Prom Night (1980 film)
| Prom Night | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Paul Lynch |
| Produced by | Peter R. Simpson Richard Simpson |
| Written by | William Gray |
| Story by | Robert Guza, Jr. |
| Starring |
Leslie Nielsen Jamie Lee Curtis |
| Music by |
Paul Zaza Carl Zittrer |
| Cinematography | Robert C. New |
| Edited by | Brian Ravok |
| Distributed by | AVCO Embassy Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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93 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,500,000 CAD |
| Box office | $14,796,236 USD |
Prom Night is a 1980 Canadian slasher film directed by Paul Lynch, based on a story by Robert Guza, Jr., and starring Leslie Nielsen and Jamie Lee Curtis. The story concerns a group of high school seniors who are targeted by a mysterious masked killer in revenge for their culpability in the accidental death of a young girl six years earlier. The anniversary of the incident falls on their high school's prom night, when the older sister of the dead girl is being crowned Prom Queen.
Filmed in Toronto in late 1979 on a modest budget, Prom Night was considerably popular upon its release, especially within the drive-in theater circuit. Despite receiving generally negative reviews from critics, the film was a massive financial success, becoming Canada's highest-grossing horror film of 1980. It also received Genie Award nominations for editing and for Curtis's performance.
In 1974, 11-year-olds Wendy Richards, Jude Cunningham, Kelly Lynch, and Nick McBride play hide and seek in an abandoned convent. 10-year-old Robin Hammond tries to join them, but they start teasing her by repeating "Kill! Kill! Kill!". Robin is then backed up towards a window from which she falls to her death. Instead of reporting the incident to the police, the children make a pact not to tell anyone what happened and keep the incident a secret, but after they leave, a shadow falls across Robin's body. Later a known rapist, Leonard Merch is mistakenly blamed for Robin's death and is arrested.
Six years pass and it is 1980. Robin's family attend her memorial on the anniversary of her death. Robin's teenage sister and brother, Kim and Alex, are also preparing for the school prom to be held that evening. Their parents will also attend, as their father is the school principal. Kelly, Jude and Wendy begin receiving obscene phone calls from an unknown figure, while Nick ignores his ringing phone. Kim and Nick, whom she is dating, are attending prom together; Jude is asked by goofy jokester Seymour "Slick" Crane whom she meets by chance that morning; Kelly is going with her boyfriend Drew Shinnick (who is preoccupied with having sex with her despite objections), while Wendy, previously Nick's girlfriend, asks the school rebel, Lou Farmer with plans to embarrass Nick and Kim at prom.
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