Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II

This one is simply too much devilish fun! An unrelated, stand-alone sequel much more in the supernatural slasher vein of the at the time very popular "A Nightmare On Elm Street" movies. There's some black humor & genre references present (the film winks at "The Exorcist" and "Carrie"), but it does deliver in the creepy horror department also. Lisa Schrage is delicious as the evil Mary Lou Maloney and Michael Ironside is running around in it also as the principal of Hamilton High (always a nice bonus in any movie, this man). Wendy Lyon (as the possessed Vicky Carpenter) provides some very unexpected full frontal nudity, resulting in a scene featuring the best kill of the movie. This is a fine example of how much crazy fun an '80s slasher movie can get.

Clever, inventive, and funny totally non-related sequel to Prom Night takes various elements from just about every horror film and blends them together with successful results. The story deals with a murdered prom queen possessing a young girl thirty years later to avenge her death. Lisa Schrage is funny, scary, and sexy as Mary Lou. Pretty good effects for the most part too. Rated R; Nudity, Sexual Situations, Graphic Violence, and Profanity.

The film centers around the ghost of one Mary Lou Maloney, a girl who was accidentally killed during her prom queen crowning in the 50s. Her spirit is accidentally released by a girl named Vicki when she finds her supposed prom queen regalia in the school's prop room. Mary Lou possesses her, and sets out to get revenge on those responsible for her death and become the prom queen once more.

I usually prefer Hammer horror films or 80's horror with light gore and an emphasis on atmosphere and story and this 1987 sequel has plenty of atmosphere, moments that make you jump, builds progressively to the climax and the gore isn't too heavy - it's more special effect-laden like the Nightmare on Elm street series. Has some inventive effects and the characterisation is good, though it gets a little longwinded and tedious towards the end. The interesting aspect is that the would-be victim or the one vulnerable is the male - usually in horror film it's the female who is either the final girl or in the dangerous situation.

The Prom Night series probably takes the cake as one of horror's more negligible series due to its lack of continuity, trite plots, and severe emphasis on Christianity. However, I think Mary Lou is probably the best installment in this series. Vicki Carpenter is the quintessential goody two shoes who's raised by strict and deeply religious parents who've done a fine job at making her feel guilty for having "sinful" thoughts about her boyfriend and using the Lord's name in vain. But with her interest in the prom queen who died thirty years earlier, it's obvious that she's torn between a her own world and one that can be considered more sinful. The spirit of Mary Lou does a helluva job at corrupting this little Miss Perfect by exposing her to violence, revenge, lust, and even homosexuality that she's pondered for years. While the film bears no major relevance to its predecessor much like the subsequent two films, it provides a reflection of what teenagers have been going through for years while they were trying break free from the parents who drove them crazy, discover more about themselves, or just try, by any means necessary, to be the most popular person in their school. After all, weren't those the elements that John Hughes filled his 80s teen movies with?

Wendy Lyon plays blonde-haired high-school goody-two-shoes Vicki Carpenter (just one of several characters in this film blessed with the surname of a horror director) who gradually becomes possessed by the vengeful spirit of promiscuous tart Mary Lou Maloney (Lisa Schrage), who was burnt to death during her high school prom in 1957 as a result of two men fighting for her affections.

Before getting down to the messy business of exacting revenge on those responsible for her untimely demise, Mary Lou dispatches a couple of Vicki's closest friends (after all, practise make perfect), causing her next targets—local priest Father Cooper (Richard Monette) and high-school principal Bill Nordham (Michael Ironside)—to suspect that they might be next to die. At the high school prom, Nordham attempts to stop the now fully possessed Vicki from causing further mayhem, but only succeeds in making the spirit within even more angry, ensuring everyone present has a totally unforgettable night.

A non-related sequel to Prom Night, the 1980 Jamie Lee Curtis slasher, Hello, Mary Lou is an entertaining tale of revenge from beyond the grave featuring a grab-bag of supernatural elements borrowed from genre classics such as The Exorcist, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Carrie.

The result is a derivative slice of 80s teen horror that is rather light on the gore (why, oh why, didn't they chop fashion disaster Jess's head off like they threatened to do?), but which is still lots of fun thanks to some great performances from a decent cast (including the always superb Michael Ironside) and a couple of surprisingly risqué scenes: Lyon strips off and gives us full-frontal as she hops in the shower with (big) bosom(ed) pal Monica (Beverly Hendry); nasty prom queen hopeful Kelly (Terri Hawkes) gives a blow-job to a lucky computer geek to convince him to rig the evening's voting; and the possessed Vicki not only comes on to her principal and a priest, but also her own father!!!

Throw in some Elm Street-style nightmare scenes, the most memorable of which has a rocking horse come to life, and a daft 'shock' ending, and what you have is an eminently watchable time-waster.