Movies
Beyond Mary Lou: Exploring the ‘Prom Night’ Quadrilogy
It’s Back to School time, so it’s high time to reflect on an institution that I’ve possibly spent more time with than my actual high school: Hamilton High, the center of the Prom Night quadrilogy. Prom Night, which lasted from 1980 through 1992, is a bit of a C-tier slasher franchise. It’s certainly not robust at the level of your Friday the 13ths or Nightmare on Elm Streets. And it doesn’t quite fit in with the B-tier franchises (so called because they swooped in slightly before or after the slasher golden era, not because of their quality) like Candyman, Final Destination, or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, considering the fact that many mainstream viewers probably don’t know Prom Night had a sequel in the first place.
Prom Night: An Often Overlooked Franchise
For those in the know (which I’m assuming is you, considering you clicked on a link to a site called Horror Press), the first two Prom Night films are the ones that you’ve probably seen or at least heard discussed the most. This makes sense, as the Canadian franchise abhors continuity and is loosely connected at best (despite the recurring presence of Hamilton High, actor Brock Simpson, and the iconic line “ It’s not who you come with, it’s who takes you home”), which wouldn’t necessarily spark obsessive fandom. However, each of the Prom Night movies has a special spark that makes them worth watching in one way or another, and I’d like to take a moment to dig into the meat of what makes this bizarre, misbegotten franchise truly special beyond its current reputation.
(For the record, this article will not cover the 2008 remake Prom Night, because it’s an in-name-only remake and my mother always taught me that if I don’t have anything nice to say about something, I shouldn’t include it in my slasher retrospective.)
Prom Night (1980)
The one that started it all! Prom Night remains notable in the slasher sphere for being one of the early titles to cement star Jamie Lee Curtis’ status as a scream queen after her auspicious debut in 1978’s Halloween. Following a masked killer stalking students six years after a prank gone wrong resulted in the death of a child, Prom Night also features one of Leslie Nielsen’s final dramatic performances before Airplane! provided him with the career pivot of a lifetime.
Prom Night is a pretty rote early slasher, for the most part. However, that’s of historical interest considering how early in the game it distills most of the most long-running tropes of the genre. On top of that, it’s got some indelible moments that spice it up. This includes the notorious extended sequence of Jamie Lee disco dancing her heart out, on which mileage may vary. But I love it, especially thanks to composer Paul Zaza’s zippy original song “Prom Night.” It’s a real curio of the culture of the late 1970s, which maybe isn’t what it intended to be but is still a fun thing anyway. Prom Night also boasts a killer chase sequence and a severed head rolling onto a catwalk in the middle of prom (though sadly the gore quotient of the rest of the film is not quite up to snuff).
Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987)
Because of Prom Night’s lackluster reception, it makes sense that not only did it take more than half a decade to receive a sequel, but said sequel ignores basically everything about it except for the aforementioned connections that link every movie in this franchise. However, the gulf between films also feels huger as a result of one of the biggest slasher releases of the decade: 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street. After the explosive release of that instant classic, the slasher genre made a Black Friday-esque rush on supernatural plots, grabbing every last amulet, spell, and demonic entity it could get its hands on, and the Prom Night franchise was no exception. Adding a healthy dose of Carrie into the Elm Street mix, Hello Mary Lou follows the titular Mary Lou Maloney (Lisa Schrage) after she is killed at prom in the 1950s and returns 30 years later to possess and murder various teens as part of her wicked revenge against her killers.
Prom Night II goes full-on rubber reality, presenting some of the most dazzlingly inventive supernatural horror sequences this side of Springwood, Ohio, including a disgusting living rocking horse and a chalkboard that turns into a pool of water with chalk letters floating around on it. With its deep psychosexual bent, full-tilt embrace of 1980s aesthetics, and effortless watchability, this entry is the undeniable high point of the franchise.
