Prom Night II (1987)

Credits / Details

53%
Overall Rating

Ranked #5,107
...out of 20,982 movies

Genres: Horror Slasher Film Supernatural Horror

Connections: Prom Night

When Hamilton High's Prom Queen of 1957, Mary Lou Maloney is killed by her jilted boyfriend, she comes back for revenge 30 years later. Bill Nordham is now the principal of Hamilton High and his son is about to attend the prom with Vicki Carpenter. However, she is possessed by Mary Lou Maloney after opening a trunk in the school's basement. Now Bill must face the horror he left behind in 1957. --IMDb

Review by Chad
Added: April 14, 2008

It seems as though kids these days are constantly complaining about the large amount of sequels that find their way into theaters, and truthfully, I can't argue that: yes, we've had way too many of them in recent years. However, this trend is nothing new, and in fact, this generation has nothing on the eighties when it comes to "parts two through twenty." Back then, it barely mattered how well a film did in theaters, what the critics said, or how many people actually enjoyed it; if said film managed to sell three tickets and a bag of popcorn, you could safely bet money on a sequel coming out within the next six months.

So, even though the first Prom Night was far from a classic and ignoring the fact that it didn't exactly leave room for a sequel, we find ourselves with a film that shares absolutely nothing in common with the original aside from a certain high school function. In fact, this movie originally wasn't even created as a sequel until someone somewhere decided that it might sell a few more tickets with the "part two" attached to the end of the title. I'd normally gripe about this to no end, but when you consider that the original was a small step above garbage, I think an exception can be made... especially when the sequel in question turned out to be good, campy fun.

We begin back in 1957, where we discover that the bitchy Mary Lou Maloney (Lisa Schrage) has just won the distinguished title of Prom Queen at her high school, but on the night that she's supposed to remember forever, she instead finds herself burning to death. You see, her ex-boyfriend has decided to play a joke on her at the pinnacle of the crowning ceremony, but when he stood up on that catwalk above the stage and dropped that lit stink bomb down beside her, it got a little too close to her dress and set it aflame, leaving her to die a slow, fiery death in front of all her peers. I don't think that a simple "my bad" would cover that one.

Jumping ahead to the present (well, 1987), we discover that this killer of a boyfriend has taken up the perfect job: he's now the principal of the very same high school. Yes, Bill (Michael Ironside) has somehow escaped the murder charges and has managed to do quite well for himself, and in fact, his son Craig (Justin Louis) is dating Vicki (Wendy Lyon), one of the potential Prom Queens for this year. Like father, like son, right? When Vicki goes poking around in the school's prop room in search of a Prom dress (don't ask), she finds the dress that poor Mary Lou was wearing on that fateful night thirty years ago and decides that it would be perfect for her. Yes, it seems like this girl has caught a lucky break, up until the spirit of Mary Lou possesses her and sends her on a murderous rampage that will culminate on the upcoming - wait for it - Prom Night.

Alright, so I wasn't exactly exaggerating when I said that it really had nothing in common with the original, now was I? Instead of another slasher film, we find ourselves with a supernatural horror flick that was seemingly designed to create another horror franchise with a wisecracking villain along the lines of Freddy Krueger. While I wouldn't rank the lovely Mary Lou alongside any of the horror icons, I can safely say that her outing in this film was a pleasant surprise that actually left me wanting to see parts three and four. Sometimes a sequel outdoes the original film, and this was certainly one of those times.

Hello Mary Lou is far from a serious film as it's sprinkled fairly liberally with jokes and one-liners, but make no mistake about it: this was not a horror comedy, nor did it attempt to parody the genre. It does feature a good deal of dated material (it was released in the eighties, after all - a time when bigger was better in regards to hair, clothes were designed in shades of neon, and corny slang terms were used with reckless abandon), but there are some scenes in here than are downright creepy. There were also some surprisingly good special effects on display throughout the running time, including a particularly memorable rocking horse and an extremely nice blackboard scene.

As an added bonus, both Lisa Schrage and Wendy Lyon were great in their roles, a relatively uncommon accomplishment in eighties horror releases. Lyon in particular won me over with her dual-natured role, as her character demanded that she play both a "good girl" with high morals as well as an evil wench who would stop at nothing to finish off her victims in the grisliest ways possible. This lady showed remarkable range for this role, and in lesser hands, the character - and in turn, the film - could have been downright laughable.

When Lyon turned the reins over to Schrage, the quality level never dropped as this woman was just as good at portraying a heartless, evil bitch; in fact, I'm amazed that this actress in particular didn't turn up in more movies over the course of her career. She had talent and she had a face that was made for movies, and I'm downright amazed at the fact that this was really her only notable film appearance. A true shame.

Overall, Hello Mary Lou is a fun little horror flick that definitely outshines its predecessor. It's not high art and it'll probably only appeal to those of you who enjoy eighties horror, but if you do find yourself in that camp, you'll more than likely get a kick out of this one. 7/10.