Trivia / Hello Mary-Lou: Prom Night II

• Creator Backlash: The film's producer, Peter Simpson, ultimately regretted the decision to title the film as a sequel to Prom Night, and felt the marketing campaign was "silly and capricious." Simpson later said the film should be taken on its own merits and not viewed as a sequel.
• Dawson Casting: As per usual, most of the high-schoolers were played by twentysomethings. Lisa Schrage, as 17-year-old Mary Lou, was 24 at the time of production, Wendy Lyon was 28 as Vicki, Louis Ferreira was 22 as Craig, and Terri Hawkes was 29 as Kelly. Averted with 19-year-old Brock Simpson as Josh.
• Executive Meddling: Peter Simpson was unhappy with director Bruce Pittman's original cut, feeling it wasn't scary enough. Simpson ordered around 1/3 of the movie to be reshot under the direction of screenwriter Ron Oliver, who (at the time) had never directed a movie before. The reshoots primarily dealt with "horror" scenes (such as Vicki's interactions with the demonic rocking horse), with the intention of upping the scare factor. According to Lisa Schrage, the ending was also changed, adding in a Sequel Hook suggesting Mary Lou’s return^note Which, funnily enough, she would not be asked back for.
  • Additionally, the distributor owned the rights to the original Prom Night, and chose to make this film an In Name Only sequel to it at the last minute. Its original title was The Haunting of Hamilton High.
• Follow the Leader: The film leans towards supernatural slasher genre á la Elm Street. It's also clearly inspired by Carrie (1976).
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: According to screenwriter Ron Oliver, the film received much better critical and audience reception in the US than its native Canada.
• Playing Against Type: Michael Ironside almost always plays villains, here he is a good guy.
• Throw It In!: Vicki's full frontal nudity in the locker room scene was not in the script. Bruce Pittman suggested it to Wendy Lyon during filming, and she enthusiastically agreed to do it.
• You Look Familiar: Brock Simpson (Josh) appeared as Young Nick in the original film.