Prom Night (1980) — Episode 95

Rewind of the Living Dead

The end of the 1970s and the start of the 1980s became primetime for slasher films after the success of “Halloween” in 1978.

By that time, studios were all looking for the next hit that could be made for cheap and then produce millions at the box office. It was around this time that director Paul Lynch had a production meeting with Irwin Yablans, who initially came up with the idea for the original “Halloween” when he pitched a film about a group of babysitters who get stalked by a masked killer.

Lynch had been attempting to come up with an idea for a horror film and it was Yablans who suggested building his movie around a holiday, which gave him the idea to craft a story surrounding a high school prom. Robert Guza Jr., who was a USC film student at the time, had his story adapted about a group of teenagers whose involvement in a tragic accident that comes back to haunt them.

Lynch struggled to find financing for the film until he cast Jamie Lee Curtis in one of the lead roles with the movie taking just 24 days for filming. The end result was an iconic slasher about a killer coming for revenge after a child is killed when a group of kids are playing a dangerous game…

In the latest episode of Rewind of the Living Dead, we’re going to put on our tuxes and take Randy Meeks’ advice as we review the 1980 classic “Prom Night”…

Music courtesy of Andrew Scott Bell and Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

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