Noche de graduación IV

Released in early 1992, "Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil" is a slasher about a psycho priest who manifests stigmata and has a penchant for slaying fornicating teens. He escapes diocese custody in 1991 and returns to St. Basil Seminar, which has been converted into a vacation home. The only problem is that two teen couples have decided to have an alternative-to-the-prom celebration there.

The only two installments from the Prom Night series that are directly related are parts II and III, both of which involve the malevolent spirit of Mary Lou Maloney. Part I features a masked assailant and this one a crazy priest, who's reminiscent of Marvel's Foolkiller, which debuted some 18-19 years earlier. In any case, all four films (not including 2008's "Prom Night") are connected in that they begin with the 1957 prom at Hamilton High School, near Cleveland, Ohio (this location is clearly established in the original film, for anyone who cares).

The first half hour of "Prom Night IV" focuses on the local diocese and their problems with the cracked priest whom they secretly hold captive in the creepy cellar of a chapel or whatever. I thought this section of the movie was kind of boring but, at the same time, it was a nice change of pace. I liked how this installment returned to the more realistic tone of part I. The story perks up with the two girls, Meagan and Laura, played by brunette cutie Nicole de Boer and blonde tart Joy Tanner, as they prepare to sneak off to the remote summer house of one of their beau's parents.

As you can see, the plot revolves around the conventional horror staple of the cabin-in-the-woods. The good news, however, is that this "cabin" used to be a monastery and so it's a more interesting setting for the ensuing thrills than a rinky-dink cabin.

There are a couple of plot issues though. For instance, the priest doesn't age a bit in 33 years. Even if he's possessed by some supernatural force, this wouldn't stop the normal aging process of the man's body. I'm assuming that the producers simply didn't have the funds for the make-up necessary to convincingly make him look like he was in his late-50s. So they said, "Who cares? It's a friggin' slasher flick." Secondly, there's a crank call that's stereotypical in this genre and Meagan nonchalantly answers the phone even though the teens aren't supposed to be at the house in the first place; and her boyfriend, whose parents own it, doesn't object at all when he later finds out (maybe because he was focused on the matter at hand, lol).

The film runs 1 hour, 32 minutes and was shot in the Toronto area.

GRADE: B-/C+

PROM NIGHT IV: DELIVER US FROM EVIL

*** Out of 5

Tagline- They Ditched Their Prom for a Private Party. Now It's Their Last Dance.

Release Date- May 13th, 1992

Running Time- 89-Minutes

Rating- R

Screenplay- Richard Beattie

Director- Clay Borris

Starring- Nikki de Boer, Alden Kane, Joy Tanner, Alle Ghadban

Released in 1992 Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil is the 4th and final film in the franchise (excluding the remake). The Prom Night series is sort of an anthology as only 2-3 connect and even those 2 films don't directly tie into each other except the Mary Lou character, any other connection is quite minor and basically you wouldn't need to see the 2nd part to understand the 3rd. While the original Prom Night was a slasher film and one of the first produced in the wake of the success of Halloween, the 2nd film Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II went in a different direction with the series and owes a bit to the Elm Street franchise. As mentioned outside of Mary Lou, Prom Night III: Last Kiss is its own film, but does continue with the more supernatural. Here with the 4th film, the Mary Lou plot is dropped and this part goes back to the slasher style of the original. The only real connection between all of the Prom Night films is they're all set at Hamilton High. I really can't confess to being a huge fan of the series and while I like the original and to me it's the best of the series, but I don't hold it in as high regard as other slasher fans. Even though I like the original, but it wouldn't be in my top 10 slasher films and I mostly enjoyed Prom Night II. The one thing I do like about the series is the anthology aspect as I like the idea of all these things happening within the high school. Prom Night IV is generally seen as the weakest of the series, though some list the 3rd film. But based on what I've seen, the 3rd would just edge out this one. I can't argue with the negative reviews for Prom Night IV since I don't exactly disagree with them, but I also feel Prom Night IV gets too many poor reviews. Prom Night IV is the very definition of a middle of the road film. I don't think it's as awful as some, but it's also not very good either. But I'm a little surprised at how many negative reviews are out there as this is basically an 80s slasher produced in 1992. You name the slasher cliche, no doubt Prom Night IV has it. Perhaps, that's a reason for the subpar reviews, but many slasher films have copied each other and the first 4 Friday the 13th films are more or less the same with 2 being almost a remake of the original. By the time the 4th Prom Night was released, the slasher film was basically dead. The peak of these films were in the early 80s and while by the mid-80s, the popularity was fading, but there was still enough life left for these films to be produced at a fairly high rate throughout the decade. There were still a few left trying to squeeze out one last cent, but the slasher film was basically dead until Scream was released in 1996. If Prom Night IV had come out a decade earlier I think while it still wouldn't be seen as a slasher classic, but I do think it would be better received.

In 1957 Father Jonas (Carver) murdered two teens on prom night and after that he's locked away by the church and heavily medicated. Flash forward to prom night 1992, Jonas escapes and sets his sights on 4 teens that ditched the prom to have a party of their own at a summer house.

