Le bal de l'horreur IV - Délivrez nous du Diable

Released in early 1992, "Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil" is a slasher about a psycho priest who manifests stigmata and has a penchant for slaying fornicating teens. He escapes diocese custody in 1991 and returns to St. Basil Seminar, which has been converted into a vacation home. The only problem is that two teen couples have decided to have an alternative-to-the-prom celebration there.

The only two installments from the Prom Night series that are directly related are parts II and III, both of which involve the malevolent spirit of Mary Lou Maloney. Part I features a masked assailant and this one a crazy priest, who's reminiscent of Marvel's Foolkiller, which debuted some 18-19 years earlier. In any case, all four films (not including 2008's "Prom Night") are connected in that they begin with the 1957 prom at Hamilton High School, near Cleveland, Ohio (this location is clearly established in the original film, for anyone who cares).

The first half hour of "Prom Night IV" focuses on the local diocese and their problems with the cracked priest whom they secretly hold captive in the creepy cellar of a chapel or whatever. I thought this section of the movie was kind of boring but, at the same time, it was a nice change of pace. I liked how this installment returned to the more realistic tone of part I. The story perks up with the two girls, Meagan and Laura, played by brunette cutie Nicole de Boer and blonde tart Joy Tanner, as they prepare to sneak off to the remote summer house of one of their beau's parents.

As you can see, the plot revolves around the conventional horror staple of the cabin-in-the-woods. The good news, however, is that this "cabin" used to be a monastery and so it's a more interesting setting for the ensuing thrills than a rinky-dink cabin.

There are a couple of plot issues though. For instance, the priest doesn't age a bit in 33 years. Even if he's possessed by some supernatural force, this wouldn't stop the normal aging process of the man's body. I'm assuming that the producers simply didn't have the funds for the make-up necessary to convincingly make him look like he was in his late-50s. So they said, "Who cares? It's a friggin' slasher flick." Secondly, there's a crank call that's stereotypical in this genre and Meagan nonchalantly answers the phone even though the teens aren't supposed to be at the house in the first place; and her boyfriend, whose parents own it, doesn't object at all when he later finds out (maybe because he was focused on the matter at hand, lol).

The film runs 1 hour, 32 minutes and was shot in the Toronto area.

GRADE: B-/C+

If your looking for a bloody slasher flick with a somewhat supernatural & possessed Catholic priest killing kids,this is your movie! Surprisingly well acted & theres a supercool double burning cross scene that alone was worth the watch. 3/5.

After the stupid Prom Night 2 and the dire Prom Night 3 comes this gem of a slasher flick. You all know what to expect from the films. But whereas 2 and 3 just downright sucked, this one actually delivers.

The killer in this film has to be the most original and downright scary one of many horror flicks. I mean can you imagine your local priest (or monk) donning a sharpened crucifix and going out to 'purify' the world of wrong-doers? If the idea for Jonas had come to fruition before the silly Mary Lou then maybe the sequels to Prom Night would have been better.

Nikkie de Boer gives us a good performance and really is too good for a film of this quality. The rest of the actors....well we all know what happens to extras and no-named actors in movies like this!

Some gore in this........not too bad a body count. Haunting music. Some scares here and there. Overall not a bad film and certainly the best Prom Night sequel, although maybe that is not saying much. Ideal for a popcorn night in with the lads (or lasses).

The fourth and final entry in the original PROM NIGHT series. Sadly, it didn't take me long to realize that this is the weakest of the group.

Right during the credit sequence we are introduced to a serial killer priest (a hammy portrayal by James Carver). We are thrown back to 1957 once again for the prom at Hamilton High. The very prom where Mary Lou Maloney burned to death. Yet, there is no mention of her, but we do see this Father Jonas killing a couple. He is caught and fast forward to 1991 he is locked up in the church. To keep the evil at bay I guess. To me a very strange direction for the film to go and really did not need to go that way. Father Jonas escapes so he can carve up a few more horny teenagers.

We follow four teenagers including the main character Meagan played by Nikki de Boer who does put in a good performance. Instead of going to the prom they go to her boyfriend Mark's (J.H. Wyman) summer home. One thing that I didn't like was Mark has a brother named Jonathan (Fab Fillipo). He is super-pervy and that is all we are introduced about his character. To me very low and very shallow writing. What was an interesting premise sadly becomes quickly muddled. For those though who did not like parts 2 & 3 and the direction the series went, perhaps this is more up your alley as this returns to the slasher genre.

While I have said and I stand by it, that there are worse horror movies, there is a time when you can say: Enough. This is closer to part 2 and 3, with another Mary Lou story coming your way. Slasher fiends will get something from it, no matter the bad acting and story behind it.

After a fourth Prom night, hopefully all have graduated to other (better) things alltogether. No pun intended, effects are still ok, considering the budget. But let's finally be delivered from evil ...