Rating: ***
Starring: Nicole de Boer, J.H. Wyman, Joy Tanner
Hey, remember when Prom Night was once a 1980 slasher with a somewhat decent mystery plot behind its cheese, before it spawned a sequel in 1987 that bore little to no continuity to the original as it was now about an evil teenager's ghost from the 1950s possessing a present day loner and giving her demonic powers that she uses in a Carrie (1976)-inspired climax, and then spawning yet another sequel in 1990 about the same 1950s ghost gal in a more supernatural slasher set-up that's actually quite a fun cheese-fest? Yeah, prepare to shift gears one more time as Prom Night's gonna go Catholic on our arses in this fourth outing.
In 1957, a deranged priest named Jonas opted himself as the crusader for God when he decided to hunt down and "save" all those he deem enemies of his religion (which unsurprisingly includes horny teenagers making out in cars parked outside of gothic churches) with the pointed end of a dagger-tipped crucifix.
It wasn't long before the religious figureheads caught wind of his murders, quick to deem him as an abomination when he shows no remorse and even starts experiencing stigmata when his palms begin to bleed open on their own. Not wanting Father Jonas out and free to kill as he please (as well as probably to save their own arses), his fellow priests decided to drug him down to catatonia before transporting and leaving his unconscious body to age inside a secret room under another church.Thirty-some years later, its now the present and a newcomer priest gets tasked to watch over his church's dirty little secret and keep Father Jonas medicated so he wouldn't break out of his slumber. But as you would have guessed it, the priest blew this one simple job and gets killed off by a now awake Jonas, who is quick to follow through his Godly mission to rid the world of whores and sluts, starting with a pair of couples skipping their prom night so they can do the nasty at a rural Summer home deep in the woods.
What follows is a standard prowl-and-stalk around the backwoods home with barely any major murders seeing the casts are relatively small in count, thus the film's direction settled to try developing these teens a bit before tossing in the monastery madman to do the deadly deed. Not entirely a bad idea seeing the talents here are distinguishable and decent, but where it somewhat fails is the very the characters they're portraying as they aren't that uninteresting, mostly limited in charm by means of their development or personality so much that they're basically walking tropes.
Contentedly, Prom Night IV saves itself by a hair with its gratifying last act where our psychotic priest goes Biblical on them in a okay-ish killing spree that focused more on thrills than bloody spills, albeit still littered with your typical dumb choices and cliches; a scalping gets implied, a head is crushed while the killer ranted a prayer that nearly drowned out his victim's agonizing screams, and there's even an effective rooftop set-piece where Father Jonas repeatedly stabs his signature daggered crucifix up an attic's ceiling, hitting a poor fellow in more corners than one before meeting his maker. Overall, a decent climax that makes up quite a lot for what were lacking.The main thing that's stopping me from enjoying this movie even more is the fact that it introduced some major supernatural on-goings, as well as some shady things done by the church. This was dropped midway into the film and barely touched the matter again, quite sad as it certainly would have made this a more intriguing watch but as far as B-grade slashers go, they could have done worse. Prom Night IV: Deliver Us From Evil (1992), for what it is, works as a passable teen bodycounter despite a few lackluster notes, packing some creepy moments, a distinguishable killer and a high-energy third act so not quite a total lost and worth a watch once in a blue moon.
Bodycount:
1 female had her throat cut with a steel crucifix
1 male stabbed with a steel crucifix
1 male strangled with a phone cord
1 male gets a throat cut offcamera
1 male murdered, method unknown
1 female murdered, scalped offcamera
1 male had his head crushed
1 male gets a steel crucifix hurled into his chest
Total: 8
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