Prom Night

Four children are involved in the accidental death of a classmate and keep what happened a secret. Six years later, on the night of their senior prom, someone who witnessed the incident begins killing them one by one. The masked figure hunting them moves through the school while the celebration goes on, and the students who have carried the secret find themselves the targets of a plan for revenge.

Prom Night was released in 1980 and was directed by Paul Lynch, the first of four features listed for him, followed by Really Weird Tales and Bullies in 1986 and The Keeper in 2004. William Gray wrote the screenplay, Peter R. Simpson produced, and the large credited company of 34 cast members and 65 crew reflects a Canadian production made for around 2 million dollars. Jamie Lee Curtis appears as Kimberly Hammond, with Leslie Nielsen as her father, Mr. Hammond, and Casey Stevens, Anne-Marie Martin, Antoinette Bower and Michael Tough among the main cast.

The film took in roughly 15 million dollars worldwide against its budget, a return that made it commercially significant within its genre, though critical reception fell short of that success: critics gave it 4.5 out of 10 from 23 reviews, while audiences rate it 5.3 out of 10 on IMDb from over 20,000 votes and 5.7 out of 10 on TMDB from a few hundred votes, a slightly warmer response from viewers than from reviewers. The 93-minute film mixes horror with mystery and thriller elements.