The VHS boxes of the Prom Night series are those sorts of boxes that left indelible prints on my child brain. Whenever I would go off to the rental store, I would wander down the horror aisle, quickly glancing at as may covers as I could before I chickened out and bailed. There were covers that I didn't remember until they were brought up, like the dead prom date on Night of the Creeps, or the backpack full of copyright infringing horror icon weapons on Sleepaway Camp. But there were some covers that were always there, tucked into the back of my mind, waiting for an idle daydream to come rumbling to the surface. Mary Lou stuffed in her casket locker of Prom Night 2 and the hell on wheels motorcycle of Prom Night 3 are two such covers.
The interesting thing about the Prom Night films is how diverse of a family they are. Each film tends to embody a specific little niche in the horror world, from 70's slasher to late 80's camp to 2000's utter remake garbage. In some ways, I think it would be impossible to like all of them, because each is so specifically different from the other. In fact, the only link throughout them all (except the remake) is the ineffable Paul Zaza, maestro extraordinaire. However, that didn't stop us from watching every goddamn one of them. So grab a date and get in the back seat of your '57 Chevy, because it's Prom Night baby!
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