The night of the 1957 prom is here and they're ready to crown its queen when Mary Lou Maloney (Lisa Schrage) is accidentally set ablaze and dies at the hands of her jilted boyfriend. Thirty years later, and the boyfriend, Bill Nordham (Michael Ironside), is now the principle of the same school. When a student accidentally opens a trunk in the school's basement, Mary Lou's spirit takes over Vickie Carpenter (Wendy Lyon) to reclaim her crown.
This off-kilter horror takes an existing film and piggybacks off of it. Besides the name of the high school, there is nothing to connect this to Prom Night. With that being said, the writer and director did a fine job crafting this story that was sure to appeal to its target audience. The influences of other successful horror films are on full display, but not tacky.
Ironside and Schrage are the standout performances in this flick. The production design is another great addition, setting the halls in a 50's style and then again in the 80's. Looking at the special effects, some set pieces are direct homages to other well-known films. This can seem like cheap filler, but the director doesn't linger on the scenes and gets the viewer out of dodge before it becomes too familiar.
While there is respect paid to previous films, it did make the overall product feel disjointed. One could argue that post-production work trying to determine the tone and target audience could have muddied the overall product. Some acting performances are run of the mill and fit the mold created during that era in horror films.
When watching Hello Mary Lou, you may find yourself on the fence about who to root for. This film is problematic, but gets by with the quick pace and tonal shifts to keep the audience entertained. As viewers, we understand that not every film is award winning caliber, and those are the films we have the best time with and remember the most. This film certainly fits into the latter category.
This off-kilter horror takes an existing film and piggybacks off of it. Besides the name of the high school, there is nothing to connect this to Prom Night. With that being said, the writer and director did a fine job crafting this story that was sure to appeal to its target audience. The influences of other successful horror films are on full display, but not tacky.
Ironside and Schrage are the standout performances in this flick. The production design is another great addition, setting the halls in a 50's style and then again in the 80's. Looking at the special effects, some set pieces are direct homages to other well-known films. This can seem like cheap filler, but the director doesn't linger on the scenes and gets the viewer out of dodge before it becomes too familiar.
While there is respect paid to previous films, it did make the overall product feel disjointed. One could argue that post-production work trying to determine the tone and target audience could have muddied the overall product. Some acting performances are run of the mill and fit the mold created during that era in horror films.
When watching Hello Mary Lou, you may find yourself on the fence about who to root for. This film is problematic, but gets by with the quick pace and tonal shifts to keep the audience entertained. As viewers, we understand that not every film is award winning caliber, and those are the films we have the best time with and remember the most. This film certainly fits into the latter category.