Promenade season has as soon as once more fallen upon us. Discovering the prefect garments, restaurant, and date all components into having the very best time doable however as we’ve seen within the horror style, you additionally have to keep away from some issues. Be looking out for psychic killers, wronged college students become slashers, and the cutthroat drama of being named promenade king or queen. Whereas the unique Promenade Evening is hailed as a basic of each the slasher style and that ridiculous early horror run for Jaime Lee Curtis, there are different motion pictures to look at this time of yr. You possibly can placed on any of the 4 Carrie entries which all take care of bullying and psychic powers, or a Nightmare on Elm Avenue which contains a burned to dying jerk coming again to kill individuals who wronged them years later, or you would center Hellraiser motion pictures that had been simply tagged as a sequel to place the collection identify on it to promote. Or… you would watch a film that includes all three of these parts. Promenade Evening 2 isn’t simply the Black Sheep of that in some way 4 entry collection, no, it’s additionally secretly top-of-the-line cash-ins, Carrie rip-offs, and Freddy homages yow will discover. Please come to the health club ceremony the place we crown Hiya Mary Lou: Promenade Evening II because the rightful entertaining Black Sheep it’s.
Promenade Evening, starring Jaime Lee Curtis and Leslie Nielsen amongst others, was launched in July of 1980 throughout the starting of the 80s slasher growth. It was a hit financially for AVCO Embassy, making almost 15 million {dollars} on its meager 1.5 million finances, however didn’t grow to be a collection like a lot of its up to date movies. A minimum of, not at first and definitely not initially meant as such. Promenade Evening is ok and definitely has its legacy, however I discover it type of boring to be trustworthy. I don’t love its comparatively milquetoast if not devoted remake, however the sequels, these are enjoyable, particularly half two. Like I stated although, the film didn’t initially begin that approach. The film was conceived, written, and shot as The Haunting of Hamilton Excessive with plot similarities, the highschool’s identify, and even the tag line being the identical as Promenade Evening had been purely coincidental. The author was Ron Oliver, and this was his first screenplay. He loaded it up with homages to horror motion pictures of the previous each current and longer in addition to giving names to a lot of his characters that had been pulled out of horror tradition equivalent to Stephen King, Joe Dante, Tod Browning, and Wes Craven.
The director chosen was Bruce Pittman who had carried out tons of TV reveals and made for TV motion pictures as much as that time and have a gradual profession after as much as even productions in 2024. When it comes to motion pictures, this might simply be his most well-known, at the very least for horror hounds, however he would direct episodes of the Twilight Zone reboot and the Friday the thirteenth Sequence too. Sadly, when it was all stated and carried out, MGM got here again on the film and determined it wasn’t ok for distribution. They needed adjustments in order that they gave the screenwriter Oliver a bunch of cash and little course to reshoot a ton of the movie. He ended up calling Wes Craven of all folks to ask for recommendation and Wes gave him phrases that wound up principally being the foundations of what horror of the 80s was constructed off of. Craven stated, “Give them a scare, give them a hard-on, and send them home.” Trying on the parts of what the ultimate product is, nicely, he took Craven’s phrases to coronary heart.
The film opens in 1957 with Mary Lou Maloney seeing a priest earlier than the promenade of Hamilton excessive takes place. Mary Lou is there together with her date Billy however sneaks off to have intercourse with one other “high schooler” as a result of sure, in slasher custom a lot of the actors actually don’t cross for prime schoolers. Billy seeks a bit of innocent revenge and within the first name again to Carrie, he tries to embarrass Mary Lou after she wins promenade queen by dropping a bucket of blood… I imply stink bomb… on her head. It backfires, actually, because the lit fuse causes Mary Lou’s costume to catch hearth, and he or she burns to dying in entrance of the remainder of the college. It switches from Carrie to A Nightmare on Elm Avenue actual fast although as an offended demon model of Mary Lou is woke up and kills off those that must do together with her dying from past the grave, nightmare sequences included. We bounce again to Carrie when the brand new most important character Vicki is proven to be managed by her overly spiritual mom. This causes her to hunt a promenade costume elsewhere the place she finds a trunk with Mary Lou’s cape and crown that was initially meant as her royal garb. This in fact awakens the evil spirit who wreaks havoc on each the present college students in addition to her previous boyfriend Billy who’s now the college principal and performed by Michael Ironside.
