PromNight
HEADLINE: **Terrified Teens *
Quality: * * * Acceptability: -3
SUBTITLES: None
WARNING CODES:
Language: LLL
Violence: VV
Sex: S
Nudity: None
RATING: PG-13
RELEASE: April 11, 2008
TIME: 88 minutes
STARRING: Brittany Snow, Scott Porter, Jessica Stroup, Dana Davis, Collins Pennie, Kelly Blatz, James Ransone, Brianne Davis, Kellan Lutz, Kessalyn Gilsig, and Linden Ashby
DIRECTOR: Nelson McCormick
PRODUCER: Neal H. Moritz
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Christopher Ball, J. S. Cardone, Marc Forby, Glenn S. Gainor, and William Tyrer
WRITER: J. S. Cardone
BASED ON THE NOVEL/PLAY BY: N/A
DISTRIBUTOR: Screen Gems/Sony Pictures Entertainment
CONTENT: (PaPa, B, Ho, LLL, VV, S, AA, M) Strong, slightly mixed, pagan worldview with moral elements about an evil stalker and killer who escapes a mental institution and must be stopped (but he kills many people before he is stopped), with political content suggesting that society is too sometimes too easy on vicious killers and other villains, plus a homosexual reference to a female gym teacher; strong teenage slasher thriller violence with some blood shown but heavier on the suspense with numerous knife killings (many not shown fully), disturbing scene of teenager returning home from a movie to find her father and brother stabbed to death and witnesses the stabbing death of her mother, scary nightmares of killer returning, maid stabbed in hotel room, room valet stabbed on bed; teenage girl stabbed in bathroom, teenage boy stabbed in living room, bodies hidden under beds/in closets/in ceilings, body in trunk of car, girl's throat slit, blood spatters on sheet, man killed in car, man on ground in pool of blood, dead body on bed, and gunshot killing; light sexual references such as teenage couple with clothes lying on bed kisses passionately, passionate kissing on dance floor, and teenagers talk about getting hotel suite at the prom hotel for the purpose of fornication, a goal that is never reached, plus reference to gym teacher being a lesbian because she likes student's low cut dress; no actual nudity but female cleavage is often shown; underage alcohol use and teenagers bring quantities of alcohol into prom and hotel; no smoking or drugs; and, stalking, typical high school cliques and jealousies, and lax enforcement of crime by the judicial system, which the movie implicitly criticizes.
GENRE: Horror
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Teenagers and adults
Please address your comments to:
Michael Lynton, Chairman/CEO
Amy Pascal, Chairman - Motion Picture Group
Sony Pictures Entertainment
(Columbia Pictures/TriStar/Screen Gems/Provident)
10202 West Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232-3195
Phone: (310) 244-4000
Fax: (310) 244-2626
Web Page: www.spe.sony.com/
SUMMARY: PROM NIGHT turns out to be a night of terror for its lead character, Donna Keppel, who is stalked by the evil teacher who killed her family three years ago but has escaped the mental facility where the authorities unwisely placed him. PROM NIGHT is a PG-13 teen slasher film with plenty of foul language, but it is heavier on suspense than gore and speaks to the loopholes in our legal system that too often allows leniency for psychopathic murderers and other villains.
IN BRIEF:
PROM NIGHT is a PG-13 slasher movie. Donna Keppel is a beautiful high school senior preparing for her senior prom. Her excitement is clouded, however, by the continuing nightmare of her family's murder at the hands of an obsessed psychopathic teacher. Even though the killer was caught, he was sent to a mental facility because of a last-minute insanity plea. Three years later, he escapes and stalks Donna at the hotel where her prom is being held. He begins killing everyone who gets in his way. Then, he gets a master key so he can wait in the hotel suite where Donna and her friends plan to party and have sexual relations.
The terror plot in PROM NIGHT is predictable, but it works. Though PROM NIGHT is a teen "slasher" film, it is heavier on suspense than blood and gore. It also speaks against the loopholes in our legal system that too often allow leniency for psychopathic murderers. Even so, the movie contains strong violence, scary scenes and plenty of foul language. Also, the teenagers intend to drink alcohol and engage in sexual relations. Thus, it is more than excessive.
NOTE from Dr. Ted Baehr, publisher of Movieguide Magazine. For more information from a Christian perspective, order the latest Movieguide Magazine by calling 1-800-899-6684(MOVI) or visit our website at www.movieguide.org. Movieguide is dedicated to redeeming the values of Hollywood by informing parents about today's movies and entertainment and by showing media executives and artists that family-friendly and even Christian-friendly movies do best at the box office year in and year out. Movieguide now offers an online subscription to its magazine version, atwww.movieguide.org. The magazine, which comes out 25 times a year, contains many informative articles and reviews that help parents train their children to be media-wise consumers.
