In June, high school seniors attended their abridged, social distance-savvy graduation ceremonies. In doing so, they accepted that – because of the ongoing safety Coronavirus Pandemic – some other mass gathering-based events, like prom, would not go on as scheduled.
The following ten prom-focused films (honorable mention paid to Never Been Kissed, with room for only one undercover high school student flick) list will assuredly help heal the broken hearts of the forlorn. For they remind that only sometimes, does it help to cry; but other times, it’s best to just shut up and dance.
American Pie (1999)
The raunch-fest performed so well at the box-office on its smaller budget – $235.5 million on $11 million, to be exact – that it spawned a wholly unforeseen franchise.
With the age-old premise of a high school friend group forming a pact to lose their virginities before graduation, American Pie also impressively gave new meaning to its title – no longer solely belonging to folk-rock singer Don McLean.
She’s All That (1999)
She’s All That similarly did not reinvent the wheel with its basic premise. Starring a fine crop of late ’90s staples like Freddie Prinze Jr., Rachael Leigh Cook, Matthew Lillard and Paul Walker, the film’s primary conflict rested on a teen falling for the dorky girl he’s been tasked to transform into the prom queen.
Though Laney (Cook) technically was “a bet,” there’s no mistaking just how genuinely entranced Zackary (Prinze Jr.) was when the former emerged down the stairs post-makeover to the tune of Sixpence None The Richer’s “Kiss Me.”
Blockers (2018)
Kay Cannon’s (Pitch Perfect) Blockers incorporated contemporary factors like advancements in social media to endear itself to viewers expecting a modern twist on the prom flick subgenre that dominated the late ’90s.
Blockers further subverted expectations by both (1) depicting teenage girls – and not boys – as the virginity erasure-hopefuls, and (2) predominantly tackled matters from the previously underrepresented parents’ perspectives.
Prom Night (1980)
The Jamie Lee Curtis-fronted slasher picture, in typical vintage horror fashion, polarized critics and audiences alike upon release before gaining a substantial cult following. Prom Night also stars Leslie Nielsen (The Naked Gun, Scary Movie 3) in his final non-comedic role.
Juxtaposing expectedly nervewracking prom night tensions with a disco-heavy soundtrack, Prom Night inspires viewers to dance as they have never had before: Fearfully.
Footloose (1984)
The biggest threat to an overly conservative small town? Two words, one love: Kevin Bacon.
Though the then relatively-unknown Bacon had won over audiences the world over by the time the beloved act III prom sequence arrived, he was not the first choice for Ren McCormack. Fellow young adult bad boys turned eventual A-listers Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe were actually both set to play the lead at separate points in production.
21 Jump Street (2012)
“As we go on, we remember, all the times we had together; And as our lives change, come whatever, we will still be friends forever..”
Alluded to earlier, the Jonah Hill/Channing Tatum film – loosely based on the 1980s series of the same name – cast the pair as dimwitted detectives who go undercover at a high school in search of a kingpin. Action-packed with gobsmacking laugh-after-laugh rapid-fire pacing, the film – ranked against its sequel here – arguably peaks during the prom climax it built toward.
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Bowling for Soup was accurate when they lumped this love triangle-based teen rom-com in with some other John Hughes-penned and/or Brat Pack-starring hits; they were just off about the year.
Long before Twilight introduced the world to Team Edward and Team Jacob, there was Team Blane (Andrew McCarthy) and Team Duckie (Jon Cryer). Spoilers withheld, Andie (Molly Ringwald) definitively ends up with one – while interestingly having winded up with the other in an alternative cut that test audiences swiftly shot down.
The Girl Next Door (2004)
Thanks to an on-brand, coverage-outkicking prom sequence cut to “Atlantis” by Donovan, the MTV Movie Award-nominated teen comedy helped expand the aforementioned song’s iconographic repertoire. No longer would it solely be remembered for its inclusion in the famous “Billy Batts” scene in GoodFellas.
Starring Emile Hirsch (Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood) and Elisha Cuthbert (24), The Girl Next Door initially played like the Risky Business remake no one asked for. However, once seen, it became the proverbial guilty pleasure anyone in their right mind would be hard-pressed to turn down.
Carrie (1976)
Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, John Travolta, and Brian De Palma – Carrie had star-power of the highest order. It also happened during a time when novelist Stephen King’s best work being adapted for the silver screen on a regular basis was still a new phenomenon.
She may have been told by her mother (Laurie), “they’re all going to laugh at you,” but the telekinetically-powered Carrie (Spacek) earned and subsequently delivered the last laugh after being bloody-embarrassed on-stage. This scene is too prolific for even the non-viewer to be unaware of at this point.
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
1999 was the year of prom movies.
Starring the late Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight, Brokeback Mountain) and Julia Stiles (Save the Last Dance) in breakout performances, 10 Things I Hate About You – a modern update on Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” – wows with premise execution and a generation-defining soundtrack.
What is more ’90s than rooftop cover bands, Semisonic, and teenage declarations of love whilst singing Frankie Valli tunes that they had only just grown old enough to discover?
