Prom Night II: Hello Mary Lou (1987)

prom-night-ii-hello-mary-lou-movie-poster-review
4.0 Overall Score
Story: 3/10
Acting: 3/10
Visuals: 5/10

A little self aware

Generic '80s horror

Movie Info

Movie Name:  Prom Night II:  Hello Betty Lou

Studio:  Norstar Releasing

Genre(s):  Horror

Release Date(s):  October 16, 1987

MPAA Rating:  R

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It wouldn’t really be prom if the prom queen didn’t die in a ball of fire…

Mary Lou Maloney (Lisa Schrage) is a girl who likes to have fun.  She uses men and tosses them aside when she’s finished.  When Mary Lou tosses aside the wrong man, an accident takes her life.  Now, Mary Lou has come back and taken possession of Vicki Carpenter (Wendy Lyon).  She won Prom Queen once at Hamilton High School, and she’s out to win it again…and have some revenge along the way!

Directed by Bruce Pittman, Prom Night II:  Hello Mary Lou (often called Hello Mary Lou:  Prom Night II) is the follow-up to the 1980 Jamie Lee Curtis slasher film Prom Night.  The film was met with rather low reviews but became a success on video.

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Mary Lou…just think what she would have done with Twitter and Facebook?

Prom Night was a rather fun slasher film that had a little “who’s the killer” mystery tied in.  Prom Night II went along the lines of other popular slasher films that popped up in the ’80s, but Mary Lou just isn’t in the ranks of Freddy, Michael, or Jason.

The story for Prom Night II is a rather generic ghost story.  Originally titled The Haunting of Hamilton High, the movie has nothing to do with the first film…except that it is prom.  What the movie does do that is a little unique is that it is a bit reflexive.  The characters reference other horror movies which at the time was pretty rare.  This of course became popular later on in films like Scream, but it is interesting to see it here.

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So many ’80s computer users were killed this way

Wendy Lyon just can’t hold the movie.  Unlike someone like Heather Langenkamp from A Nightmare on Elm Street who really feels like she is part of the story, the Vicki character just seems to be along for the ride…so her weak acting just doesn’t work.  Lisa Schrage could have been a scary ghost but doesn’t really get much screentime as the slutty Mary Lou, but does eat up what she has.  Michael Ironside who generally plays a villain in horror films is rather low key in this movie as the adult version of Mary Lou’s original accidental killer.

Prom Night II looks like an ’80s movie.  Scenes like electrocutions and other deaths are not as gory as a grindhouse movie, but also not as real looking as some of the modern horror movie deaths.  I do like the “dead” Mary Lou from the end of the film, but she (like Mary Lou in general) doesn’t get enough screentime.

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It is a very progressive school to have a non-traditional prom queen

Prom Night II:  Hello Mary Lou is a rather dull entry in a series that never was that interesting past the original film.  The next movie in the series ditches the more serious approach to the horror film and instead goes for horror comedy…this entry is almost so-bad-it-is-good at points that it possibly should have done that for this film.  Prom Night II:  Hello Mary Lou is followed by Prom Night III:  The Last Kiss in 1990 which features the return of Mary Lou Maloney (now played by Courtney Taylor).

Related Links:

Prom Night (1980)

Prom Night III:  The Last Kiss (1990)

Prom Night IV:  Deliver Us from Evil (1992)

Prom Night (2008)

Author: JPRoscoe View all posts by
Follow me on Twitter/Instagram/Letterboxd @JPRoscoe76! Loves all things pop-culture especially if it has a bit of a counter-culture twist. Plays video games (basically from the start when a neighbor brought home an Atari 2600), comic loving (for almost 30 years), and a true critic of movies. Enjoys the art house but also isn't afraid to let in one or two popular movies at the same time.

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