Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil

"Prom Night IV: Deliver Us From Evil" is a serious (as in: no comedy touches) slasher that falls short in thrills & tension. Too bad, because it had a lot of potential. It's well-made, but severely dull in places. This time we have yet another stand-alone, unrelated sequel about a killer-priest (who is "evil beyond imagination") stalking & killing two couples in an isolated mansion. There are some supernatural undertones in the plot, but they are never explored. The budget on this production even seemed reasonably comfortable, as the cinematography isn't bad at all, often showing us some decent camera-movements on rails & even crane-shots. The acting is passable and the film opens really interesting. But then things fizzle quickly and the whole movie becomes uneventful. If they had simply amped up the body count & bloodshed, this sure could have turned into one of the unsung slasher gems from the early '90s. Now it just remains a curiosity for those interested in the "Prom Night" series. It's a strange franchise, to say the least, with this 4th installment presenting us yet again a different storyline. Interesting, but a failed effort altogether.

This is a slasher that plays it by the rules, so if I'm spoiling anything for you, it's because you've never seen a slasher movie before.

Prom Night IV gives us the gift of slashing in a film that is lit with decent effectiveness, not shot notably poorly, with sub-par to decent acting and some moderately suspenseful scenes. The prom thing is more or less done in the intro, where we get to see a couple slashed in a prom in 1957. Our mad killer here is a Catholic priest gone horribly wrong--he kills with a cross where the long end has a blade.

Our victims, two teenaged couples, are headed down to a retreat that used to be an old monastery for a weekend of debauchery. Meanwhile, a young priest newly charged with watching over the insane priest (who's been kept underground by the Church) is developed for a bit, but manages to slip in his duties. (Prom Night IV is very good at giving "bonus slashes" before it gets around to killing the teenagers.)

The highlight of Prom Night IV is Nicole de Boer, who you might remember from The Cube or Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (she was Ezri Dax). Her acting, which is pretty good, manages to elevate the rest of the movie (since she is the film's heroine). The rest of the cast is pretty small-time, though, and doesn't live up to Nicole.

It does have the requisite T&A shots (and a really poor sex scene), to be certain, and it manages to fit 8 deaths into a film that only focuses on those 4 teens. All are pretty freaky and well done, too. Once the suspense starts, it's pretty good at not letting up, despite following the rules strongly. The extended scenes before the slasher starts on the teens build everything up quite well.

This is a slasher movie, and you will enjoy it only if you're in the mood for one. However, it does what it does well, and as such is worth picking up if you are.

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 ...

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.

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).