Prime Time: Prom Night III: The Last Kiss (1990)

Are we all allowed to finally acknowledge that Prom Night isn't one of the great slasher movies? There are many times when I would much prefer to watch Prom Night II: Hello Mary Lou. And I can now say that I'd also happily revisit this third film in the series before wanting to go back to the original. It's perfectly fine, does everything that you need from a standard slasher, but both the second and third films are more creative and enjoyable. I assume I will be disappointed by the fourth film, but part of me can't help holding on to a small amount of optimism.

What we have here is something ridiculous and silly from start to finish, but it's also self-aware enough to make everything work. Some may not appreciate the emphasis on comedy in this horror comedy, but I think it works very well in balancing the supernatural horror plot elements with a surprisingly high number of successful gags. 

Courtney Taylor is Mary Lou for this outing, and she's a lot of fun in the role (although I think Lisa Schrage could have done just as good a job, if only she'd been approached with an offer). Returning to her high school, Mary Lou decides to spend her time and energy on Alex Grey (Tim Conlon). Alex has a girlfriend (Sarah, played by Cynthia Preston, billed here as Cyndy Preston), but he also has a number of standard teen problems. Mary Lou can get rid of those problems, but her approach usually results in someone ending up dead.

Ron Oliver moves from his writing work in the previous movie to both writing and co-directing (with Peter R. Simpson) this. It may feel a bit crude and cheap in places, but that is part of the charm. This is a film that shows a young man seduced by a woman offering him easy solutions until he finally figures out just where this path of good intentions ultimately leads, and Oliver has great fun juxtaposing the traditional housewife imagery with entertainingly psychotic set-pieces.

Conlon and Preston are both fine in their roles, and David Stratton, Dylan Neal, and Lesley Kelly are highlights in supporting roles (the latter also the subject of a particularly great running joke about her status as a guidance counselor, as opposed to being a teacher or a "real person"), but the film belongs to Taylor, in her first feature role. Okay, she has the best role, but she also attacks both the comedy and the craziness of it with such gusto that she more than does enough to keep Mary Lou as one of the great "unsung" slasher movie villains in the stacked history of the sub-genre.

I can imagine a lot of horror movie fans being put off by the tone of this one, but I absolutely loved it. I didn't expect it to be so silly and irreverent, but I was absolutely on board when I saw what everyone was aiming for, and how well they were all doing in service of the material.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: My Secret Santa (2025)

Taylor (Alexandra Breckenridge) is a struggling single mother who wants to be able to pay for her daughter, Zoey (Madison MacIsaac), to attend ski lessons at a local resort. There's an employee discount available, which would help, but they're not hiring. Well . . . they ARE looking for a Santa. Getting herself disguised as a man, Taylor is soon suited and booted for the role. As if it wasn't difficult enough to keep pretending she is a man during work hours, things are further complicated by the fact that Taylor starts developing quite the connection with Matthew (Ryan Eggold), her acting manager. 

I decided to watch My Secret Santa because I really like Breckenridge, but she seems destined to never get that big movie role that I think she deserves. You might look at this movie and see another nail in her career coffin, but I'm going to defend it. So get yourself ready.

Written by Carley Smale and Ron Oliver, who have a wealth of experience between them, this is the blend of farcical quick-change and Christmas schmaltz that you'd expect, and it helps that director Mike Rohl has experience with this mix, considering he helmed all three of The Princess Switch movies. As you might have already surmised, this is essentially a low-budget gender-flipped riff on Mrs. Doubtfire, with a lot of extra snow and ho ho hos. I don't view that as a bad thing.

As ridiculous as the main premise is, Breckenridge does a decent job in the main role, whether she's in her natural guise or being Santa. Eggold gets to enjoy being the businessman blissfully unaware that Santa is actually the woman he has taken a liking to, and it's good to see his character not forced into any extremity for the sake of a contrived emotional journey. His development and maturity has basically all happened before the film starts, leaving us to focus on the one or two lessons that Breckenridge needs to learn. MacIsaac is a decent teen, as is Sasha Rojen (a bit of a bully who could become a friend, if given the right guidance). Tia Mowry is the no-nonsense woman who smells a rat in between her times unwillingly showing Eggold's character the ropes of his father's business, and Diana Maria Riva gets a couple of good moments as a tough neighbour softened by an unexpected encounter with Santa.

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone out of season, as it were, and I'm not sure who I would recommend it to right now, but I would recommend it to some. It's ridiculous, absolutely, but it's ridiculous in just the right ways. Anything mentioned in the earlier scenes ends up being referred back to in the third act, our lead character has a couple of people able to help her create such a convincing Santa disguise, and there are a couple of fun scenes that show someone being flustered and confused as she navigates around a number of new locations (including a men's locker room) that she would much rather avoid.

6/10

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Netflix And Chill: Falling For Christmas (2022)

Written and directed by people who largely have a decent amount of experience in the Christmas movie sub-genre (with the exception of Jeff Bonnett, the relatively new writer who helped develop the story idea into the screenplay), Falling For Christmas is the film sold on the idea that we get Lindsay Lohan in a Christmas movie. That's all you need to know. It was certainly enough to motivate me into making this a priority in my viewing schedule.

