Day 10

Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987)

Directed By Bruce Pittman 

Prom Night II is the story of a young woman in high school, Vicki Carpenter, who accidentally unleashes the spirit of a student who died many years ago at her high school. Free from imprisonment, the spirit of Mary Lou gradually possesses Vicki, changing Vicki to be more like she was in life while also getting revenge on those responsible for her death. And before you ask, no, there is no connection between this movie and the slasher film starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Prom Night. What’s interesting about this movie is that instead of being similar at all to the first Prom Night movie, this film feels highly influenced by a slew of other popular horror movies. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II feels like someone took Carrie, The Exorcist, and Nightmare On Elm Street, threw them all in a blender and put it on maximum power for an hour and a half. Now this could be good or it could be bad, and I am happy to report that this was good because I really enjoyed Prom Night II!

What makes Prom Night II work is that it isn’t a direct ripoff of any of these movies, and it manages to create its own identity as a darkly comic take on the nightmare of high school. The characters are generally believable and understandable, the setup for the main story is tragic and relevant, and the ghastly kills are imaginative and surreal. By doing all these basic things correctly, Prom Night II sets itself apart from many of the ripoff movies of the era and manages to create a unique and fun mythology for the villain while at the same time dipping its toes into the kind of fun surrealism that I can get behind. It’s a shame that there are many parts of this movie that haven’t aged particularly well. Many of the characters in the movie are real jerks and there are several scenes that feature really uncomfortable sequences that I won’t entirely spoil but you need to know going in that this movie is a bit off-color. If you’re okay with that, and you want something a bit weird and out there, I’d recommend Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II!