Chad

Spiderbite

First things first...it appears if you watch this on Shudder or stream rent it by any legitimate means, it appears everyone has a fairly scratchy 4:3 VHS upload. While the streaming picture quality is decent, the aspect ratio being wrong always perturbed me the most. So luckily there is an upload of a cleaner print of this in the correct aspect ratio 1.85:1 on Youtube that appears to be from the DVD. The bad part is the streaming picture quality is crummier than the 4:3 versions you will find. You will have to decide which one is more important. I went with the less scratchy, proper ratio upload.

I can't remember watching this since my glory days of renting VHS (as I described in the Slumber Party Massacre II review thread). This was a fun movie but I actually remember not caring for it that much as a teen. Funny how things changed between those two movies.

Anyway...imagine if The Exorcist and Carrie had a baby and the baby's personality was like Freddy Krueger. That will get you to HML:PN2. This movie has a lot going for it. There are some really cool effects such as the spookiest hobby horse you will ever see and a well done chalkboard whirlpool of death! There is some good humor and I have no idea why, but old 50's songs sound so creepy throughout this movie. There are also some good-looking kills such as the gruesome locker room scene and the change into Mary Lou at the prom.

And speaking of the locker room scene...Hello Mary Lou!!! I actually did remember this scene once it came on and also remember always having to adjust the tracking on the VHS player. The couple of tapes we rented were always worn to shit during that part from having been rewound and re-watched thousands of times. And yes,,,my best friend and I probably watched that scene a dozen times ourselves when we were 15.

Michael Ironside is great in everything he is in. Unfortunately they wasted him in this and gave him very little to do. The ending also makes zero sense but whatever. You aren't always asking for logic in movies like this, just a good time, which this movie definitely gives.

My rating: *** out of *****

brainee

Was the Shudder print (which is what I watched) open matte, and not pan and scan. It seemed like the former since I caught the boom mic a few times. Then again, this doesn’t seem like the level of production to have a high level of quality control

That locker room scene was certainly an eye opener Up till then, I thought this was going to be another tease that just teases the sleaze and gore without delivering. It still felt like I was being trolled a bit on some of the kill scenes. Like when giant hair girl was getting killed, it looked like she was going to be decapitated with a paper cutter … which would’ve been cool. But no … fake out and a simple hanging. And when the priest was going to be stabbed with the crucifix … cut away without showing anything.

While this had energy, I liked it a little less than you. Late 80s was just past my prime VHS rental days, and I missed a lot of the low budget horror of this period first time around. And to be honest, I’m thinking I may need to slow my watching pace this year. Other things I have to do are making it hard for me to be focused on movies during the week (as opposed to weekends).

I watched the first Prom Night just before this. It was just a few years, but what a huge difference in style from the beginning of the 80s (which felt more like 70s) to 1987. The first movie was surprisingly dull for a lot of its running time, though you have to love a final battle with the killer on a disco floor! I noticed the actor Brock Simpson appeared in both … was he the only one? Only reason that name jumped out at me was because at first I read “Brock Sampson” (like from Venture Brothers) and it made me laugh.

Toddarino

I watched my really shitty dvd of the first Prom Night last night so this shudder version didn’t annoy me as much. It was bad though.
This is my second time with the sequel and it’s ok. Actually kind of like it’s predecessor, nothing fancy or memorable, but just enough to be a enjoyable time waster.

Undeadcow

First time viewing here and I'd always heard good things about PN2 but like others here is seems just ok to me and takes a bit too long to get going but then gets really good.
The burning prom queen scene is pretty awesome and intense. PN2 has some great scenes; the chalk board kill might be one of my favorites overall.

Prom Night 2 is a nice time capsule.
It's funny how the 'high school' boyfriend at prom has a surprisingly receded hairline for a high schooler.
It's distracting how PN2 keeps going from casual upbeat high school drama to somewhat out of place ominous religious content through confessionals and melodramatic prayer. PN2 has many "homages" in it's DNA but going from Carrie to The Exorcist is a leap.

brainee

It does make it easier to immediately connect the high school student with Michael Ironside's principal character

wishbone

Immolation! Incest! Evil chalkboard and demonic rocking horse! Labatt's! So much horror!

mallratcal

Honestly better than I was expecting. Could have used more demonic rocking horse, though.

pacaway

Oddly, I watched this film as my last for 2020's challenge but did not remember even a second of it. How do you forget an entire movie in a year? I don't know, but I liked it enough that I think I should have remembered it. Must have been late at night and I was dozing or something. Anyway, I was going to skip it because I'd seen it only a year ago but I'm glad I didn't...
I think having Mary Lou's burn up scene so well done made the rest of the film kind of ho-hum. Especially when Ironside shot her at the "present day" prom and she went down like a sack of sand... fortunately it almost saved itself when Mary Lou comes out of Vicki but the fire death was still better. Full-frontal-nudity of Vicki was not expected but appreciated. Weird that she was fully nude while dragging her hand along the lockers but had a towel on when she issued the command to squish the lockers. Oh well... continuity sucks when making a low budget movie, I'm sure.
Also it was filmed here in Canada in my home province, so I pretty much HAVE to like it, don't I? I think seeing this so soon after Carrie didn't help it though.

