MovieChat Forums > Prom Night (1980) Discussion > What's with the 'out of focus' look of t...

What's with the 'out of focus' look of the whole film?


The whole film looks like it wasn't shot entirely in focus and looks incredibly soft/blurry and even blown out in some scenes.

Is this the fault of the quality of the prints or did the film always look this way?

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it ripped off Scream 4's look. how shameful...

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Holy crap. I just rewatched both of these this week and they both ARE blurry!

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I don't remember scream 4 being blurry....

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It definitely is. Some parts more than others. It has a Vaseline sheen to it. Don’t know why. Hate it.

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At least not to the point that it became distracting.

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Watch the new Blu-ray. It looks great.

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I did, that's why I made this post.

http://www.petitiononline.com/bluray85/petition.html - Sign the American Ninja Blu Ray Petition!

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I read on one of these threads that they applied some sort of filter that purposely blurred the picture. I sure would like to hear the justification of that decision.

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I used to think it was such a shame the movie looked so blurred, but now I think the blurred out look kind of adds to the movie's overall horror theme.

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[deleted]

Well... this explains why the film looks blurred and out of focus. Does it go into detail why someone would want to rationally make their movie to be out of focus and blurry? ... I just do not understand the chronological breakdown of the decision to do so... It is simply to distinguish it from movies that are in focus?

http://www.petitiononline.com/bluray85/petition.html - Sign the American Ninja Blu Ray Petition!

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[deleted]

I see... fair enough. I guess if someone wants to intentionally make their film blurry, they can.

http://www.petitiononline.com/bluray85/petition.html - Sign the American Ninja Blu Ray Petition!

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It adds a signature to the film. I understand wholeheartedly why one would want to do this. It's a dreamlike state achieved, and btw, it's not out of focus. Just a bit of vaseline. A lack of sharpness, yes, but very much in focus. I think it's one of the best things about Prom Night to be honest.



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I don't like the soft look it has. It will be interesting to see if the Blu-ray's any better.

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This technique aided in the relatively new area of special effects and location filming to aid in giving the film a creepier darker look and help gore effects look a little less fake and to help hide things not meant to be seen. There is also some slight degradation as well and no computer graphics. 1980 was just a few years into the start of the new "slasher" Horror film golden age... It was a great time to be young! The TV commercials were great! They weren't trying to make art, they were doing what films should do, entertain and be fun!

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[deleted]

That and the bad sound made the movie even harder to watch. I have never seen a version that corrected either. It's like watching a copy of a copy of a copy of an old VHS tape.

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I agree. I haven't seen the Blu-ray yet I hope the Ultra HD Blu-ray sorts the problem out. I also hope we see parts 2, 3 and 4 on Ultra HD Blu-ray.

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You really oughtta pick up the Synapse release. A vast improvement.

Anyone here mentions Hotel California dies before the first line clears his lips.

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