Prom Night III: The Last Kiss (1990)
Prom Night III does feature the return of Mary Lou (now played by Courtney Taylor, newly obsessed with a hunky boy, and willing to murder anyone who gets in his way), but it is something of a comedown if you’re a passionate fan of Prom Night II. However, the recent death of the slasher (1989 is pretty clearly the death knell of the genre’s post-Elm Street silver age before Scream kicked off its Renaissance in 1996) wasn’t enough to prevent this title from adding at least a little bit of spice to the mix.
You see, the turn that Prom Night III took was a sharp swerve onto Goof Boulevard. This film basically plants Mary Lou into a live-action Looney Tunes short, pushing away from rubber reality and toward full-on surrealism, complete with people on the other end of a phone line sounding like helium-addicted squirrels. Also, this entry is where the Canadian franchise really leans into pretending to be set in America (as if naming the high school after Alexander Hamilton wasn’t enough), so the camp quotient is upped by the flotilla of American flags that are shoved haphazardly into what feels like every frame. While the kills aren’t quite on the level of the previous outings, they’re still delightfully wacky and presented more creatively than the average direct-to-video slasher.
Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil (1992)
Prom Night IV is probably the hardest to defend of the bunch, but hell, I’m gonna do it anyway. It’s even more unrelated to the ongoing franchise than the previous outings, as it follows a group of teens who are having an anti-prom party at an isolated mountain cabin where they are stalked by a murderous stigmata-bearing priest. It’s by far the most rote slasher of the bunch, even compared to Prom Night, so perhaps its biggest strength is that it is somehow an early 1990s slasher that doesn’t make you want to gouge your own eyes out with an ice cream scoop. Also, I’m sorry to say it, but you really can’t go wrong with a killer priest wielding a super-sharp crucifix.
This is definitely the one where you have to put your “bad-good” goggles on in order to properly appreciate stuff like the killer coming out of a 33-year coma looking like he hasn’t aged a day, or the shriekingly bad decisions made by the final girl at every turn. But there’s plenty of joy to be mined here still, including a meta joke that references Jamie Lee Curtis, pre-empting the meta-horror boom that would come several years later thanks to Wes Craven’s New Nightmare and Scream.
Prom Night, Everything is Alright
So yes, it may be the case that pretty much every one of the Prom Night movies should be taken with a grain of salt. But for a haphazard four-film franchise to have such a deep bench of offbeat and interesting titles is no small feat. This Back to School season, you can still go ahead and embrace your high school/college horror by binging Scream or Elm Street movies, sure. But why not also throw in a Prom Night or two? Or four?
The holiday season is upon us, and I have a hard time feeling merry. After all, most of the Christmas horror movies are a little exclusionary outside of ignoring other cultural December festivities. Most of our go-to watches for this stretch of time have no room for POC, and especially Black women, in their picturesque settings. Which is why I took notice a few years ago when two genre movies gave me exactly what I wanted – a Black Girl Christmas.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Black Christmas (1974), Krampus (2015), and The Lodge as much as the next broken millennial. However, like most movies in this subgenre, we’re rarely seen unless it’s for a trope. We can be sidekicks or day players, but we cannot be involved in the central conflict. We cannot lead, but we can serve. Part of my deal as an intersectional horror lady is asking and looking for movies that do better. So, imagine my surprise when Tommy Wirkola’s Violent Night and Jenn Wexler’s The Sacrifice Game not only remembered Black people exist, but specifically thought Black girls deserve some Christmas magic too.
Black Girls Deserve Christmas Magic Too
The Sacrifice Game is set in a 1970s boarding school where a handful of students are staying over Christmas break. The movie opens with a ritualistic massacre that pulls you in before introducing you to the core group at the school, though. Once in the halls of academia, which will obviously serve as the location for an impending blood bath, we meet Samantha (Madison Baines). Unlike most movies, this Black girl isn’t here for stereotypes and to be pushed to the fringes of the story. As she continues to survive this hellish night, we realize she might be the final girl. This hope is rewarded in the end when we watch her walk off to travel the world with her supernatural friend Clara (Georgia Acken). Because we have so few Christmas horror movies with Black girls getting to do anything, the movie heals something in me every year.
