Prom Night (2008 film)

Infobox Film | name = Prom Night

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caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Nelson McCormick
producer = Neal H. Moritz
writer = J.S. Cardone
starring = Brittany Snow
Scott Porter
Jonathan Schaech
Jessica Stroup
Idris Elba
Dana Davis
Colin Pennies
music = Paul Haslinger
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Screen Gems
Alliance Films
Sony Pictures
country = United States
Canada
released = United States:
April 11 2008
Australia:
April 10 [http://villagecinemas.com.au/Movies/Prom-Night.htm]
runtime = Theatrical cut
88 min.
Extended cut
89 min.
language = English
Italian
budget = $20 million
amg_id = 1:383895
imdb_id = 0926129

"Prom Night" is a 2008 slasher film from Screen Gems directed by Nelson McCormick and starring Brittany Snow. The film was released on April 10, 2008 in Australia, and on April 11, 2008 in Canada and the United States, followed by a worldwide release in May. [ [http://www.joblo.com/upcomingmovies/movies.php?id=2892 Prom Night: JoBlo.com's Upcoming Movies: Posters, Plot, Pictures, Cast, News ] ] It is a very loose remake of a 1980 Canadian horror film of the same name, although the director said that the only similarities between the two movies is the title. The film is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for "violence and terror, some sexual material, underage drinking, and language." [ [http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=11846 Prom Night - ComingSoon.net Film Database ] ]

Plot

At the start of the film, Donna Keppel gets home from the movies and finds her dead brother and father. She then hides under the bed as Richard Fenton, one of her former 9th grade teachers, who became insanely obsessed with her, kills her mother right before her eyes. Donna runs outside and screams for help and Fenton turns up behind her.

The movie then cuts to 3 years after that night. Donna is now living with her aunt and uncle and has almost graduated from high school. She and her friends are getting ready to attend their senior prom that night, which is being held at a luxurious hotel. Donna's aunt gives Donna her late mother's shawl to wear that night. Donna's boyfriend Bobby arrives at her house along with her friends Lisa, Claire and their boyfriends Ronnie and Michael and they all take a limosuine to the prom.

Meanwhile, at the police station, the detective named Winn who imprisoned Fenton learns that he escaped 3 days ago and warns Donna's aunt and uncle. However, they decide not to bring Donna home because they dont know if Fenton is coming for her, but Winn will have some cops watching the hotel in case he shows up.

Back at the prom, Fenton has already arrived at the hotel diguising himself as Mr. Ramsey, and has gotten a room on Donna's floor. He kills the maid to get the master key. Claire has a fight with her boyfriend Micheal and goes up to the room to calm down, Donna going with her. They are unaware that Fenton is hiding in their hotel room. Claire says she will be back down after she fixes herself up. After Donna leaves, Fenton reveals himself and stabs Claire in the stomach with a knife, killing her. When Claire doesn't come back downstairs, Michael goes upstairs to see Claire. He thinks he hears her in the bathroom and tells her to come out and when she doesn't he sits down on the couch and waits for her, when he hears the door creak he thinks she is coming out, but the killer was in the bathroom. So Michael is looking around the room for Claire, and then when Michael turns around the killer pops out and stabs Michael in the belly and kills him.

Winn tells the hotel staff to be on the alert. Michael later goes up to the room to apologize and is murdered by Fenton. Downstairs, the rest of Donna's friends are enjoying the prom. A hotel employee goes looking for the maid and Fenton kills him to obtain his uniform.

Meanwhile, Lisa and Ronnie head up to the room for some "alone time". Lisa bumps into Fenton in the elevator and knows him from somewhere but can't remember where. Her and Ronnie start kissing but halfway through Lisa realises that it was Fenton and runs off to warn Donna. However, she uses the stairs being too impatient for the elavator and is caught by Fenton. She is chased down to the basement of the hotel where there seems to be a construction sight taking place, but is momentarily abandoned. She hides herself from Fenton, but after her boyfriend Ronnie comes from calling her name from the elavator, Fenton seems to leave, making Lise think shes safe. However, it turns out he was waiting for her at the end of the hall of the basement and catches her instantly, and slices her throat.

