Michael's Horror Lase-O-Rama: Hello Mary Lou - Prom Night II

Source: LDDB.com

Hello Mary Lou...

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Hamilton High School's 1957 senior prom was a killer--literally! Just moments after being crowned Prom Queen, Mary Lou Maloney (Lisa Schrage) is engulfed in flames, the result of a prank gone wrong. She burns to death while the rest of the senior class watches in horror. But while Mary Lou might have been the most popular girl in all of Hamilton High, she acquired that popularity through morals so loose they would shame even @blewitt. Though she was a beauty, very few members of the Class of '57 would mourn her passing. No one realized that her rage at the prospect of dying would actually bind her evil spirit to the school.

Thirty years later, Hamilton High is preparing for another prom night. Unfortunately for Vicki Carpenter (Wendy Lyon), her uptight prude of a mother is less than happy about her choice of Craig Nordham (Louis Ferreira) for her date, and goes out of her way to deny Vicki any help, including money for a prom dress. Things look dismal for Vicki until her best friend Jess (Beth Gondek) suggests that Vicki raid the wardrobe department of the school theater and borrow one of the stage costumes. Thus it happens that while Vicki's rooting through the racks, she stumbles across an old travel trunk, seemingly stuck shut. Overcome with curiosity, Vicki pops it open, discovering a sash reading "Prom Queen 1957" and a jewel-studded tiara, along with a gorgeous blue dress.

Unfortunately for Vicki (not to mention the rest of Hamilton High), opening the trunk also releases the vengeful spirit of none other than Ms. Toasty herself, and Vicki quickly finds herself in a battle not just against rival student Kelly (Terri Hawkes), but also the brooding ghoul who died before she learned what it felt like to wear the crown. Seeing Vicki as her best chance to not only be the Prom Queen again, but to also revenge herself upon two of her now-grown fellow students: Bill Nordam (Michael Ironside), who is both Craig's father and Hamilton High's current Principal, and Buddy Cooper (Richard Monette), now a priest in the community. One of them was responsible for her death, the other failed to help her when he had the opportunity, a secret both men have kept for the last thirty years.

As Mary Lou's hold on Vicki grows, Vicki's behavior continues to change: she dresses and talks like she walked out of a 1950's malt shop, acts out against her friends and fellow classmates, and acquires a slavish devotion to doing whatever it takes to ensure she's crowned Prom Queen '87. If that means literally cutting out the competition, then so be it...

...Goodbye Heart!

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Halloween may have introduced all of us to Jamie Lee Curtis, but it was 1980's Prom Night which certified her as one of cinema's finest Scream Queens. While critics of the time lambasted the film as derivative of similar works, this low-budget Canadian horror production found a cult following on the home video circuit. And, as so often happens in the world of 80's slashers, Prom Night was blessed/cursed (depending on your outlook) with three sequels and the obligatory late 2000's reboot , all of which bore zero resemblance to the film that spawned them.

Taking a page from Friday the 13th, Prom Night II swapped out the original killer for some new blood: just as Camp Crystal Lake acquired its Jason, Hamilton High School acquired its own personal psychopath in Mary Lou Maloney. But unlike Freddy and Jason, who by this point had becomes jokes unto themselves and killers for whom the audience rooted for, Mary Lou was played as a non-camp slasher. The gleefully sadistic way she assaults Vicki, gradually breaking down her ability to resist, results in some phenomenal practical effects. While it's hard to beat the rocking horse in Vicki's room that acquires blinking eyes and a leering, thrusting tongue for sheer creep factor, my favorite moment is an absolutely brilliant piece of set-work that sees Vicki approaching a chalk board upon which the words "HELP ME" carve themselves in reverse, as though someone on the other side is writing them. When she gets close enough to inspect the strange letters, the entire surface of the blackboard becomes a writhing mass of liquid that draws Vicki inside, then seals shut behind her. The letters previously written on the board are left scrambled and scrawled every which way in the aftermath. Even if it's obvious to anyone even marginally aware of effects work how they shot the scene, it's still more nightmarish than anything Freddy had done on Elm Street in years.

Equally impressive and tense is the scene where the now completely possessed Vicki stalks her friend Monica (Beverley Hendry) through the Girls' locker room. It starts off so simply, with the pair getting into an argument over Vicki's recent behavior, then director Bruce Pittman ratchets up the tension beat by beat. First, Vicki walks into the shower where Monica's cleaning off, puts her hands on Monica's shoulders, and apologizes. Monica turns and accepts the apology, the two share a nervous chuckle, then Vicki darts in and places a kiss on Monica's nose.

Then she kisses Monica's forehead. Then a cheek. As Vicki goes for the lips, Monica realizes that something is terribly wrong with her friend, and shoves her away. She grabs her towel, wraps herself up in it, and heads for the exit, only to find the way out has been blocked by the safety gate which has somehow locked itself. She's got a few seconds to find a place to hide before Vicki, completely naked, begins stalking her through the rows of lockers. I can't help but wonder if Robert Rodriguez had this scene in mind when he blocked out a similar moment in 1998's The Faculty, when Laura Harris does an equally-NSFW stroll through a high school locker room, stalking Josh Hartnett. I cannot imagine how hard it is to look convincingly menacing while completely lacking in the wardrobe department, Wendy Lyon absolutely nails it.

While Hello Mary Lou is played straight, screenwriter Ron Oliver wasn't afraid to have a bit of fun either. Many of his characters carry last names identical to some of the biggest horror heavy-hitters of the day: Carpenter, Hennelotter, Craven, Dante, King, and Romero all get these little nods. In addition, there are some scenes (mainly involving Father Cooper) that appear designed to poke fun at The Exorcist, and both of the major prom sequences heavily homage De Palma's Carrie.

All told, this is a fun little horror film that I don't think ever got its due. By the time Prom Night III came around three years later, the series had abandoned any pretense of being straight horror despite the return of Mary Lou Maloney. One year later, in Prom Night IV, Mary Lou was discarded; the 2008 reboot tossed out everything from the previous installments except the title. And honestly, despite how enjoyable the original is, I think Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is that rare sequel which surpasses its predecessor. It's no masterpiece of cinema, but considering the budgetary constraints and being helmed almost exclusively by unknown actors and actresses, it does a fantastic job at what it set out to do, featuring some inventive kills and a full-body burn stunt that had to have given the producers some massive indigestion.

Four paper cutter guillotines out of five!