Customer Reviews

Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Glad that now that the remake of the original Prom Night is in theatres that they finally decided to release Prom Night 2 to DVD. It was always one of my favorite Prom night stories with it super natural aspect of a dead prom queen possessing a high school girl and trying to live the dream of being queen she was denied when she died in the school gym fire in 1950s. A lot better concept than a mere serial killer. My only problem is the same as with most 1980s horror movies. That is the DVD box art. I find it weird that 1980s had the most fantastic VHS box cover art and often some of the worst DVD box cover art.

On Hamilton high's prom night 1957, Mary Lou Maloney (Lisa Schrage) was killed during a vengeful prank gone horribly wrong. Burned alive in front of the entire senior class, Mary Lou stares out at them w/ eyes full of hate. Fast-forward 30 years, and it's prom season again. This time, Mary Lou will finally have her vengeance. PROM NIGHT 2 is one of those movies I put off watching for years, figuring it would stink. I also wanted Jamie Lee Curtis to be in it (yes, I love her). Well, I just watched it and must say that it stands on it's own as an 80s classic. PN2 includes ghosts, possession, telekinetic powers, and enough supernatural murder and mayhem to please any horror enthusiast. Oh yeah, and there's some gratuitous (though always welcome) nudity as well. Plus, creep-fest icon, Michael Ironside (Scanners, Visiting Hours, Starship Troopers, Total Recall, etc.) is the Hamilton High principal who knew Mary Lou all too well!! With nods to CARRIE, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, and others, PR2 is a hoot! Watch for the PC electrocution, death-by-neon-lightning-bolt, and girl-turned-into-hamburger-in-a-locker sequences! Also, this movie is like a late 80s fashion disaster show. Check out the tall, stiff hair and "hip" clothing for added terror! A must-see...

First, lets get this out of the way, Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night 2 is not a sequal to Prom Night. It stands alone as its own movie and on top of that is much better than the original Prom Night and the new Prom Night. The only thing it has in common with Prom Night is the fact it takes place at Hamilton High. This 1987 supernatual horror/thriller from director Bruce Pittman got limted realese in the late 80's and was really slept on by most people. It has a solid story and the acting wasn't bad either. On top of that it has Sci-Fi legend Michael Ironside "Scanners" in one of the main roles as Billy Nordham, Mary Lou's jeoulous ex-boyfreind. This movie really takes place during two seperate times. The movie starts out in 1957 at the Hamilton High prom. A younger Billy Nordham's date for the prom is Mary Lou, played perfectly by Lisa Schrage. Billy goes to get Mary Lou a drink and then comes back to find her with another guy getting it on behind closed doors. Mary Lou is chosen Prom Queen shortly after. Billy,out of a fit of jeoulousy decides to get back at Mary Lou right before she is to be crowned by climbing the rafters an throwing a giant stink bomb behind her. Well, poor billy should have cut the fuse because it's so long the it catches her gown on fire and see burns to death in front of the entire senoir class.
Thirty years later enter Viki Carpenter, this years font runner for prom queen. Vicki( played by Wendy Loyon) is a shy, innocent girl who's going out with Craig,the son of the principal of Hamilton High, who happens to be an older Billy Nordham(Michael Ironside). This to me is one of the only flaws in the story. How could somebody who wittness something so horrific decide to become principal of that same school? Anyway, when Vicki finds and old dress for the prom trouble begins. Mary Lou's spirit slowly begins to possess Vicki's body and she only has one thing on her mind,REVENGE!
This Movie is alot of fun. It takes alot of old concepts (Exorcist,Carrie) and mixes them up very well. On the scare factor I can only give it a 6 out of 10. But on the fun factor I give it a 8 which brings my total rating to a 3.5 stars out of five. I recommend this movie for anyone who's looking for a fun night at home or happened to miss their prom night and wanted to see what all the fuss was about, AH,AH,AH,AH,AHHHH!!!

Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is a sequel by name only; the only connection between this and the first Prom Night is the high school Hamilton High. Other than that this is a stand-alone movie with nothing from the original carrying over. I suppose that's a good thing; the original Prom Night wasn't the worst movie I've seen, but it's not very good either. The final 30-minutes were fairly decent, but not enough to really salvage it. Prom Night II on the other hand is a far better movie, but not without its fair share of flaws.

There might be more going against Prom Night II rather than for it; there is a low body count, very little in the way of the red stuff, and very little suspense and tension. The basic premise of Prom Night II is a little bit of Carrie, A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Exorcist. And it also rips off, or you can say homage if you like to other horror movies of the 70s and 80s. But yet despite all these flaws there is just something so much fun about Prom Night II. Despite all those flaws it's damn entertaining.

Writer Ron Oliver delivers the basic script for this kind of movie and borrows elements from other films, but he manages to work them in well and they don't feel out of place. Bottom line is the script won't win any awards, but it works out rather well. It's an entertaining script. It's not bad and it's not good, but again entertaining. Ron Oliver may not go down as one of the horror genres better writers, but his script mostly gets the job done.

Director Bruce Pittman does a fairly good job at keeping the pace moving along nicely, there are a few spots where the pacing does lag, but overall there aren't too many slow moments due to the cheese factor. Most of the deaths are in the final 30-minutes or so, and that does hurt a little bit, but again Bruce Pittman keeps the pace mostly moving and with all the cheesy moments prior you won't lose interest. Prom Night II borderlines seriousness and camp, which was the point; though there are a couple of scenes I wasn't sure if they were meant to be serious or campy and that is the major flaw with the directing. There are certain scenes you know were meant to be campy, but like I said there were a couple that I wasn't quite sure.

Prom Night II could have used a little bit of editing though like I said there are moments where the pace might lag a bit, but the cheese factor helps it from becoming boring. Prom Night II runs at about 97-minutes and could have maybe been edited down to the 90-minute mark, but the movie doesn't get too boring, but a little bit of editing could have greatly helped the pace.

Prom Night II isn't without some bizarre moments one of them being when Vicki played by Wendy Lyon is possessed by Mary Lou she begins to make out with her father played by Wendell Smith. The creepy thing is the father was sort of into it. In fairness Vicki was possessed, but the father wasn't; gotta love movies with the incest theme.

The cast was pretty good as well; Lisa Schrage as Mary Lou Maloney was excellent despite her limited screen time; Most of the time Mary Lou is either doing a haunting and we don't see her or possesses the body of Vicki. Wendy Lyon is highly likeable as the heroine and when possessed by Mary Lou she's really fun as the villain. Michael Ironside also stars and delivers a mostly entertaining performance. The rest of the cast play their roles they way they were meant to. Like I stated before Prom Night II borderlines seriousness and camp and the performances fit the movie.

Overall despite the flaws Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is an effective movie. While the suspense and tension does lack it's very entertaining in a way only an 80s horror flick can be. Though at least there is some full frontal nudity from Wendy Lyon. You rarely see that in movies these days due to the PC police. For a low budget the F/X weren't too bad. After this the Mary Lou plot would continue in Prom Night III and the 4th would go off in a different direction, but go back to the slasher elements of the first one. Of all the Prom Night flicks this is really the only one worth watching. Despite the flaws it manages to entertain and when all is said and done isn't that all that matters?

Taking an altogether different route than that of its predecessor, "Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II" introduces a supernatural twist to the "Prom Night" franchise. In the film, hot-to-trot hussy, Mary Lou, gets her comeuppance when a jilted boyfriend accidentally sets her ablaze during her crowning as Prom Queen. Thirty years later, she returns to her old stomping grounds to possess a new Prom Queen hopeful and to hassle her old boyfriend, played by Michael Ironside, who just so happens to have grown up to be the principal of their high school.

