DVD Review: PROM NIGHT (2008)

Editor’s Note: This was originally published for FANGORIA on August 13, 2008, and we’re proud to share it as part of The Gingold Files.

Practically the only way in which the Prom Night DVD improves on the experience of watching the movie (see original review here) is via a deleted scene that helps clear up a couple of implausibilities. Herein, Detective Winn (Idris Elba) explains the circumstances of how deranged Richard Fenton (Johnathon Schaech) got out of a mental ward, which not only makes his escape seem a lot less easy than it does in the movie proper, but explains why it takes three days for the authorities to be notified of his disappearance.

Unfortunately, this moment hasn’t been reinstated into the feature itself, and neither has anything else of consequence. Once again, the “Unrated Edition With Alternate Ending” billing on the DVD’s O-card is a sham; there’s a minute at most of barely noticeable material added back to the theatrical cut, none of it involves anything frightening or PG-13-threatening and that different conclusion is only viewable as a separate supplement. For the record, it deviates slightly in a chillier direction, but is nothing to scream home about—though star Brittany Snow, at least, is happy it wasn’t used.

The perky Snow, Schaech and director Nelson McCormick provide commentary on the deleted material as well as the movie, and their enthusiasm discussing Prom Night is enough to make you appreciate their efforts, if not the final result. In between gushing over each and every one of their collaborators, they address suspense and character depth that just aren’t there on screen (“A psychology major could have a field day with this,” Snow says, overstating things a tad), and McCormick notes his ambition to “respect the genre” and “study the rules,” citing Alien, Silence of the Lambs and other modern classics as influences. It’s a shame, then, that what wound up on screen employs only the most rudimentary constructs of horror cinema, and indeed, the participants emphasize that this is “not a slasher film” (Schaech) and more of “a cop thriller” (McCormick).

They also reference at least one excised gore moment that’s nowhere to be found on the disc, and a few deleted dramatic bits that, when viewed in the supplemental section, don’t add the hoped-for depth. Scattered elsewhere among the extras are tastes of what the movie might have been: In the standard-issue A Night to Remember making-of featurette, executive producer Mark Forby reveals that early script drafts involved the reincarnated souls of past murder victims. Gothic Spaces, detailing the hotel location where the onscreen bash takes place, showcases evocative architecture that isn’t shown off to full advantage in the film. And in Prom Night Photo Album, the cast and crew share real-life high-school-dance memories that are funnier and more idiosyncratic than anything the movie’s characters get up to.

Also supporting the slick-as-can-be 2.40:1 transfer is the complete “video yearbook” seen projected over the dance floor, a Profile of a Killer (no real revelations here) and a gag reel that’s largely just the actors cracking up in the middle of takes or flubbing lines and moves. This collection also contains a montage of members of the Prom Night team apologizing—and the gesture, at least, is appreciated.