I'm not one to beat the "Hollywood-has-run-out-of-ideas" drum too loudly, but this latest entry in the remake-everything-made- before-1985 sweepstakes is really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I give you the Prom Night remake.
Wait, you don't remember Prom Night? Seriously? You know, slasher movie, came out about 1980? Stupid kids making out and getting offed? Nerds get it in the van? With Jamie Lee Curtis? Creepy opening with little kids causing an accidental death? And Leslie Nielsen as the principal? Okay, Leslie Nielsen as the disco dancing principal? Ah, I knew you knew the one.
Talk about a carbon copy of something that wasn't that original to start with. Halloween, for all of its grace and style, was built out of shopworn pieces, even for 1978. It was John Carpenter's stylish treatment of those hackneyed elements that made the film into a all-time classic. So why remake a film that was a rip-off of a rip-off? At least the original Prom Night, bless its unimaginative and derivative little heart, was rated R. For some reason, the studio decided that the remake should be PG-13. No gore, no nudity, no drugs, and judging by the trailer, none of the campy fun of seeing Leslie Nielsen disco dance as a severed head goes sailing onto the dance floor.
Just because it's old, doesn't make it a "classic." Or even fondly remembered. Or any damn good to start with.
The unfortunate casualty of this situation is not just originality, common sense, or good taste, but Idris Elba, who has a thankless role in this turd as a cop. Stringer Bell gotta eat!
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Say what you will about Prom Night, but Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is fucking gold. I mean, the title rhymes for god's sake! Leslie Neilson as principal has nothing on Michael Ironside. I mean, the man can explode your brains.
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