More "A Nightmare on Elm Street" meets "Carrie" than "Halloween" or "Friday The 13th," "Prom Night II" is a quirky but entertaining sequel. The death scenes are much more imaginative than in the first film, in spite of obvious heavy editing and some poorly-achieved yet ambitious visual effects. Michael Ironside rolls through the film straight-faced almost as if he can't wait to cash that paycheck. It's left up to the teens, then, to carry the film. Unfortunately they all appear to be in their mid-20s and, especially in the case of the main character, require much stretching of the imagination to fit the part.

There's some undeniable weirdness at hand (especially concerning two gals in a shower) but the film succeeds at creating its own atmosphere independently of the first film. There are some issues with originality at times, but the film is never boring and doesn't quite turn out the way you expect it to. Also, the `50s nostalgia is a nice touch and helps set the film aside from other horror sequels in the `80s. Overall, "Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II" is an entertaining if not odd little sequel that will entertain those who love their `80s cheese dished up with a bit of the strange.

Hello Mary Lou is a classic rock song originally sung by Ricky Nelson and covered by such classic bands as Queen, CCR, and Led Zeppelin. I love the song and it's not the reason why I bought this dvd. I saw a very, very brief clip of this film over ten years ago and i've always wanted to get it once I learned it was out on dvd.

Mary Lou confesses to her priest that she likes sex and has done alot of guys in her school and craves her name in the confessional saying call for a good time. We cut to prom and she went with her current boyfriend but he is told they broke up. He denies it and catches her cheating on him, apparently the only reason why she dates him is because he treats her right and his father is rich. He accidentally sets Mary Lou on fire and everyone stares, weren't there any fire extinguishers back then? We cut to thirty years later and the boyfriend is the current principal of the school. Mary Lou comes back, enters the body of a girl, and wreaks havoc on peopke that did her wrong. The movie is not really gory and there is some cheap looking effects. The end of the movie was a typical ending to a horror film, leaving room for the next part.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie even though the story was not always clear or maybe I didnt pay to much attention to it. I don't understand why they could not use the song Hello Mary Lou in the film. It should have been public access by the time the film was released and would have been the perfect way to end the movie.

Let me be frank. I didn't like the original Prom Night whatsoever, but totally enjoyed Prom Night2. I haven't been able to see this movie for years and on occasion would go on-line to see if there was a decent version and finally now, MGM has done the movie justice with this DVD version.

It's a fun horror flick from the 80s with decent acting and good cinematography. You can't say that about a lot of recent horror movies lately. I have a soft spot for this movie.

I'm very pleased to have this flick in my horror collection. Thank you MGM.

well this is not the 1st time that this is on dvd.

i already have this on dvd from canada it was released there, under the movie company name alliance atlantis films. the cover on that dvd from them is diffrent from this one by mgm

But this is the first time it has been released in america on "MGM" dvd.

and wow! let me tell you this transfer is nice! its way sharper 50x more then alliance atlantis dvd transfer.

they REALLY cleaned this movie up on this new transfer.

its even in stereo!, the old one on alliance atlantis dvd wasn't. it was in hifi Mono. as so was the VHS version of this when it first came out
video tape

ither way if you have seen this film before, or are going to for the first time. get this dvd from Mgm that just came out. it is a great transfer of a old movie long forgotten.

While this film took quite a bit of a bashing for being completely unrelated to the first Prom Night (except for taking place in the same high-school), the funny thing is that Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is actually a better film.

With a clever 1950s motif, this horror send-up of Carrie, Peggy Sue Got Married and Nightmare on Elm Street is funny, engaging and at the right times, scary. Well acted by an attractive cast, this one is well worth watching, especially restored, remastered and in anamorphic widescreen. Buy it now.

For a Movie that cost $5.00 and one I remember seeing growing up, it's not bad, it's not very scary, it is at times a little funny and silly, there is full frontal nudity,the film is a b-movie yes,but it's not horrible. the special effects could have been better. But it's vintage 1987!