Violent Night is a completely different vibe than The Sacrifice Game. It’s more of an action-comedy with some cool kills and a supernatural thread. The movie is set on Christmas Eve, present day, as a group of mercenaries interrupts a wealthy family’s celebration. The team of naughty killers has the misfortune of starting their plot when Santa (David Harbour) is dropping off gifts. Santa also has a past and opens a can of whoop-ass to save the family as he bonds with the adorable Trudy (Leah Brady) over walkie-talkies. No matter how many mercenaries tell her Santa Claus isn’t real, Trudy knows that he is coming to save her because she’s on the nice list and has a direct line to him this Christmas. She gets to keep a children’s sense of wonder as her family’s infighting and the trained assassins try to ruin her Christmas.
Representation Really Matters
Samantha and Trudy might be in different subgenres and might be a few years apart, but they have plenty in common. Both are surrounded by white characters, although Trudy’s is her family. They are also both a little down in the dumps, as are most characters in holiday films. Samantha has just been told she will not be coming home for the holidays and is feeling discarded. Trudy’s parents are heading for a divorce, and her extended family is too focused on money to be supportive. So, both feel utterly alone during the most depressing time of year and need a win. When things get violently bad for both, it’s nice to see supernatural entities whisk in for some problem-solving and to save them.
That’s not to say that both of these resourceful girls don’t take out some of the intruders on their own. They just don’t have to do it all alone, and are not expected to save the day for everyone else. That’s right! We have two Black girls who get to be kids. I love the few movies where people actually help Black girls and women for a change. I want to live in world where that wasn’t such a rarity. It’s one of the reasons I loved A Quiet Place: Day One. I wish more films that did this were greenlit. Instead we get ones that continually waste talent like Alfre Woodard in Annabelle. Sadly, this is the world I have to live in.
Watch Both ASAP
It is also not wasted on me that both movies take a standard holiday setting and make it inclusive. We have so many all-girls boarding school set movies that have exclusively all white casts. Seeing Samantha not only exist in this creepy school where The Sacrifice Game is set, but survive it felt like a Christmas gift itself. Watching Trudy light up from excitement as she navigates this huge house in Violent Night made me think of Home Alone and all of the other Christmas movies I grew up with. Movies that refused to acknowledge that Black people exist and blended families might also celebrate the holidays. Again, both of these movies heal something every year.
Again, these movies have very little in common aside from the same holiday and understanding that Black girls deserve some holiday cheer, too. However, they are two of the very few movies that do this. Which is why both make it into my yearly rotation. Most other movies are soaking in white feminism. They may have a Black sidekick and creative teams who need to research colorism and anti-Blackness. However, they are somehow usually more offensive than being ignored entirely.
So, Trudy and Samantha getting a slice of the Christmastime magic so close together stood out to me. They both warm my cold little black heart. As I hope kids are sneaking in watches of these movies behind their parents’ backs. I know they both would have been in heavy rotation when I was a kid. If these kinds of movies were getting made back then, anyway. Ideally, we’ll see more movies like these someday.
Shudder could not care less if you have been naughty or nice. They are here to share their Season of Screams Holiday Programming with all the little ghouls. This year’s list of festive frights includes Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), The Boulet Brothers’ Holiday of Horrors, and Santa’s Slay. However, that is not all of the merriment and dismemberment the streamer is leaving under the tree for horror fans this December. Check out these five titles that I hope you all shove into your stockings this holiday season.
The Best Movies to Stream on Shudder This Month
A Christmas Tale (2005)
A group of kids discovers an injured thief while spending Christmas at a summer resort village. So, they obviously decide to torture the location of some stolen money out of her. I have been meaning to check this out just because it sounds wicked. However, it has also shot up my list because it is made by Paco Plaza (V/H/S/Halloween and Rec). If Plaza’s other works are any indication, this movie is going to be chaotic. I truly feel like if he cannot put us in the holiday spirit, then no one can. I am ready to have my peace disturbed this holiday season, and I am beyond grateful that Shudder thought of me. I recommend you buckle up and brace yourself if you also plan to take this ride this month. It’s going to be a ride!
You can watch A Christmas Tale on December 1st.
