Prom Night IV: Deliver Us From Evil

 

I knew this already going in, but Prom Night IV: Deliver Us From Evil basically has nothing to do with the first three entries in the franchise. This easily could have just been titled "Deliver Us From Evil" or "Jonas The Priest Needs His Meat" or something along those lines and I still think that this flick would have garnered a solid cult following. What we do have with Prom Night IV however is an entertaining departure from the Mary Lou timeline that takes place in parts two and three with a Catholic priest by the name of Father Jonas that becomes possessed by the devil back in 1957 during the Hamilton High School prom (which is the very loose connection we have to the previous films here) and is contained by holy words, drugs and physical restraints in the basement of the church that employs him by Father Jaeger. Thirty plus something years later, a young man that goes through all of the training he needs to become the new Father under Jaeger's wing by the name of Father Colin is set to take over, and his mortal duty given to him by Jaeger is that he needs to keep Jonas drugged and contained in the basement so that "the devil in him doesn't awaken". He of course flubs this duty the very first time he needs to perform it and Jonas comes to life and kills his ass right there in the church. Hamilton High School is once again having their annual prom dance and we now have new characters to romp around with by the names of Meagan, Mark, Laura and Jeff. I actually enjoyed all four of these main "teen" characters (the word teen has quotes around it because it's yet another case of twenty-somethings playing teen-somethings) and of course, my favorite has to be Meagan because she's the resident final girl and the steaming hot brunette played by Nicole de Boer, but she's also the sweet, innocent goody girl that learns and opens up about life along the way. There's a character arch there, which is saying something considering this is the fourth entry in a franchise where basically the main focus is slashing, silliness, a young girl that was whoring around in parts two and three and ultimately just doesn't have any focus other than being entertaining. I think that's what the main thing here about Prom Night IV I can say is is that it's just entertaining, even though it could have just stood on it's own as a singular piece without having to be attached to the Prom Night franchise. The music is excessively cheesy, the kills are varied and pretty gory to be honest, the cinematography is solid and Jonas himself is just a villain you can't really take seriously. His facial expressions and the way he moves around his environment when he's trying to snuff everyone in the third act is just to goofy to be heavy, and I genuinely just had a good time watching him act like the fool that he is. I want there to be a lot more to say about Prom Night IV: Deliver Us From Evil, but there just isn't. It's a solid final entry into this seminal franchise even though it really has nothing to do with it at all besides the very weak connection to the series' central high school and the year 1957 from the earlier parts-other than that it's all it's own thing. If you can enjoy it for what it is like I did, you'll have a good time. I'm just glad that I never joined the priesthood-even though I actually had a chance at doing so when I was younger. What a waste that would have been. A man of the cloth I am not.