By Joe Puccio

Forty-five years ago, Jimmy Carter was in the midst of his final full year as the President of the United States, ‘Who shot J.R.?’ was the pressing question on the minds of television audiences throughout the country, and Pac-Man, which would eventually become the most successful video game of all time, made its initial foray into arcades across America.

And in cinema, an unassuming little horror film named Prom Night would be made and ultimately revered as a high-water mark in the vital slasher subgenre.

“It still boggles my mind that, after all these years, people are still so interested in it,” said Joy Thompson, who portrayed Jude Cunningham in the seminal thriller, during a recent conversation with Generation X Wire.

Directed by Paul Lynch, the Jamie Lee Curtis/Leslie Nielsen-starring vehicle followed a group of high school students who are targeted at their senior prom by a masked killer, seeking vengeance for the accidental death of a 10-year-old girl six years earlier. While the plot might seem fairly basic and not overly complex, its use of effective flashback sequences, a quite creepy score, and a perfectly cast combination of screen veterans and motivated newcomers helped create a cult classic. The whodunnit aspect certainly helped as well.

“It had a great element of surprise, and I don’t think viewers expected the reveal at the end, who the villain was,” she believed. “It had the heroine, the teens, the music, and everything else. It had all the necessary components to make it a good horror film.” Released in 1980, two years after John Carpenter’s Halloween, arguably the greatest slasher picture of all time, it helped pave the way for a copious number of concordant offerings in the decadent decade, including Sleepaway Camp, A Nightmare on Elm Street, My Bloody Valentine, and April Fool’s Day, to name only a few. “I watched Prom Night again last year and decided to revisit my ‘80s hair for a bit,” she smiled. “I still enjoyed it and can definitely understand the appeal for young people to be enthralled with it.”

Thompson landed the coveted fan favorite role, her debut, due to her sheer talent and with assistance from casting director Karen Hazzard. “I was so green, and Karen really supported me and took me under her wing. I guess I was that combination of the girl next door and ‘the lovable one,’ as People magazine wrote in their review at the time,” she smiled.

One of the many highlights of Prom Night, filmed in just under a month in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was its eclectic cast. Curtis, at the height of her stardom on the heels of Halloween, was a major part of the movie’s success, while the venerable Nielsen, achieving simultaneous acclaim in his first comedic part in Airplane!, gave it a sense of esteem – despite his penchant for playful high jinks on the set.

“Leslie made me laugh constantly. He was so funny. He had a whoopie cushion and each time I walked by him he’d say, ‘oh, excuse me,’” she laughed. “He was a dream and such a great man.” Thompson’s experience with Curtis was similarly a positive one. “When we first met, the first thing Jamie Lee did was hug me and tell me that I was perfect for Jude,” she shared. “That was how we started off and why I was able to have that confidence to move forward with it. She was so gracious.”   

Although the retired actress didn’t regularly keep in touch with her co-stars, she makes it clear that the reason had nothing to do with lack of interest and everything to do with lack of means. “I was doing film and stage at the time, which kept me very busy. I also didn’t live in one place for years and unfortunately, we didn’t have things like the internet,” she explained. “In those days, you’d have to write a physical letter. Nowadays, it’s so easy to communicate with people, wherever they are. Mike Tough and I have spoken a few times over the years but that’s really it.”

After Prom Night, Thompson’s thespian career continued in fare such as Baker County, U.S.A., One Magic Christmas, and an episode of War of the Worlds, before her path in life took an unexpected turn and although she didn’t realize it at the time, it was an overwhelmingly positive one.

“I began teaching acting, singing, and dancing, and I pioneered the arts here in Barrie (Central Ontario, Canada) and received an award for it,” she enthused. “I decided to pay it forward. I have students who’ve performed in Las Vegas, who were on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, who opened for the Rolling Stones, and who’ve been leads here in Stratford in Canada, so I feel like I was able to take the skills that I had and help others through that.” The educator believes that while the legacy of her work in front of the camera is important, it’s her teaching that is really her proudest achievement. “When you can touch someone’s life and help shape it, that’s truly soul filling,” she continued.

While a harrowing 2018 bout with encephalitis forced Thompson to cease coaching, she still managed to pay homage to her career by teaching for over 20 years, and combined with her own Hollywood livelihood, that’s quite an impressive feat. “Acting was a major part of my life,” she exclaimed. “I had an amazing career, and I loved every second of it.”