Is this what schools need gymnasiums for?
Prom season is that special time of year where kids put on formal wear and take awkward photos. This rite of passage is a special time of year that quite a few horror movies will have you also believe is the perfect time for a zombie apocalypse. Or to push the telekinetic girl too far. I have always said Footloose would be a better movie with a couple buckets of blood and I think Kevin Bacon would agree. However you choose to remember your prom, it probably wasn’t as eventful as the ones found below. Spare your nieces your stories of fabric allergies and puking. These slashers are full of buckets of blood on taffeta so your stories can wait.
Carrie (1976)
Where You Can Watch: Amazon Prime
Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) is the Patron Saint of prom horror. We watch this movie specifically for the prom when she gets back at this whole town that tried her. Her bullies really fucked around and found out which birthed the “Good For Her” horror movement. Carrie doesn’t just stop after burning her school down. Oh no! This queen goes home to an unhinged mother that can’t read a room and turns her to ashes too. This movie’s main flaw is being made decades before “Yas Queen!” was popular enough to be part of the movie merch. There will never be a prom more satisfying than this one. Period.
Dance Of The Dead (2008)
Where You Can Watch: The Roku Channel and Tubi
This movie feels like a really long Fall Out Boy video circa From Under the Cork Tree. That’s not a bad thing because it’s a really fun time. It’s just also VERY of its time. However, I love zombies, so watching them go to town on teens in formalwear is very much my brand. By the time our group of survivors gets to the actual prom, it’s basically a game of who is going to die next. This horror comedy has the buckets of blood, a weirdly likable bully, and a pizza wagon to appeal to my MTV-infused misspent youth sensibilities. Whatever your prom story is doesn’t matter. You didn’t have zombies so no one cares, Karen.
Party Night (2017)
Where You Can Watch: Tubi
These six friends went to a boring prom before getting to the real reason to watch this movie. Once they’re isolated at their depressing after-party, they begin getting picked off by a rando. This is when things get interesting because none of them have survival instincts. I wasn’t sure there was going to be a final person until the credits rolled because people were doing the least. Full confession, I didn’t live for this movie and am probably not gonna watch it again. However, I do think it’s a cool reminder that if we have access to a camera and a home we can make a movie. I also think it’s awesome Tubi takes in misfit toys so we can see them, and oftentimes laugh at things we shouldn’t.
Prom Night (1980)
Where You Can Watch: Amazon Prime, Peacock, PlutoTV, Tubi, and Vudu
Jamie Lee Curtis was really that bitch in the 80s. You couldn’t make a horror movie without her and she is one of the saving graces of this one. A masked killer wreaks havoc at a prom for revenge purposes. This should be more exciting than the movie makes but it’s just a fine time. You can catch the bonkers sequel Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II currently streaming on Amazon Prime Peacock, Pluto TV, Tubi, and Vudu. If you’re a real glutton for punishment, you can see the awful 2008 Prom Night remake on Starz. The remake has a lot of actors I love, and I’m happy they got paid. That’s all I have to say about that.
Student Bodies (1981)
Where You Can Watch: Pluto TV
This horror spoof is definitely chaos incarnate. I don’t know if I had a good time but I couldn’t look away. By the time we get to the prom, and the body count begins to get wild, we’ve met so many characters that we want to see run into the killer. Part of the fun is catching the movie references because it is making fun of Friday the 13th, Prom Night, Carrie, and even The Wizard of Oz. Aside from seeing the over-the-top costumes and mayhem at the prom, it’s also interesting to see an older model of the style of movies the Scary Movie franchise introduced a lot of the youth to.
Tell me your favorite horror prom at @misssharai.
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