Lohan plays the spoiled and selfish Sierra Belmont, a young woman who is due to receive a marriage proposal from her narcissistic "influencer" boyfriend, Tad Fairchild (George Young). It doesn't quite go to plan though, and both Sierra and Tad end up rolling down snowy slopes in different directions. Tad ends up in the company of Ralph (Sean Dillingham) at his isolated shack. Sierra ends up being found by Jake Russell (Chord Overstreet), a young man struggling to keep his hotel lodge business solvent. She's also lost her memory, which leads to her recuperating at the lodge, where it soon becomes apparent that she doesn't know much about housekeeping. But she and Jake get along very well, and his daughter, Avy (Olivia Perez), takes a liking to her.

Janeen Damian, making her directorial debut after years spend producing this kind of fare, knows what she's doing here (basically reworking Overboard in a snowy setting, with the more problematic elements removed), and she makes sure to stick close to a box-checking script, written by Bonnett and Ron Oliver (who actually started his writing AND directing career decades ago with the second and third movies in the enjoyable Prom Night series). Nobody watching this will discover anything to surprise them, but there are a few more proper chuckles than I expected, mainly involving Tad and Ralph.

Lohan is suited to this kind of entertainment. She's still very easy to enjoy onscreen, and it's nice to see her in something that isn't trying to sell itself on the notion of showing her in a very different light (as happened with The Canyons, for example). She also convincingly portrays a good connection with Overstreet, who has apparently studied every Christmas movie ever made to refine his portrayal of the safest and blandest male romantic interest ever. Young and Dillingham are fun together, and Young is especially good value for every minute he's onscreen, wearing a selection of ridiculous wardrobe choices and always ready to stage a photo for his legion of online followers. Perez is . . . there. She does what is asked of her, but I'd have to single out her performance as particularly irritating, even when compared to other typical performances of this type (overly earnest and ready to put on the big eyes at the drop of a bauble). Alejandra Flores is the kindly gran, and I guess does okay, and Jack Wagner is the rich and powerful Beauregard Belmont, Sierra's father, and the safety net that viewers see Sierra has had all her life.

This is exactly what it sets out to be, perfectly pleasant seasonal entertainment. It just happens to have one of the unintentionally creepy Santa figures I have seen in some time. Creepy Santa aside, this is a nice springboard for Lohan to use as a more focused return to some proper movies. And if you don't think this counts as a proper movie, I urge you to try getting all the way through the dire Among The Shadows. Lohan shouldn't have had to feature in that dross, and I'll be happy if she does even just one film like this every year that saves her from ever having to be put back in that position.

6/10

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Shudder Saturday: Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987)

MOST slasher movies don't have sequels. Yes, you have the few that are based around modern horror icons (Michael, Jason, Freddy, etc) but the percentage is very low, especially when you consider just how many slasher films were churned out during that golden period. Even fewer slasher movies have sequels as removed from the tone of the first movie as Prom Night. Because if you're expecting this to be a rehash of the first film then you'd better think again.

Mary Lou Maloney (Lisa Schrage) is a fun-loving young woman. We see this from the very first scenes. This upsets her boyfriend, especially when he finds Mary Lou kissing some other guy at prom. One thing leads to another, a prank goes wrong (one of the most common slasher movie tropes), and Mary Lou ends up burning to death in front of everyone at the prom. Many years later, a young woman (Vicki, played by Wendy Lyon) is getting ready for her own prom. She finds a trunk that contains some items that belonged to Mary Lou. Taking them unleashes the vengeful spirit of Mary Lou, unbeknownst to Vicki, who starts have a number of disturbing hallucinations while becoming more and more like Mary Lou in her behaviour.

Written by Ron Oliver (who also did the next movie in the series, and is now quite a prolific director), Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II is the best kind of silliness. It's entertaining throughout, it has some decent set-piece, and there are plenty of nods to other genre movies (most notably Carrie and A Nightmare On Elm Street). Most of the main characters are named after genre directors - a common way to pay tribute to some of the masters of horror - and the plot somehow manages to feel outrageous and movie-world believable at the same time.

Director Bruce Pittman does a competent job, although there's a lack of any real flair that makes it unsurprising to see that most of his filmography is taken up with TV work, both features and series episodes. Having said that, there are two standout moments in the middle act that Pittman shoots in a way that shows off the very good special effects work. One scene with a blackboard could stand alongside anything from the Elm Street series, and it's just a shame that the finale leaves the more surreal visions aside in favour of some straightforward telekinesis and revenge.

Lyon does well in her role, and she has fun as her personality changes, but Schrage is a tough act to follow in those opening scenes. She's so lively and mesmerising, which makes it easier to enjoy the wickedness that unfolds when you can keep that carefree character in your mind. Justin Louis plays a young man who Vicki is having a relationship with. He does okay in his role, but it's good to see that his father is played by Michael Ironside, who is as fantastic as he usually is. You also get Terri Hawkes as a rival for the Prom Queen title, Brock Simpson as the awkward Josh, and amusing turns from Wendell Smith and Judy Mahbey as Vicki's parents.

