Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987) Samuel Goldwyn/Horror RT: 97 minutes Rated R (language, graphic violence, full frontal nudity, sexual content) Director: Bruce Pittman Screenplay: Ron Oliver Music: Paul Zaza Cinematography: John Herzog Release date: October 16, 1987 (US) Cast: Michael Ironside, Wendy Lyon, Justin Louis, Richard Monette, Lisa Schrage, Terri Hawkes, Beverly Hendry, Brock Simpson, Beth Gondek, Wendell Smith, Judy Mahbey. Box Office: $2.6M (US)
Rating: ***
Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II, an in-name only sequel to the 1980 slasher movie, is a bizarre combination of Carrie, The Exorcist, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Peggy Sue Got Married. Other than centering on a high school prom that turns deadly, it has nothing to do with the original Prom Night.
Originally titled The Haunting of Hamilton High, it was renamed by production company Alliance Films to capitalize on the success of the earlier film. While it’s the more intriguing title, it’s rather misleading. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II isn’t a slasher pic even though a few teens end up dead by the end. The killer this time is a girl possessed by the spirit of another girl who died at the prom 30 years earlier. The dead girl’s name is Mary Lou Maloney. She was basically a slut while still among the living. Her demise was brought about by her jilted prom date. Now she’s come back to claim vengeance for what happened that night and take back the title of prom queen. It’s an unexpected direction for the sequel to take, but it works. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is actually pretty good. It’s good bloody fun that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It delivers its scares with a knowing wink and a sly smile.
The year is 1957. Mary Lou (Schrage, Food of the Gods II) is named prom queen, but she hardly deserves the honor considering how she ditches her date Billy Nordham to make out behind the stage with another fellow Buddy Cooper. Not one to take such things lightly, Billy retaliates by dropping a stink bomb from the catwalk as Mary Lou steps up to receive her crown. It ends up igniting her dress and she burns to death on stage in front of everybody.
Thirty years later, Billy (Ironside, Visiting Hours) is now the principal of Hamilton High and Buddy (Monette, Iceman) is the local parish priest. It’s prom time again. Vicki Carpenter (Lyon), one of prom queen candidates, is a nice girl. After being denied a new dress by her overly religious mother (Mahbey), she goes looking for one in the school prop room. She finds Mary Lou’s accessories (i.e. cape, sash and crown) in an old trunk and takes them, releasing her spirit in the process. That’s when all hell breaks loose. One of Vicki’s friends dies, murdered by Mary Lou’s angry spirit. Vicki starts experiencing horrifying hallucinations. Billy and Buddy start to suspect Mary Lou has returned. Eventually, the dead girl’s spirit takes control of Vicki’s body. The bodies start to pile up. It all culminates in a violent finale at the prom where a fully possessed Vicki wreaks all sorts of havoc.
Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II has a few cool kill scenes. Somebody gets stabbed in the head with a crucifix. A girl is crushed to death inside a locker. A boy gets electrocuted. A girl is impaled by a falling light fixture. Somebody is telekinetically thrown through a door. The possession scene shows Vicki being dragged into a liquefied blackboard. The change is apparent with Vicki dressing like a 50s teen and talking like a character in an Elvis Presley movie. Lyon, who sort of resembles Sissy Spacek, goes a great job in the lead role. She’s believable as both the quiet, plain girl and the naughty, vampish girl she transforms into. Schrage is awesome as Mary Lou, pulling out all the stops to play an evil, vindictive bitch.
I love that director Bruce Pittman includes references to old horror films, naming several characters after notable directors like John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Tod Browning, Frank Henenlotter, Joe Dante, Dan O’Bannon and George Romero (to name just a few).
Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is pure 80s horror cheese with the music, fashions, hairstyles, bad acting and nudity. Yes, there’s a locker room scene replete with full frontal nudity and a girl-on-girl kiss in the shower. There’s a mean girl named Kelly (Hawkes, Killer Party) who Vicki slaps the hell out of in one scene. Some of the dialogue is absolutely priceless. I love Vicki/Mary Lou’s answering machine message that informs callers she has “places to go, people to kill”. Besides, I find it hard to knock anything with Michael Ironside. His presence always adds an additional level of coolness. I
t’s a fun movie. Fans of the genre should get a real kick out of it. It didn’t exactly burn up the box office, but it did well enough on home video to give rise to two sequels featuring Mary Lou Maloney. Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II has all the essential ingredients of a cool 80s teen horror flick, the kind that high schoolers flocked to on Friday and Saturday nights. So what if I saw it on a Sunday afternoon?