The screenplay was written by Richard Beattie and his first writing credit was in 1987 with Blindside, which interestingly enough was directed by Paul Lynch, the director of the original Prom Night. Beattie would also write No Contest II also directed by Lynch. While most of Beattie's films aren't very well known though some may have a cult following, but his most notable work would be writing a few DTV films, which starred Steven Seagal, such as Maximum Conviction, Force of Execution, Mercenary: Absolution and Cartels. The writing for Prom Night IV is slasher 101 as it seems upon being hired to write the script, Beattie went on a slasher movie marathon as the script is strictly by the books and sticks to every slasher movie convention, which in someways is the scripts biggest issue as everything here has been done before and done better, but for me it does bring a sense of familiarity to the film, which rather than hurt, makes things a little more enjoyable for me. The characters are the standard ones seen in countless other stalk and slash films and aren't strong enough to carry the film during the lulls in action. Father Jonas also seems to have magical powers as simply by waving his crucifix he can start fires and one has to wonder why he didn't just do that to the characters he was after as in that case he would have killed them all. Most slasher films won't often be cited for strong writing with a few exceptions, but Beattie's script is no better or worse than the good bulk of these films released in the 80s even if it doesn't work as well.

Prom Night IV was directed by Clay Borris and if the writing was slasher 101 that best describes the direction as like the script, Borris as director sticks to every single slasher movie convention. The good portion of the films directed by Clay Borris are fairly unknown with really only Prom Night IV being the most notable. He's also directed a number of TV movies and TV shows such as several episodes of Forever Knight. Borris has also worked as a 2nd unit director on the already mentioned No Contest II and he also served that role on Wrong Turn. After a quick start with a fairly well put together death sequence, the film slows down and here Borris really doesn't get much going and while the script also falters a bit as characters are simply not strong enough to carry the picture, but Borris doesn't really set much of a tone and the pace does lag for a good portion of the middle as both the writing and directing rely on the standard slasher tropes, but there's never any feel of a real threat until Jonas shows up and despite a terrific isolated setting, Borris doesn't create enough suspense or tension, but at the very least at least to me, he does keep the film watchable even if never engaging. The good bulk of the action kicks in during the final act and Borris handles these scenes a little better, but again they just suffer from being done before and more effectively.

Overall Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil has its moments, but not enough to make this anything other than an average at best film. While I fully understand the negative reviews, but I also feel it's a little better than its reputation (though not by a whole lot). Nicole de Boer in an early role is solid, but her character is very much the definition of the final girl, but de Boer is solid in her role as is Joy Tanner as she brings a lot of spunk to the role and with de Boer is the main reason for me Prom Night IV remained watchable. The very same year this was released there was another film that has a couple of similar ideas and that would be Happy Hell Night, which despite being released in 1992 was apparently filmed around 1989, but Prom Night IV and Happy Hell Night have similar ideas, only real difference is Happy Hell Night aims for more comedy as the killer is a poor mans Freddy Krueger.

"Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil" was the last installment in the hodgepodge "Prom Night" series. This film shifts gears considerably, moving to the story of a psychotic priest who was sexually abused by clergy during his youth. As a result, he has a preoccupation with punishing unruly and oversexed teenagers (and is potentially possessed). When he escapes from the church's basement, where he's secretly been kept sedated for years, he returns to a former monastery-turned-house where teenagers have planned a prom-night rendezvous.

While this slasher is in some ways as "by the book" as they come, it distinguishes itself rather nicely with a macabre religious angle and a kind of neo-Gothic atmosphere that is both effective and at times even somewhat creepy. The film cuts ties with the plot line from the former two sequels, though it does make reference to the Mary Lou Maloney story line, as well as a tongue-in-cheek nod to the first film's star, Jamie Lee Curtis.

The killer in the film spins some hokey one-liners throughout which dampens the fear factor, but moody cinematography and some well-staged appearances manage to give the villain a bit of an edge. Once the teenagers get to the remote monastery-turned-private home, the real fun begins. Clever plot set-ups and a great final chase scene help lift the film even a bit further. The performances are mixed, but Nicole de Boer makes a formidable final girl.

Overall, "Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil" caught me off guard, in a good way. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it does spin it with style, and is also closer to the 1980 film in spirit than the former two sequels—and possibly better in some ways. For an early-nineties slasher entry, this one is wildly amusing and at times even effectively moody. 7/10.

"Prom Night IV: Deliver Us From Evil" is a serious (as in: no comedy touches) slasher that falls short in thrills & tension. Too bad, because it had a lot of potential. It's well-made, but severely dull in places. This time we have yet another stand-alone, unrelated sequel about a killer-priest (who is "evil beyond imagination") stalking & killing two couples in an isolated mansion. There are some supernatural undertones in the plot, but they are never explored. The budget on this production even seemed reasonably comfortable, as the cinematography isn't bad at all, often showing us some decent camera-movements on rails & even crane-shots. The acting is passable and the film opens really interesting. But then things fizzle quickly and the whole movie becomes uneventful. If they had simply amped up the body count & bloodshed, this sure could have turned into one of the unsung slasher gems from the early '90s. Now it just remains a curiosity for those interested in the "Prom Night" series. It's a strange franchise, to say the least, with this 4th installment presenting us yet again a different storyline. Interesting, but a failed effort altogether.

While I have said and I stand by it, that there are worse horror movies, there is a time when you can say: Enough. This is closer to part 2 and 3, with another Mary Lou story coming your way. Slasher fiends will get something from it, no matter the bad acting and story behind it.

After a fourth Prom night, hopefully all have graduated to other (better) things alltogether. No pun intended, effects are still ok, considering the budget. But let's finally be delivered from evil ...