Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987)

When Hamilton High's Prom Queen of 1957 Mary Lou Maloney is killed by her jilted boyfriend she comes back for revenge 30 years later. Bill Nordham is now the principle of Hamilton High and his son is about to attend the prom with Vicki Carpenter. However she is possessed by Mary Lou Maloney after opening a trunk in the school's basement. Now Bill must face the horror he left behind in 1957.System Requirements:Running Time: 97 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR/KILLER Rating: R UPC: 883904103790 Manufacturer No: M110379 Product Description

Call Mary Lou for a good time!

I first saw this movie in 1993 I was 7 then and I never could figure out the name of it when I grew up because of Prom Night 1 but I finally found out! I love this movie Mary Lou is the all time Bad Girl so many hilarious moments and quotable lines in this movie its a childhood favorite that I will always love! June 12, 2008

Prom Nights Never Been So Fun

First, lets get this out of the way, Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night 2 is not a sequal to Prom Night. It stands alone as its own movie and on top of that is much better than the original Prom Night and the new Prom Night. The only thing it has in common with Prom Night is the fact it takes place at Hamilton High. This 1987 supernatual horror/thriller from director Bruce Pittman got limted realese in the late 80's and was really slept on by most people. It has a solid story and the acting wasn't bad either. On top of that it has Sci-Fi legend Michael Ironside "Scanners" in one of the main roles as Billy Nordham, Mary Lou's jeoulous ex-boyfreind. This movie really takes place during two seperate times. The movie starts out in 1957 at the Hamilton High prom. A younger Billy Nordham's date for the prom is Mary Lou, played perfectly by Lisa Schrage. Billy goes to get Mary Lou a drink and then comes back to find her with another guy getting it on behind closed doors. Mary Lou is chosen Prom Queen shortly after. Billy,out of a fit of jeoulousy decides to get back at Mary Lou right before she is to be crowned by climbing the rafters an throwing a giant stink bomb behind her. Well, poor billy should have cut the fuse because it's so long the it catches her gown on fire and see burns to death in front of the entire senoir class.
Thirty years later enter Viki Carpenter, this years font runner for prom queen. Vicki( played by Wendy Loyon) is a shy, innocent girl who's going out with Craig,the son of the principal of Hamilton High, who happens to be an older Billy Nordham(Michael Ironside). This to me is one of the only flaws in the story. How could somebody who wittness something so horrific decide to become principal of that same school? Anyway, when Vicki finds and old dress for the prom trouble begins. Mary Lou's spirit slowly begins to possess Vicki's body and she only has one thing on her mind,REVENGE!
This Movie is alot of fun. It takes alot of old concepts (Exorcist,Carrie) and mixes them up very well. On the scare factor I can only give it a 6 out of 10. But on the fun factor I give it a 8 which brings my total rating to a 3.5 stars out of five. I recommend this movie for anyone who's looking for a fun night at home or happened to miss their prom night and wanted to see what all the fuss was about, AH,AH,AH,AH,AHHHH!!! June 11, 2008

A Blast From the Past

Let me be frank. I didn't like the original Prom Night whatsoever, but totally enjoyed Prom Night2. I haven't been able to see this movie for years and on occasion would go on-line to see if there was a decent version and finally now, MGM has done the movie justice with this DVD version.

It's a fun horror flick from the 80s with decent acting and good cinematography. You can't say that about a lot of recent horror movies lately. I have a soft spot for this movie.

I'm very pleased to have this flick in my horror collection. Thank you MGM.

April 28, 2008

Flawed, but fun

Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is a sequel by name only; the only connection between this and the first Prom Night is the high school Hamilton High. Other than that this is a stand-alone movie with nothing from the original carrying over. I suppose that's a good thing; the original Prom Night wasn't the worst movie I've seen, but it's not very good either. The final 30-minutes were fairly decent, but not enough to really salvage it. Prom Night II on the other hand is a far better movie, but not without its fair share of flaws.

There might be more going against Prom Night II rather than for it; there is a low body count, very little in the way of the red stuff, and very little suspense and tension. The basic premise of Prom Night II is a little bit of Carrie, A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Exorcist. And it also rips off, or you can say homage if you like to other horror movies of the 70s and 80s. But yet despite all these flaws there is just something so much fun about Prom Night II. Despite all those flaws it's damn entertaining.

