition that causes them to create a relationship that only exists in their mind. The sufferer will do anything to maintain that.
Three years ago, Fenton killed Donna’s immediate family in a furious rampage after he was unable to find her that one night he broke in. Donna barely escaped, keeping her wits enough to hide under her brother’s bed just before Fenton spotted her, but not unscathed – she watched helplessly as Fenton stabbed her mother to death right in front of her eyes, unable to even cry aloud as she watched her mother try to protect her from Fenton right till the end.
Three years later, Fenton is in a maximum-security asylum for the criminally insane, while Donna prepares for her senior prom. Her boyfriend – Bobby, has rented the biggest limousine in town and a swanky suite in the same luxurious hotel that their prom is held at, together with another four of their friends. And Donna comments in a moment of sentiment that it’s ironic that they all look forward to prom – the symbolism of the death of their youth, not knowing that death is indeed round the corner for some of them, making it the biggest irony of the film.
As Donna parties, her close friends are being killed one by one as Fenton draws closer to her, but then again, any movie-goer will know that already. The plot is predictive to the point that it is not much of a feat to anticipate who is the next victim even before Fenton’s terrifying figure looms up behind the unsuspecting target because said victims will all so casually put themselves in situations where they will be helpless in the face of Fenton’s misguided acts of love.
The lovelorn killer
Fenton is a maniac, a psychopath and a killer. He is obsessed with Donna; he thinks they’re meant to be, and will do anything to make her his, including killing her family to make her dependent on him. Or in his own words, “Nothing is going to keep us apart. She needs me now more than ever… All she has is me.”
Despite executive producer Mark Forby’s insistence that there is something very human about Fenton’s obsession because everyone has probably encountered a situation where they are absolutely driven to achieve what they want, the Bogeyman of the movie regretfully comes across as a one-dimensional character whose role is to provide the scare factor. There is little depth to Fenton; his appearances are limited to brief scenes of stiff posturing and senseless violence, and what empathy Forby expects the audience to feel for Fenton is sadly not forthcoming.
The mystifying
Prom Night blurs the line between horror and thriller on more than one occasion. Fenton is human, at least in the most basic sense. However, the movie delights in adding a supernatural touch to his stalking, which is the polite way of saying that it sometimes doesn’t make sense.
Fenton kills without leaving discriminating stains, despite gutting his victims in a messy fashion, and goes unnoticed despite the desperate screams and struggles his victims put up. He also manages to slit Bobby’s throat while Donna, all high-strung and ready to jump at the slightest noise, takes her medicine in the next room. There is neither a closed door nor a long distance separating them. He might be psycho, but that doesn’t automatically make him an expert at assassination and cleaning blood off expensive carpet.
The remains
Prom Night is the kind of movie that McCormick was heavily influenced by in his youth – popcorn horror films. It’s best watched with half a pinch of salt. There is not much suspense, because the audience is able to tell in advance what’s going to happen. Neither is there much logic, because Fenton doesn’t come across as a brilliant mind who is always one step ahead of everyone but a bogeyman from Donna’s nightmare. One consolation however, is that this movie is not likely to appear in any future Scary Moviesequel.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Movie Details
Opens: 24 July 2008
Movie Rating: PG
Running Time: 88 mins
Language: English
Director: Nelson McCormick
Cast: Brittany Snow, Johnathon Schaech, Idris Elba