You Are Not Me (2024)
A woman returns home after three years and discovers her parents have replaced her with a stranger. I have questions, comments, and concerns after reading the premise. So, You Are Not Me has my full attention. I need answers to this puzzle that Shudder is gifting us, and I need them now. I plan to have a boozy festive beverage and get to the bottom of this bloody mystery as soon as possible. To make things even better, it is a Spanish supernatural horror movie. We all know nothing quite hits like an international movie, which is another reason why I expect good things from this one.
You can watch You Are Not Me on December 1st.
Wolf (2023)
A rich family becomes captives in an isolated country home where a psychopath forces them to play terrifying games. ‘Tis the season for home invasion movies after all! Shudder is dropping this exciting 6-part thriller from the UK, and I am already sat. I also discovered the series stars Sacha Dhawan from Doctor Who. This means I need to tune in every Tuesday until the finale, and I am welcome. I cannot wait to see how gory this gets, and I am so glad I can finally see it for myself. I am not saying this is the true meaning of Christmas. But I’m not not saying it is.
You can watch Wolf on December 2nd.
The Creep Tapes Christmas Episode (2025)
I am not writing about The Creep Tapes again just because I am obsessed with the show. I am drawing attention to the fact that they are giving us a Christmas episode this December. Can you imagine Josef/Peachfuzz during the most wonderful time of the year? Because I can and I need this episode in my eyeballs posthaste. The episode description lets us know that our favorite sociopath is pretending to be a therapist, and I am screaming. If you are also looking for some merry mayhem, I know this will be one of the highlights of Shudder’s December programming. I’m excited to see what Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass do to us with a holiday special. It’s literally all I want for Christmas.
You can watch The Creep Tapes Christmas Episode on December 12th.
Queens of the Dead (2025)
Drag queens, club kids, and bitter acquaintances come together when a zombie apocalypse breaks out in Brooklyn. George A. Romero’s legacy is undead and well in New York. I saw this movie twice, and I am obsessed with how Tina Romero expanded her dad’s world. While it nods at his seminal zombie franchise, it’s also distinctly its own glittery thing slinking down Bushwick. This movie is funny, glittery, queer, and heartwarming. It also has a ridiculously stacked cast that includes Katy O’Brian, Nina West, Dominique Jackson, and Margaret Cho. It also introduced me to Jaquel Spivey, who is an actor I need to see more of immediately. Come for the zombies, but stay for the drag queens.
You can watch Queens of the Dead on December 19th.
So, there you have it. Shudder is closing out the year with some pretty cool stuff, as usual. Make sure you unwrap all of your grisly gifts and let us know which movies you loved the most. In the meantime, we hope your holidays are a scream! Hopefully, next year, the nightmares will stay on screen where we prefer them.
Brooklyn Horror Film Festival: 10 Years of Genre, Community, and Growth
I’m Dreaming of a Black Girl Christmas
‘Battle Royale’ at 25: Why This Classic Still Defines Modern Horror
The Krampus-Is-Coming Giveaway!
The Horror Press Podcast Ep 52: Stranger Things and Trailers
Inside the Live Scoring of Häxan: An Interview with The Flushing Remonstrance at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival
‘Them That Follow’ Review: A Bleak and Brilliant Thriller
‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2’ Review: Fanservice Wrapped in Mess
The Best Horror You Can Stream on Shudder in December 2025
The Best Male Full Frontal In Horror Movies
‘The People Under the Stairs’ Review: A Brilliantly Bizarre Horror Classic
Slappy Was the Blueprint: How the Dummy from Goosebumps Became A Horror Icon
Glen and Glenda: Don Mancini’s Reverence for Queerness in ‘Seed of Chucky’ (2004)
‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ and The Story of William Afton Explained
‘Truth or Dare’: Who Did it Best?
V/H/S Franchise Ranked, Best to Worst
Everything You Need to Know About Jason Voorhees
The 11 Most Disturbing Horror Movies Ever, According to an Actual Horror Fan
[REVIEW] ‘Cherry Falls’ (1999) Brittany Murphy Shines in This Cult Classic Slasher