3/5 stars (which is higher than I expected it to be)

Undeadcow

It's funny how a common way to show that a fictional women is really really evil is for her to be more sexual.

exharrison

I watched this a few years ago after they talked it up on Shock Waves and was kind of disappointed, really. I wouldn't say I was impressed this time, but it was more fun without the expectations. I'm not sure I will remember it in two years other than "yeah I remember that title" but not everything has to leave a big impression.

numbercrunch

A sequel that is better than the original Prom Night. A mashup of Exorcist, Carrie and Nightmare on Elm Street with a solid story, good acting and interesting kills. The promiscuous Mary Lou is burnt to death on prom night and come back years later to take her revenge.
7/10

Crocker Jarmen

Watched on Prime, the full-screen, VHS quality version, which didn't bother me, as that would have been the way I saw the movie 33 years ago. All I remembered was the shower/locker death scene, so I was surprised by how much of the movie looked and felt like Nightmare On Elm Street 1 and 2. The least interesting characters for me were the principal and the priest. I would rather have spent more time with the parents. I'm sure if they were fleshed out the mother would have seemed less contrived.

Overall, a fun watch. One of the better "in-name-only" sequels.

I always found it strange that when this played at our local drive-in in November 1987, the supporting feature was 1985's Teen Wolf, which by now had long been out on video.

WillieMLF

Boom mic, check

jholmes

This one was a mixed bag for me. Most of the cast was weak, especially the lead girl. She was deadly bland. The pacing was very slow for the first half. However, there were some interesting bits in the third act. Not enough to elevate it over B movie status for me. I was bored through a lot of it, up to the locker room scene. However, this was #52 for me this month, so I may be suffering a bit of burn out.

clckworang

The movie wasn't as good as its title.

rbrown498

I rented this on VHS back in the day and recall not liking it much, but I couldn't remember any particulars of the film when I sat down to watch it tonight. I started with the 4x3 craptastic print on Shudder, and then remembered that I had bought the MGM DVD of the movie about a decade ago in a moment of weakness. So I went and dug it out, watched it...and I still didn't like it very much. I do think that it plays slightly better now than it did when I first saw it 33 or so years ago, but that's damning it with faint praise. The fire gag was impressive, but not as impressive as some of the hairstyles the actors were rocking.

My subset film rankings for the Challenge thus far:

1. Battle Royale
2. Carrie (1976)
3. Slither
4. Witchfinder General
5. A Bay of Blood / The Spiral Staircase (averaged together)
6. Silent Madness
7. Slumber Party Massacre II (based purely on its out-of-left-field aesthetic)
8. Road Games
9. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II
10. Grave Robbers (Ladrones de Tumbas)
11. The Severed Arm
12. The Mortuary Collection
13. Cutting Class

Gobear

Hello Mary Lou was painfully dull, very much a cookie cutter evil ghost movie.

WillieMLF

If I had ever seen this before, I didn't remember a thing. Initially, I was thinking that there was an issue with my Shudder streaming, because of the quality of the print, but I'm glad it was just a VHS port. At one point I noticed the VHS skip and felt it took me back to a simpler time. I was actually pretty excited to start this one, but once it got going, the thrill was gone baby! Didn't really care for this one too much, but I'm glad it's fresh in my mind. Need to watch the original now.

I have this episode of The Last Drive in on my hard drive, but I've never got around to watching it. I would be interested in seeing what Joe Bob had to say about this one. It's not surprising this is one of Darcy's favorites because she looks a lot like MLM.

Trevor

Definitely wears it’s influences on it’s sleeves, and has it’s moments, but feel like it could have been a lot better with different performances and/or directing.


Stealing rbrown’s subset ranking idea:

The Phantom Carriage, 8/10
Carrie, 8/10
Battle Royale, 8/10
The Spiral Staircase, 8/10
Slumber Party Massacre 2, 7/10
A Bay of Blood, 7/10
The Frighteners, 7/10
Road Games, 7/10
Slither, 7/10
Witchfinder General 7/10
The Mortuary Collection, 6/10
Cutting Class, 6/10
Prom Night 2: Hello Mary Lou, 6/10
Silent Madness, 5/10
The Severed Arm, 4/10