Writer Ron Oliver delivers the basic script for this kind of movie and borrows elements from other films, but he manages to work them in well and they don't feel out of place. Bottom line is the script won't win any awards, but it works out rather well. It's an entertaining script. It's not bad and it's not good, but again entertaining. Ron Oliver may not go down as one of the horror genres better writers, but his script mostly gets the job done.

Director Bruce Pittman does a fairly good job at keeping the pace moving along nicely, there are a few spots where the pacing does lag, but overall there aren't too many slow moments due to the cheese factor. Most of the deaths are in the final 30-minutes or so, and that does hurt a little bit, but again Bruce Pittman keeps the pace mostly moving and with all the cheesy moments prior you won't lose interest. Prom Night II borderlines seriousness and camp, which was the point; though there are a couple of scenes I wasn't sure if they were meant to be serious or campy and that is the major flaw with the directing. There are certain scenes you know were meant to be campy, but like I said there were a couple that I wasn't quite sure.

Prom Night II could have used a little bit of editing though like I said there are moments where the pace might lag a bit, but the cheese factor helps it from becoming boring. Prom Night II runs at about 97-minutes and could have maybe been edited down to the 90-minute mark, but the movie doesn't get too boring, but a little bit of editing could have greatly helped the pace.

Prom Night II isn't without some bizarre moments one of them being when Vicki played by Wendy Lyon is possessed by Mary Lou she begins to make out with her father played by Wendell Smith. The creepy thing is the father was sort of into it. In fairness Vicki was possessed, but the father wasn't; gotta love movies with the incest theme.

The cast was pretty good as well; Lisa Schrage as Mary Lou Maloney was excellent despite her limited screen time; Most of the time Mary Lou is either doing a haunting and we don't see her or possesses the body of Vicki. Wendy Lyon is highly likeable as the heroine and when possessed by Mary Lou she's really fun as the villain. Michael Ironside also stars and delivers a mostly entertaining performance. The rest of the cast play their roles they way they were meant to. Like I stated before Prom Night II borderlines seriousness and camp and the performances fit the movie.

Overall despite the flaws Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is an effective movie. While the suspense and tension does lack it's very entertaining in a way only an 80s horror flick can be. Though at least there is some full frontal nudity from Wendy Lyon. You rarely see that in movies these days due to the PC police. For a low budget the F/X weren't too bad. After this the Mary Lou plot would continue in Prom Night III and the 4th would go off in a different direction, but go back to the slasher elements of the first one. Of all the Prom Night flicks this is really the only one worth watching. Despite the flaws it manages to entertain and when all is said and done isn't that all that matters? April 5, 2008

Well Hello Mary Lou...Goodbye Heart

I hadn't seen this in years and recently purchased it again on a great looking new DVD by MGM. There was also a sticker on the case that said "On DVD for the First Time!" The picture and sound were both crystal clear. No special features but that is to be expected. It seems the soundtrack is still in tact as well including Ricky Nelson's Hello Mary Lou. Sometimes it is hard licensing music onto old films due to legal/money/rights issues (the replaced music for the 2004 DVD of Happy Birthday to Me comes to mind). I'm assuming this is being re-released to coincide with the 2008 remake of Prom Night due out in theatres next week. I really enjoyed the first Prom Night with Jaime Lee Curtis. People should note that this film has nothing to do with the first one and that's not necessarily a bad thing although the same high school name is used. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is actually a very entertaining, fun horror flick with some comedic touches thrown in. It is sort of a cross between Carrie and The Exorcist. We open with the 1957 prom queen winner Mary Lou Maloney (Lisa Schrage) who goes up in a barrell of flames due to her jilted boyfriend being left behind for another guy. Fast forward 30 years later and Vickie Carpenter (Wendy Lyon) has been nominated prom queen. She is also dating the principal's son whose father just happens to be the guy responsible for Mary Lou's death. Suddenly, Mary Lou's unrested spirit is released and she is burning mad! (no pun intended) Vickie begins acting stranger by the day. She is saying things she doesn't normally say. She begins doing things she doesn't nomally do. She even comes to school dressed in clothes fit for 1957. What could be happening? If you are thinking Mary Lou is starting to possess Vickie's body to get revenge on those who wronged her or who stand in her way of becoming the 1987 prom queen, you would be right. There are many enjoyable moments to savor for those who don't mind taking a break from serious horror. There is also some very smart and witty dialogue, and the actors all did a nice job. This DVD is 5 stars all around. So say Hello to Mary Lou and buy Prom Night II! April 4, 2008

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