- Directed by Matt Palmer
- Written by Matt Palmer, Donal McLeary, R.L. Stine
- Stars India Fowler, Suzanna Son, Fia Strazza
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYbnjaK5nsI
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This was too heavy on teen and high school drama, but it still manages to be pretty entertaining. It doesn’t drag, and the kills are well done. It takes place in the same town as the starting trilogy, but it’s a story of its own, not connected directly to those events. We liked it quite a bit.
Spoilery Synopsis
We’re back at Shadyside High School in 1988. It’s two days before Senior Prom, and six students are running for Prom Queen. Tiffany, the mean girl, Christie, the weed dealer, Linda, the smart one, Debbie, the gossip, and Melissa, the lap dog, and the final candidate is the unpopular Lori Granger. Her best friend is Megan, who thinks prom is lame. Lori’s mother may or may not have stabbed her father in the eye.
One day, in class, Megan stands up and cuts off her own hand. One kid pukes. It’s all just a prank, and she gets sent to the principal’s office. Lori talks to Tyler, and we get lots of teen angst and drama.
That night, Christie walks home in the dark when someone in a shiny red raincoat kills her with an axe. The next day, due to her absence, she’s disqualified from running for Prom Queen. Vice Principal Brekenridge wants Lori to win justice for how her mother was treated.
It’s time for the prom, and everyone gets ready. Lori’s mother talks about her experience at her prom, where she killed Lori’s father. The principal calls all the contestants up onto the stage, and the other four girls do a sexy swimsuit dance, leaving Lori out, completely unaware they were going to do that.
Linda and her boyfriend talk about what it takes to win and notice that all her flyers have been defaced. The red raincoat killer is there, and he disarms Dan before killing them both.
Debbie and Judd go to the basement to kiss, but they aren’t alone. Raincoat takes them both out with a rotary saw.
Lori is told that she’s got a delivery in the front office. Tiffany picks on Lori about her father’s death. She’s so mean that even Melissa is sickened. Tiffany then turns on Melissa.
As Lori and Tiffany have a “dance off,” the killer gets Melissa in the restroom. Except we see that there are two identical killers now.
Tyler is also turning against Tiffany; he’s always liked Lori, and he sees that now. Megan notices that all the prom candidates except Lori and Tiffany have gone missing. She tells Lori, who doesn’t believe any of it.
Lori and Tyler go off alone, but he doesn’t live long after that– Lori runs away. Megan investigates the basement and finds bodies. The two meet up, but they’re locked in the basement with the killer. Lora manages to stab the killer as they climb out a window and make it back to the auditorium.
The votes have been counted, and the results are in. Lori wins!
As she accepts, the killer comes into the auditorium and starts ax-killing people. Lori stabs the killer in the head with her tiara. The killer takes his mask off, and it’s Dan, Tiffany’s father. The prom breaks up as the confusion clears. [We remember that there were two killers at one point].
Lori and Megan make up after their argument. Megan goes off with the ambulance, leaving Lori at the school. The police need to question Tiffany’s mother, so Lori offers to drive home with Tiffany, who’s in shock. Lori stays with her until Nancy, Tiffany’s mother, comes home. Nancy has a knife, so now we know who the second killer was. Both girls hide in the closet and wait.
In the closet, Tiffany pulls out a knife and tries to stab Lori. She runs right into the mother, who cuts her. Tiffany and Nancy are just as crazy as Dan was. Nancy admits that it was she who killed Lori’s father. Right after that, things go badly for Tiffany. Lori then brains Nancy with a bowling trophy and walks out, leaving her to die.
Brian’s Commentary
The weakest point of the first film was all the high school nonsense and teen drama, and this one doubled down on that. Everything revolves around the vote for Prom Queen, but it’s all just one good girl against the mean girls, with a bunch of other stereotypes in-between, so we pretty much know how it’s going to end. This isn’t “Carrie,” but it’s trying to be.
The kills are good, and it never gets boring. I had a theory about halfway through about who the killer was, but I was wrong about that.
On the other hand, it may have the best soundtrack of any movie ever.
Kevin’s Commentary
Yeah, there was a little too much teen drama from people in their twenties. But it was a pretty entertaining movie overall. It moved along better than the first trilogy did – the short run time helped this one a lot. I’d give it a thumbs up.