"Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II" was not a true sequel to the well known Jaime Lee Curtis slasher "Prom Night", however when you actually compare these movies.. "Prom Night II" might just be better than the original. In fact, calling it a sequel is a stretch since the working title for most of filming was "The Haunting of Hamilton High".
"Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II" begins in 1957 with the fiery death of wicked prom queen Mary Lou Maloney (Lisa Schrage) courtesy of a backfired stinkbomb stunt pulled by her jealous ex-boyfriend.
Flashforward thirty years to 1987, Mary Lou's killer has become the school principal (Michael Ironside) and we are soon introduced to sweet and innocent Vicki Carpenter (Wendy Lyon) who is a contender for this year's prom queen title. Mary Lou's vengeful spirit sees it as the perfect opportunity to reclaim her crown once and for all.
The majority of the film involves Vicki slowly adopting Mary Lou's less-than-respectable personality and soon begins to destroying anyone who stands between her and her coveted crown.
One of my fav scenes is a telekinetic locker-room squashing courtesy of FX wizard Jim Doyle, who worked previously on "A Nightmare on Elm Street", to which this film bears some stylistic similarities.
This is an excellent 80's horror film with an entertaining story and great FX/make-up. I still can't believe it kept its 'R' rating with the full-frontal nudity shower scene though.
"Prom Night II" references several successful horror film of that time period. Elements of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (dream-like murders, exaggerated deaths), "The Exorcist" (possession that brings out unkempt sexual urges, a priest trying to reconcile), and "Carrie" (Vicki's vendetta at the prom, her overbearing religious mother) are all mixed into a familiar, yet devilishly entertaining brew. The filmmakers let it be known that they are lifting from the classics of horror films past, with character names like Mr. (Wes) Craven, Vicki (John) Carpenter, Mr. (George A.) Romero, and Jess (Tod) Browning, to name a few.
That creepy rocking horse in Vicki's bedroom still gives me nightmares. Okay.. change that, Vicki making out with her Dad on prom night still gives me nightmares.
Well, if you've never seen this flick and enjoy a good 80's horror slasher.. please jot this movie down on your wishlist!
[ 10. August 2010, 13:41: Message edited by: Valley ]
Posted by Ronnie (Member # 465) on :
valley! i have prom night II and III on a double feature dvd.
gonna have to watch it too, i've only seen part III of the prom night series. and that was YEARS ago thanks to USA's up all night.
thanks for the trivia, sounds like some disturbing scenes, you mentioned?
sounds like fun though. Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Ronnie.. I knew you would be ready for some disturbing fun!
Please watch it and give us your thoughts..
Posted by Ronnie (Member # 465) on :
my bad, valley... the double feature i have is parts 3 & 4..
maybe i can find part 2 or rent it on netflix.
Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
Ronnie you should hunt it down quick!
I love this movie.........i'd remembered watching it a long time ago and a few years ago I got the DVD and loved it all over.
The original Prom Night is sorta lame in my opinion.........another movie where I like the sequel better.
Has anyone seen 3 and 4? are they worth hunting down?
One of my favorite parts
I loved her friend Jess's death....scary stuff!
Posted by Veronica Sawyer (Member # 2221) on :
I've been dying to see this for awhile! Ronnie, that's so funny that you mentioned that DVD combo, because I recently bought that same item thinking it was parts 2 and 3. Of course when I went to watch it later I realized it was 3 and 4, so I returned it (my brother told me neither of those sequels were worth owning). I will buy this one on Amazon eventually!
Posted by pettyfan (Member # 2260) on :
Oooh I LOVE this movie!! Ronnie you gotta find it! I got my copy from Amazon. I bought it used, then they re-released it to DVD again. I liked it better than the original (and yes I know they have nothing to do with each other!). When I was a kid my parents gave it a severe editing before I was allowed to watch parts of it lol.
Posted by Ronnie (Member # 465) on :
wow, sounds like i'm missing out! lol
i will definitely get my hands on it, can't wait! Posted by kevdugp73 (Member # 5978) on :
I nabbed this at a store a while back for $3, but never watched it, and recently just got part one. On my list to watch....
Posted by cindymancini (Member # 679) on :
Look at that cover art!!! They don't make em like they used to!!! Valley, you sure do know how to lure someone back to the Rewind...lol!!! Killer thread!!!!
I am a huge fan of Prom Night and Prom Night II. You are correct about there being zero correlation between these two films but honestly, does there need to be?
The first one feels fabulously late 70's/early 80's. And part two, perfectly captures the look, feeling and attitude of the late 80's!
I think my love of Hello Mary Lou is due in part to how the film begins set in 1957. I have a penchant for 80's movies that are set in the 50's (i.e., Mischief, Porky's & Back to the Future). I love the look & the music. It all works & somehow adds to the creepiness.
Another aspect I enjoy about this film is the setting. The school they used reminds me so much of my elementary school. It was built in 1911 and had a gymnasium in the basement which was no longer used because they built a new one on the first floor in the 70's but when we were sent to the basement to clean the erasers, we would often venture deeper into the dark, underground hallways and look for that old gym, which was filled with desks from the 50's and retro gym equipment. There were rest rooms in that basement that were no longer used and I can remember the signs on the doors saying Girls or Boys...we couldn't imagine ever going inside those dark, scary rooms of the past. But there was just such an intrigue about it all and to a degree, I guess we liked being scared and running back upstairs to tell our friends that we made it to the old gym! Lol!! Some never got that far!
