Prom Night III: The Last Kiss

Prom Night III continues with the Mary Lou storyline, but takes it in a lighter and more humorous direction. Mary Lou (Courtney Taylor) unleashes herself from hell using a nail file to cut the chains. It's from there that she begins to stalk a student named Alex (Tim Conlon). Her mission is to get Alex to be with her forever. There is just one thing standing in her way. Alex's girlfriend Sarah (Cynthia Preston). She starts to kill some of the people that get in his way for success. When he struggles in biology, she finishes his test and then turns his bio teacher into a human banana split. A guidance counsellor questions Alex's grades, so she kills her off using battery acid. This goes on and on and each time Alex has to dispose of the bodies by burying them in the football field. With Prom Night looming, the police eventually find the corpses and of course point the finger at our lead character. Will Alex escape and send Mary Lou back to hell, or will she claim her man and get rid of Sarah?

Prom Night III definitely has the best special effects of all the films in the series. The banana split murder in particular is pretty unique and visually well done. There is just something about this one that seems kind of cheap. It's like a cheap version of part II. The actress that plays Mary Lou in this one is different from the previous installment. She isn't as good as the Mary Lou from the second film. She was darker and more sinister in part II. In The Last Kiss, they try hard to make her seductive and humorous, much less evil and dark. The performance isn't as good.

I also don't understand the decision making from the lead character Alex. He knows this dead chick is killing all these people, and instead of telling anyone else, he just continues implicating himself by burying the bodies. This movie also has a 60's and 70's 'Grease' feel to it as well with Alex's leather jacket and the greased back hair. Prom Night III seems to suffer with a personality disorder. It tries to be funny, tries to be supernaturally spooky, and tries to add a bunch of different elements to it as well. It's all over the place and not as good as part II.

Mary Lou is completely different from the vixen we knew her as in "Hello Mary Lou". The ending is also very bizarre, but original at least. Prom Night III doesn't take itself very seriously, and neither do I.

5/10

Now I know I am likely in the minority here (based on ratings of each individual Prom Night movies), but I think this is the best and my personal favourite of the series. A sequel really to HELLO MARY LOU: PROM NIGHT II and not the original as Mary Lou Maloney returns for new blood at Hamilton High. Ron Oliver penned this script as he did in part 2 and co-directs with Peter Simpson who produced each Prom Night movie. Mary Lou is played by Courtney Taylor this time and is more angry, more violent and sexier than ever. This time she is after 'Average Joe' Alex Grey (Tim Conlon), who she starts setting his life up pretty well as long as he can just return it with love. Problem is she leaves corpses in her wake. Interesting, clever and original deaths along with a great sense of humor make this one I really have enjoyed over the years. It is more of a comedy-horror film. Also starring Canadian and former boxing great George Chuvalo as Alex's teacher Mr. Walker. Give it a chance and maybe you will enjoy it, too.

One of the few sequels in the series that's actually related to the previous installment which brings back evil prom queen Mary Lou for one more go as she tries to manipulate a high school boy into spending eternity with her in hell by murdering everyone close to him and making him look like a murderer. A concept like this could go either way - dark or comedic - and The Last Kiss decides to go mostly for the comedy even if it does end on a really sour, mean spirited note.

if nothing else, you could tell the directors and actors were having some fun with it, not to mention providing a few of the funnier lines to come from a spoof splatter flick like this....

"honey, mental illness is a terrible thing, it can stay hidden for years and BANG! who knows what sets them off? you remember what happened to your father"

i'll agree that the plot could've fit into a peanuts strip, the canadian accents were a little thick at times, and that there's more than a small handful of complete disregards to the original. for instance, mary lou was originally killed in the 70's, however they've moved that back to the 50's so they could add the classic 50's rock n roll and killer wurlitzer jukebox motif.

and one last thing, their interpretation of hell, both thematically and visually was one of the funniest things i've ever had to fast forward through.

you know what though? rent it. watch it. it's as self-effacing as any scream movie without calling itself out for more cheap laughs.

Just how silly does tongue-in-cheek horror Prom Night III get? Well, ghostly antagonist Mary Lou pins a mans hands to a counter-top with ice-cream cornets and pushes a whisk through his skull, That stupid enough for you? Or howsabout the scene in which she throws a football, the ball turning into a drill that screws her victim to the goalposts? The Last Kiss is full of such nonsense, making it a mindless way to pass the time, but not a scary one, nor a particularly funny one.

Courtney Taylor plays malevolent spirit Mary Lou Maloney, who falls for high school jock Alex Grey (Tim Conlon), killing anyone who upsets her beau or threatens to get in the way of their relationship. Alex takes to burying the bodies under the football field, but is soon found out and arrested for murder. Alex's girlfriend Sarah believes that he is innocent and tries to free him from the sexy ghost's grasp.

Directors Ron Oliver and Peter R. Simpson keep a brisk pace and manage a few impressive shots (I love the camera careening down corridors), but they're unable to get the balance of horror and comedy right, with the gags falling flat (the announcements over the school tannoy are cringeworthy) and the supposed scares too comical to ever be disturbing. It all flashes past the eyes easy enough, but the film's frivolous nature and an ending that feels like an afterthought leaves one wondering 'what was the point?'.