Halloween How The 1978 Movie (& Its Sequel) Connect To Prom Night
Halloween: How The 1978 Movie (& Its Sequel) Connect To Prom Night
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Halloween (1978) and its sequel have some surprising ties to Prom Night (1980). The three films share unique production and creative influences.
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John Carpenter’s Halloween and its sequel Halloween II have some surprising connections to Paul Lynch’s Prom Night (1980). Aside from the obvious slasher tropes, the three films are intertwined with little-known production and creative influences making for an intriguing dynamic between the classic horror movies.
Halloween was the most successful independent film at the time of its release, helping to jumpstart an entire subgenre of horror films. Retroactively dubbed “slasher movies,” they were films that revolved around a group of young adults being systematically murdered by a psychopath. Though the scenarios would vary, most of the early films in this cycle would revolve around a holiday or special event. One of the first to use this formula was the Canadian thriller Prom Night, released just a few months after Paramount’s box office hit Friday the 13th. Both films were inspired by the success of Halloween, but Prom Night had several surprising connections to Carpenter’s production.
In the late ’70s, Lynch was looking into making a low budget horror film and met with producer Irwin Yablans who was the man behind the original concept for Halloween. It was Yablans who had come up with the idea of babysitters being stalked by a psychopath on Halloween night. Lynch was pitching a medical horror film, but was persuaded by the successful producer to focus on a holiday instead. The filmmaker took his advice and came up with a plot surrounding a killer attacking kids on prom night. Though the project was met with enthusiasm by a well-known producer, funding was difficult until another Halloween alumni became involved.
How Carpenter’s Halloween & Its Sequel Connect To Prom Night (1980)
When Jamie Lee Curtis was brought aboard the project, funding was quickly acquired and pre-production began. Curtis was considered a marquee name after Halloween – even though finding a follow-up project proved difficult for her. She vigorously pursued the part and was generally happy with the project until reshoots slightly changed the plot. After producers saw the rough cut, it was decided that the central mystery of the unseen killer needed to be expanded. A subplot was added that featured a sex offender escaping a psychiatric clinic – with very slim ties to the main narrative. Curtis was especially upset by the alteration, dismissing the film after its successful release as “Disco Death.”
Though the actress was unhappy with the theatrical cut of the film, she made several strong friendships on the set. Actress Eddie Benton (a.k.a. Anne-Marie Martin) who played Curtis’ nemesis in Prom Night was one such connection and on the insistence of Curtis, Benton was given a cameo role in the more aggressively violent Halloween II. Written once again by Carpenter and Debra Hill, the 1981 sequel inadvertently mirrored a major plot point in Prom Night. In both films, it is revealed that the killer is the brother of the protagonist – each played by Curtis. While it is unlikely that this plot point was stolen by Carpenter, who came up with the idea, it is an interesting parallel given Prom Night’s origins.
NBC had such a ratings success with its network debut of Halloween in 1981, that it purchased the rights to Prom Night for $3.25 million. Noting its strong box office take and similarities to the holiday horror hit, the network was anxious to put it on its schedule. Prom Night aired just seven months after its American theatrical release – a move unheard of at the time. TV promos prominently featured Curtis along with the emphatic voiceover, “She survived Halloween, but will she survive Prom Night?” Containing several minutes of additional footage, the NBC telecast of Lynch’s film was another ratings success for the network. While not as revered by horror fans as the Carpenter classic, there is no denying its popularity – and connective tissue with the first two installments of the Halloween franchise.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/halloween-movie-sequel-prom-night-connection-explained/
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