20 Perfect Scenes In Otherwise Terrible Horror Movies

Though remembered as a quintessential 1980s slasher, Prom Night is actually a forgettable slice of mediocrity overall, one that's not so much filled with clichés as built from them. It's as tropey as horror movies get, and the only time it does something unexpected is with its surprisingly mean-spirited denouement.

By far the best and most memorable part of this movie is the legendary chase, which is legitimately terrific even after all these years. Here, the masked, axe-wielding killer chases Wendy (Eddie Benton), a gloriously unlikable mean girl, through the school and, as horror movie chases go, it's up there with the very best. 

Long, suspenseful, and relentlessly thrilling, the chase is a dynamic affair that makes clever use of a school's environment to provide a wide variety of obstacles and hiding places for Wendy. It's also excellent on a visual level with a striking, almost Giallo-esque mix of bright colours and shadows, while the cheerful prom music pounding away in the distance lends the whole affair an ironic ambience. 

It eventually concludes with Wendy being axed, which, given what a spiteful person she was, might give viewers a certain catharsis. Still, as much as most viewers hated Wendy, she still managed to find her way into one of the best chase scenes in all of slasher cinema. It's the one section of Prom Night that's truly worth remembering.