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PROM NIGHT Starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielsen Many films tried to cash in on the "slasher" film craze of the early 1980s, influenced in no small way by Carpenter's Halloween and Cunningham's Friday the 13th. It also seemed that each film was modeled after one holiday or another, or at least a notable event. Prom Night is quite possibly one of the most respected of these films. Which DVD presentation is better - the out of print Anchor Bay DVD or the currently available Platinum version? Read on.....
Whipper-snappers Kelly, Wendy, Jude and Nick are playing a manhunt-style game in an old, abandoned building and become responsible for the accidental death of Robin Hammond when she falls from a window. They vow to never tell anyone about their involvement and go home.
Six years later, on the anniversary of Robin's death - and on the day of the prom - a witness to the incident decides that it is the right time for justice. This film follows the Hammond family's struggle to deal with the tragedy, their responsibilities to their community and the school (Kim Hammond is about to be crowned prom queen and her father is the principal) and the problems that they encounter with the local misfit troublemaker, Lou. While the plot thickens, the killer stalks the students, vowing to avenge Robin's death.
Prom Night is a bit different from the other slasher films of its time because it contains subplots and deals with themes that are absent from the rest. When it is finally revealed who the killer is, we may or may not sympathize, as opposed to "Madman Marz" of the film Madman or "George Tatum" of Romano Scavolini's Nightmare (in a Damaged Brain).
Anchor Bay presents Prom Night 1.85:1 without anamorphic enhancement. When Anchor Bay released Prom Night to DVD in 1997, the format was in its pioneering phase. There was no dual layering and no anamorphic enhancement. Although this may be seen as a disadvantage, the overall picture quality of Anchor Bay's release is far superior to Platinum's presentation. The picture is bright and clean, reveals a great deal of detail, and only suffers from a low contrast ratio. They obviously used the best master available, and it shows. Platinum seems to have sourced Prom Night from an old fullscreen source. The dark scenes are difficult to see, and the overall image is dull and fuzzy. Because the image is an open-matte 1.33:1, boom microphones find their way into the composition.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track on Anchor Bay's DVD is full and clear, and sounds as good as the source material allows. Although Platinum included a 5.1 surround track, the sound is muffled and slightly tinny.
The only release with an extra feature is the Anchor Bay version, with a nice 1.85:1 theatrical trailer. The chapter stops contain video previews of their corresponding chapter. If you're in the market for a DVD of Prom Night, then you have many things to consider. Anchor Bay's superior (although non-16x9-enhanced) version is out of print, and Platinum's version is difficult to watch. It's all a matter of preference, and hopefully one day, a happy medium will be reached with the next release. |
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