Like the tagline says: It's 1957, and Mary Lou Maloney is at the Senior Prom with her high school sweetheart, Bill - a nebbishy man who she really can't stand, but dates because "he treats me right...and his daddy's rich." In fact, at the first chance she gets she's backstage with another guy grabbing his package and taking pulls off a flask with an uncontrollable excitement I haven't seen since Prime told me about that sheep herding job he was offered last year.

Of course Bill catches her in the act, and he's not too happy. But when she's announced as Prom Queen, he doesn't really mean to set her on fire; he just wants to scare her. In any case, he should have waited until she received her crown because, in true Grudge fashion, she's unfulfilled and pissed off when she dies...and people are gonna pay.

Flash forward to 1987. Bill is now the Principal of the school, and his son Craig is heading to his own Senior Prom with a pretty little redhead named Vicki. When Vicki accidently opens a chest in the school's basement that contains the crown and sash from 1957's Prom Queen, she sets free Mary Lou's spirit and the bodies begin to drop.

For those who need historical references, Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II a cross between The Exorcist and Carrie but executed in the style of A Nightmare On Elm Street. This makes it pretty ambitious, but it's not really scary (although I don't believe any film from the 1980's was scary...except for maybe all that poofy hair).

Ok, I realize it's fashionable to diss all the Prom Night movies, and I know I should probably hate this one, but it actually kinda gives me the warm fuzzies. I watched this quite a few times in my youth, and it was always a favorite. Watching it again years later, I think it still holds up pretty well. At the very least, it's a great representation of what the 80's were in terms of fashion, music, and film. The effects are laughable and the acting is uneven, but it's glossy and slick and just plain fun.

Pros: Pretty involved story for the genre. Mary Lou has some great lines. Wendy Lyon has a killer boot-ay.
Cons: The kills are few and far between.
You Decide if it's a Pro or a Con: The effects look, for the most part, like an art class designed them. I think that they somehow add to the film's charm (wait until you see the volleyball net made of spider webs that look like spray painted pipe cleaners), but: You make the call.
Review Rating: 6.5 out of 10 pissed-off, wingless, dead chicks just looking to get crowned.