Prom Night and Final Destination 3 comparison essay

In this essay I am going to compare and contrast the opening sequences of two horror films. The two horror films I have chosen are Prom Night and Final Destination 3. I have chosen these two films as they both have different story lines and have many differences between them.

Final destination 3 was made in 2006 and directed by James Wrong. The film begins with a group of teenagers in an amusement park. For a horror film the beginning credits are not scary for the viewers however you could say that it is quite freaky with the bright lights, devils, screams and gypsy fortune teller dolls rocking back and forth, this could trigger some viewers as they may have a phobia of dolls. There is also a pinball game, in which the ball rolls around and misses two holes, one reading “luck” and the other “fate” and finally falls into the one labelled “death”, if viewers have seen any of the other final destination films before they will realise that film visits each of those in words, which is showing them an insight into the film ahead. Once the main characters are introduced to the film “freaky” things start to happen for example when Wendy takes a photo of her friends on the ride named High Dive the V on the camera is shown as if the bulb has blown making it read High Die, however when she checks the ride again the V has been re-lit.

The first 20 minutes of the film is filled with many clichés with Wendy’s friend saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you strong” just as the roller coaster speeds past them. Many of the photos Wendy takes are linked to the deaths later on in the film, so you could call them premonitions, linking back to the Gypsies at the beginning. Before she enters the ride Wendy tells her boyfriend she feels like she is having “Déjà Vu” however she continues on and goes on the ride. As they are queuing you begin to see bad signs like bad connections between sections of the ride, an oil leak and so on, until they get onto the ride and it begins the oil leak causes the ride to become loose and dangerous and a guy filming the ride drops his camera and gets in caught into the ride causing the ride to de-rail and individuals each having their personal deaths. However these deaths do not actually take place they are simply a flash forward from Wendy, who has this premonition of the ride crash and manages to escape just in time before the ride actually crashes in real life. This film does not have any murderers, psychopaths, monsters, it is more supernatural and plays with fate.

The film Prom night created in 2008 and directed by Nelson McCormick. The beginning of this film is very different compared to Final Destination 3 instead of beginning with a flash forward it begins with a flashback or “dream”. This film is a lot darker and begins like a typical horror film with a girl entering an empty house and then realising she isn’t alone. Unlike Final destination Prom night is based on a psychopathic murderer who doesn’t stop at anything to try and get the girl he wants whereas Final destination is based more on people dying by fate than any other cause. In the first 10 minutes of Prom night 3 characters are murdered in the suburbs, 2 of which (brother and dad) are found by the daughter who then watches her mum get brutally murdered, this is a completely different beginning compared to Final destination one of the main reasons being that it starts with a flash forward while the other starts with a flashback however they are both good beginnings each building up suspense and anticipation. In comparison to the Final Destination Prom night has a much darker setting with eerie music playing in the background and typical suspense builders such as someone opening a cupboard and you expecting someone to be behind it whereas Final Destination gives you subtle hints on what is going to happen during the film and is also a lot more colourful and less eerie. Despite both films being teen horrors they are both different and the main thing they having in common is death and “The last girl” which is traditional in horror films.