Wow, total tangent there but these are the thoughts movies like Prom Night II stir up. If you haven't seen this movie, I'd say it's definitely worth checking out. You can find it relatively cheap on DVD. So for less than $10 bucks, it's a fun movie night in. Pop some corn, grab a blanket and get on your 80's horror on!!
[ 10. August 2010, 19:27: Message edited by: cindymancini ]
Posted by cindymancini (Member # 679) on :
I wanna ride this...
No I don't....ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!! So great!!!!!!
Posted by Veronica Sawyer (Member # 2221) on :
Saw this one over the weekend and I gotta say....I didn't like it I thought the acting was terrible and the plot too slow moving. Maybe I need to watch it again, I don't know. Sorry!
Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
You never have to apologize for not liking a movie Veronica! haha I love that we all don't sugar coat our feelings on a movie...makes me think more of you that you'd admit you think it's a stinker! I've been meaning to watch it here again soon.
Posted by Secret Admirer (Member # 3574) on :
I seriously hate you guys for posting that horse pic! It's freakin' me out - nightmare city!
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Veronica.. I want everyone to give their opinion on movies .. good or bad. Not everyone will watch a movie and have the same experience. Kind of like how you love Grease 2 and I prefer Footloose. ha
Secret Admirer.. that rockin' horse is awesomely creepy! Cindy ordered one like it for her bedroom.
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
OK, so I am not a big fan of this one either, but I have seen and touched the horse! It was circa 1995, and he was in the memorabilia collection at the Planet Hollywood at the foot of the CN Tower in Toronto. (I didn't take a picture, but I have witnesses.) That place has long since closed, and I wonder where the horsey is today. Probably haunting somebody's rec room... (I poked him, which probably explains my bad luck all these years.) Beware! Seriously, he was cool and a little bit scary even hanging on the wall. :-)
[ 31. August 2010, 08:41: Message edited by: Crash ]
Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
I watched this again today....and I still love it....it's cheesy...a bit scary....got some cool old tunes...some T&A.....body switching....a mean girl fighting for prom queen.
Vicki's friend Monica stood out to me this time....she was a beauty....almost looks a little like Kim Cattrell?? Men will love her locker room scenes for sure.
I love this scene........."Monica can I talk with you after school" "Get lost *** hole" "I don't know why I never get asked out?" haha
and just for fun...........creepy.........
Posted by Pyromantic (Member # 7658) on :
Sadly, I was discouraged from watching this movie at first due to the fact that I hated the 1st Prom Night. So I always passed it up in the video store regardless of how b1tchin' the cover art was. I think I finally got around to seeing it when I was 16 or 17, that was around 1996. So of course, after a few self-inflicted kicks in the a§§ for letting this little beauty slip by for so long, I immediately added it to my spooky movie collection. My favorite scene has got to be Vicky in the confessional booth.
"Will you help me father?" "Will you pray for me?" "Will you ¥£ø;-) me?"
I laugh everytime at that scene:)
Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
See I love the confessional booth with Mary Lou better in the begining.........."and I loved every minute of it!" haha FOR A GOOD TIME CALL MARY LOU
Oh the first Prom Night sucks.........feels too much like a 70's movie in a way?
Posted by Ronnie (Member # 465) on :
quote:Originally posted by Valley: Kind of like how you love Grease 2 and I prefer Footloose. ha
hey now, grease 2 is awesome! maxwell caulfield baby .
gonna rent this one. i hope i like it. for some reason, i keep thinking that i just may have seen it a long long time ago and don't remember it? the horse doesn't seem familiar to me at all, but the confessional thing, sounds familiar? we'll see. Posted by Pyromantic (Member # 7658) on :
any deathcore/speed/gore metal fans out there should check out a song called "Church of Deviance" by a band called Spawn of Possession. The intro of the song just might sound a bit familiar to you;)
Posted by Secret Admirer (Member # 3574) on :
Ok, so I ended up watching this because of you guys. I'm not much of a horror fan, so don't expect much.
It thought it was above average, but I didn't go crazy for it. The storyline was fine, but I wished for more recognizable actors and a better soundtrack. Two things that can really tip the scale from 'ok' to 'pretty good', in my opinion. There were some memorable moments and it definitely wasn't a waste of time. However, it didn't make me love horror movies any better.
P.S. - The horse..... still freaky!
Posted by Valley (Member # 1322) on :
Secret Admirer.. this is not a movie I would recommend to someone that doesn't enjoy horror flicks.
I would go with "Night of the Creeps" and "The Return of the Living Dead" to entice non-horror fans. Both are excellent horror movies with a sense of humor for a more broad appeal.
Leave Mary Lou for the quirky horror fans like me.
Posted by Secret Admirer (Member # 3574) on :
quote:Originally posted by Valley: I would go with "Night of the Creeps" and "The Return of the Living Dead" to entice non-horror fans. Both are excellent horror movies with a sense of humor for a more broad appeal.
You are spot on, I love both of those flicks to death Posted by Veronica Sawyer (Member # 2221) on :
The DVD for this movie is $2.99 on Amazon right now. Think I may give it another chance...can't go wrong with a price like that!
Posted by Chris the CandyFanMan (Member # 3197) on :
I'm not usually a horror person, but this does seem like something I may want to take a crack at at some point down the line.
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So great!!!!!!
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