Prom Night was a good slasher, not quite up there with the greatest examples of the subgenre, and it has a lot of fans. Well, this may be a sequel to that film in name only but I think it deserves a similar fanbase. It's a lot of fun.

7/10

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Angel Of Christmas (2015)

Jennifer Finnigan is Susan Collins, a decidedly unfestive person who tends to view the holiday celebrations around her as an inconvenience rather than anything delightful. Given the chance to write a main story for her newspaper, Susan struggles to think of something that will satisfy readers and provide some of that essential Christmas spirit. When she is told some of the backstory of a family heirloom, the titular angel, she senses that she has the start of her piece. The angel has a history of bringing together loved ones, or at least leading people to where they need to be. And then, while trying to find her holly jolly happy spirit, Susan keeps bumping into a handsome, non-cynical artist named Brady (Jonathan Scarfe). Perhaps the angel has more work to do yet.

Directed by Ron Oliver (who also gave us the much more disappointing A Christmas Detour) , Angel Of Christmas is almost a perfectly fine bit of seasonal fluff. Finnigan is adequate in the lead role, Scarfe is just about cheery enough without being too annoying, and the two of them together have a good mix of initial incompatibility while still maintaining a chemistry/attraction. Everyone onscreen hits their marks as they run through some predictable story beats, the soundtrack is full of that blandly festive library of songs and tunes that channels like Hallmark and ABC must have stockpiled in a big basement somewhere, and the "accidents" that occur when the angel is scheming are played out at just the right level of cute magic. It may not be the most exciting thing you will watch this year but Christmas TV movies seldom are.

As well as our two leads, Tahmoh Penikett plays Derek, a man looking to put some sweet moves on Susan, Barclay Hope and Wanda Cannon play Susan's parents, and Mark Bendavid and Chloe McClay are two main characters shown in flashback to provide the origin of the tale of angelic magic. The performances vary, but everyone does better than the wooden angel, although some only just.

Where it all falls down is in the third act, which just stretches things a bit too far (yes, even for this kind of film). Writer Gary Goldstein may have been pleased with himself as he created extra coincidences and connections but it ends up turning the finale into something laughably akin to the worst soap opera plotting I have experienced (and I used to be, kind of, forced to watch Sunset Beach, for my sins). It's so bad, in fact, that I found myself rolling my eyes and saying "no, don't do it, oh please no" repeatedly during one main sequence, despite nobody else being around to hear my protests.

5/10

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A Christmas Detour (2015)

Candace Cameron Bure plays Paige Summerlind, a woman who writes magazine articles about finding your perfect man and planning your perfect wedding, and is just about to get married herself. This Christmas is a huge deal for her. She is about to meet her future in-laws (played by Barbara Niven and Michael St. John Smith) and finalise a lot of the wedding details. So having her flight diverted and delayed couldn't have happened at a worse possible time. Her situation isn't helped by being stuck in the company of the cynical (but we know there's a good reason for it, don't we?) Dylan, played by Paul Greene, and a married couple (Maxine and Frank, played by Sarah Strange and David Lewis) who alternate between showing the best and the worst of married life.

Directed by Ron Oliver, who has turned out a whole load of TV movies over the past decade, this is the usual lightweight holiday fare hampered by two major failings. First, the script by Mark Amato does nothing to make us actually root for the leads, and gives us one of the most annoying central characters I have seen in some time, in the shape of Paige. All she does is witter on about herself, her great life, and her point of view, even being introduced in a scene that has her giving money to a woman that she expects her to use to buy the latest issue of a magazine that contains the latest article from . . . Paige Summerlind. That is her introduction. Even the potential love interest is mishandled, introduced in a scene that has him advising a colleague on the importance of maintaining fresh snacks on the bar for potential customers. Maxine and Frank fare slightly better, and Paige's future hubby (played by Marcus Rosner) and in-laws feature in a scene that introduces them as people who just might not be the shining stars that they think they are. Second, and also really the fault of the script, there is nothing here to make us believe in love between any of the characters (apart from Maxine and Frank). Nothing. Apart from it being set at Christmas, obviously, which is a time for such improbable happenings to occur.

The major script issues make it hard to properly judge the quality of the acting. Bure comes off the worst, but her character is also given a lot of the worst lines. Greene just about does okay, mainly because he gets to spend a lot of the movie rolling his eyes and being the cynic who calls out Bure on all oh her sugar-coated daydreams. But everyone else does a lot better, even when playing up to the very core of their cliched characters (Strange, Lewis, and Niven, in particular), which makes the film almost bearable.

If only the supporting characters had been given more screentime, and the leads given less. Or if only the leads had been made more likeable. This could have been yet another innocuous Christmas TV movie bauble. Unfortunately, it's just bad, even when judged only alongside other Christmas movies.

3/10

R1 disc is available here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hallmark-A-CHRISTMAS-DETOUR/dp/B018TNKDOW