Ironside is a legend with a voice to match and has proven up in all the pieces from Scanners to Whole Recall to The Machinist and extra. Becoming a member of Ironside within the forged are Lisa Schrage, Wendy Lyon, Terri Hawkes, Louis Ferreira, and John Pyper Ferguson. The women don’t have a ton between them moreover The Form of Water, voices in Sailor Moon properties, and a handful of different TV issues. To not say they didn’t have great and regular careers, they simply didn’t present up in numerous well-known issues, significantly horror. This film holds their style legacy fairly nicely although. Ferreira additionally confirmed up within the remake of Daybreak of the Lifeless, Noticed 4, and tons of TV runs on Breaking Unhealthy, Stargate, and Motive. Ferguson is likely to be probably the most recognizable identify outdoors of Ironside with appearances in Unforgiven, Keep Tuned, Brisco County Jr, X-Information, Millennium, and a lot extra.
All of them maintain a particular place within the film from their great Canadian accents starting from delicate to Tim Hortons and their willingness to go all out. A whole lot of the additional scenes and finances with the reshoots went to the particular results and added kills. It additional performs into Carrie and Nightmare on Elm Avenue vibe with these kills. One in every of them seems to be like one thing Carrie would do by psychically utilizing one thing to hold somebody however on the identical time, it additionally virtually copies one of many deaths from Nightmare 1. In a non-death scare, we get a possessed rocking horse that appears virtually as scary earlier than possession because it does after and really a lot looks like Freddy taking on a landline telephone, tongue included. The kills are a bit few and much between with a physique rely of solely 7, pretty low for a slasher film, however they get the job carried out once they occur. These particular results and stuff just like the whirlpool chalkboard make the film extra memorable than different knock off horror discovered on this decade and the subsequent.
Ultimately our most important lady Vikki is possessed absolutely by Mary Lou and decides to take out each the those that wronged her killed her previously and her competitors at the highschool. Buddy Cooper, who was the person Mary Lou ditched Billy for on the promenade, is now the city priest and whereas he finds out what’s happening, he’s too late, and Mary Lou takes him out. One other good friend confronts her about her perspective and we’re handled to one of many extra ingenious kills in horror. A completely nude Vikki stalks her good friend Monica by way of the lady’s locker room and Monica hides inside one of many lockers. As an alternative of Vikki pulling her out and utilizing a razor gloved hand, kitchen knife, or machete, she makes use of the encompassing lockers to squish Monica into raspberry cobbler. It’s wholly sudden and simply gross sufficient whereas leaving a bit of one thing to the creativeness.
The promenade kicks off in earnest and whereas Kelly tries to get the promenade queen election outcomes modified, Vikki/Mary Lou electrocute him by way of the pc in one other good FX showcase. The film ends by going full Carrie with Mary Lou bursting out of Vikki within the closing nice make-up and FX showcase, which features a completely different actress taking part in the now very burned Mary Lou. Carrie Krueger kills among the promenade friends together with Kelly earlier than stalking Vikki’s boyfriend Craig and is seemingly unstoppable with Billy unable to kill her with bullets. Craig is ready to evade her lengthy sufficient for Billy to current her together with her initially meant crown which appears to be the one option to break the curse. Vikki is returned and Mary Lou is gone. Billy provides to drive the younger couple house, however we get the all too acquainted horror twist the place Billy is now possessed by Mary Lou, taking part in her signature music on the automobile radio and driving away prefer it’s the tip of Illusion 2 or one thing.
I discussed early the film being in the identical boat because the Hellraiser sequels the place Pinhead reveals up for five minutes to tie all the pieces collectively however this works a bit of higher. Whereas leaning closely into different horror motion pictures, particularly and particularly the franchises of Nightmare on Elm Avenue and Carrie, this turning right into a Promenade Evening film truly modified the trajectory of the collection. Whereas motion pictures that wouldn’t fairly work would proceed to get Pinhead thrown in and labeled Hellraiser can be derided, Mary Lou would present up in two further sequels and proceed down the route of the supernatural. Hamilton Excessive can be an essential location, and we’d have a trilogy of flicks which have rather more to do with one another than they do with the unique movie.
Sadly, Promenade Evening 2 can be left underappreciated and underseen resulting from an absence of bodily media and dismal field workplace with making solely 2.7 million on its 2.5-million-dollar finances, but it surely has began to make a comeback. You’ll be able to watch it on borderline VHS high quality, although uncensored, on Tubi, and Joe Bob Briggs hosted it on The Final Drive-in with higher high quality and many insights. Later this yr in 2025 we’re getting handled to an entire improve courtesy of Synapse which additional cements the necessity for these boutique labels to proceed to rescue motion pictures who could also be unknown or simply unloved by time. An amazing new 4k launch and particular options will hopefully result in the entire sequel collection getting the identical therapy which this film and collection deserve wholeheartedly. It’s far more enjoyable and cheesier than it has any proper to be and is endlessly rewatchable. This promenade season don’t vote for Carrie or the unique slasher and as a substitute say good day to Mary Lou, the true Promenade Queen of the collection.
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