Meanwhile, Winn and his assistant Nash, find the body of a man named Ramsey in a car in the hotel parking lot and discover that Fenton has been impersonating him to get into the hotel. Winn goes up to his room and finds the maid's dead body. Now knowing for sure that Fenton is in the building, Winn sounds the emergency alarm and has the entire hotel evacuated. However, Donna goes back to the room to retrieve her mother's shawl. When she is about to leave, Fenton shows up and she runs and locks the door. Fenton eventually breaks through with a fire extinguisher while Donna hides under the bed. She sees Claire's corpse next to her and tries not to scream. Realizing Donna is still inside Winn races back up to the room. Fenton finally finds Donna but she runs out and is driven back home along with her boyfriend. Winn and the other cops search the hotel but don't find Fenton. they discover the body of the employee Fenton killed earlier and realize that he escaped disguised as an employee and evacuated the building along with the crowd of people. Winn now races back to Donna's house. When he arrives, he finds his partner detective who was guarding Donna's house dead in his car. Meanwhile, Donna goes to the bathroom and when she gets back she sees that Bobby's throat has been slit. She sees a shadow out in the hall and thinks its Fenton so she hides in her closet. However, the person in the hall was Winn and Fenton grabs Donna around the mouth (because he was already in the closet). Winn looks around the room but goes out to calm down Donna's aunt and uncle. In a weak effort, Donna bites him on the hand and tries to escape out of the closet, but trips on the floor. Fenton tries to hold her down but Donna continues to struggleand kicks him. Fenton does not give up and just before he stabs Donna, Winn runs in and shoots Fenton, killing him. Donna cries over Bobby's dead body and Winn tells her it's over.

Cast

* Brittany Snow as Donna Keppel
* Jonathan Schaech as Richard Fenton, the killer
* Scott Porter as Bobby
* Jessica Stroup as Claire
* Dana Davis as Lisa Hines
* Collins Pennie as Ronnie Heflin
* Kelly Blatz as Michael
* James Ransone as Det. Nash
* Brianne Davis as Crissy Lynn
* Kellan Lutz as Rick Leland
* Mary Mara as Ms. Waters
* Ming Wen as Dr. Elisha Crowe
* Idris Elba as Det. Winn
* Jessalyn Gilsig as Aunt Karen Turner
* Linden Ashby as Uncle Jack Turner
* Jana Kramer as April
* Rachel Specter as Taylor
* Valeri Ross as Mrs. Hines

Production

The budget for the film is $20 million. [ [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=promnight07.htm Box Office Mojo] ] It was produced by Original Film and Newmarket Films in association with Alliance Films, which holds the rights to the original franchise, along with sequel rights. It was released in the United States by Screen Gems, in Canada by Alliance Films, and in Australia by Sony Pictures.

Release dates

*April 10th: Australia
*April 11th: United States & Canada
*May 8th: Russia
*May 9th: Finland
*May 9th: Spain
*May 9th: Sweden
*May 15th: Argentina
*May 15th: New Zealand
*May 16th: Iceland
*May 30th: Italy
*May 30th: Lithuania
*May 30th: Latvia
*June 5th: Germany
*June 5th: Croatia
*June 6th: United Kingdom
*June 6th: Central America
*June 12th: Netherlands
*June 25th: Belgium
*July 18th: Turkey
*July 24th: Singapore
*July 26th: Philippines
*July 29th: Egypt
*July 30th : France
*August 8th: Venezuela

Critical reception

"Prom Night" was not screened in advance, and got mostly negative reviews by critics. The main criticism is that it lacks any suspense or gore. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 8% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 52 reviews. [cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/prom_night/ | title=Prom Night Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes | accessdate=2008-04-16 | publisher=Rotten Tomatoes] On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 17 out of 100, based on 12 reviews. [cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/promnight?q=prom%20night|title=Prom Night (2008): Reviews|accessdate=2008-04-16 |publisher=Metacritic]

DVD release

The DVD was released on August 19, 2008 in theatrical (88 min.) and unrated (89 min.) versions. It was released in Australia on Blu-ray and 2 Disc DVD Edition on August 27, 2008. In FYE stores in the US, the unrated edition came with a bonus disc called "Body Count: Investigating the Murders of Prom Night", which is a 22-minute documentary about the murders of various characters about the film, as well as various techniques the director used to make the murders scarier. Includes interviews with Nelson McCormick (director) and other members of the cast of the film.

Box office performance

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $20,804,941 in 2,700 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #1 at the box office and averaging $7,705 per theater. In Australia, "Prom Night" opened at the #3 position making $854,514, just behind "Superhero Movie" and "The Spiderwick Chronicles". In the United Kingdom, "Prom Night" opened at the #4 position making £507,985, just behind "Sex and the City", "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"and "Superhero Movie". The film has a domestic gross of $43,869,350 and a foreign gross of $12,728,210 for a worldwide total of $56,597,560. It is currently ranked 12th on boxofficemojo.com's Horror Remake list (domestically).

References

External links

* [http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/promnight/ Official site]
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Box Office Leaders USA
before = 21
date = April 13
year = 2008
after = The Forbidden Kingdom