The Fun of Fright Night

I found myself bored the other night, so I checked On Demand, and I came across the new remake of Fright Night. I remember seeing previews for this flick and thinking it looked a bit campy and silly. I looked into the summary and saw that Colin Farrell and David Tennant were listed in the cast. I immediately decided that I needed to watch this, I’m a huge fan of David Tennant, so I hit play.

The plot was decent, main character Charlie Brewster (Anton Yelchin) discovers that his neighbor, Jerry Danridge (Colin Farrell), is a vampire. He seeks the assistance of the Vegas show runner/self proclaimed vampire specialist, Peter Vincent (David Tennant), for help destroying the vampire. He is turned away and returns home. 

As soon as he goes home all hell breaks loose. Jerry the vampire is after Charlie, his girlfriend Amy (Imogen Poots), and his mother Jane (Toni Collette).

There is a battle and Charlie now takes it upon himself to do whatever he can do destroy the vampire. He returns back to the Vegas strip to try and get help from Peter, while he is there Jerry arrives and with a new ally. Charlie’s ex best friend, who tried to tell him that his neighbor was a vampire, has been turned into a vampire.

Peter hides while Charlie has to battle his friend while dealing with the guilt of his friend being turned because he failed to listen earlier. After he has defeated his friend, Charlie and Amy attempt to escape from the building. Jerry is after them; he succeeds in grabbing Amy and turning her.

Charlie prepares himself for the fight of his life and is joined by Peter, who finally decides to fight. The big battle happens during daylight in Jerry’s house. Charlie and Peter discover Jerry’s underground hideout, and find out he has been turning humans in an effort to build up his numbers.

The big battle happens, and when all seems lost, Charlie uses an idea suggested earlier, and lights up his suit, attacks Jerry and succeeds in finally killing the vampire. The turned vampires return back to human, as their maker had been killed.

The film is definitely a bit ridiculous, But I say this in a good way. What movie with a vampire living next door to you wouldn’t be? I giggled during parts of the film I’m sure I wasn’t supposed to, and the way the vampires looked when they were ready to rip out someone’s throat, was awkward looking. They look more bat like than man. A different look than I have been used to. The trend of vampires in the past few vamp movies and series has been human like. The vampire looks added to the ridiculousness.

The movie really should change the beginning of its title, there wasn’t much fright in Fright Night. That doesn’t mean the movie was bad, it just wasn’t really a horror film. It had some freaky scenes, and of course blood, but there really wasn’t much to scare the audience. The fight scenes were entertaining, and there was some good comedy in the film. The movie was fun, silly, bloody, and entertaining. Some characters left much to be desired, Charlie and Peter were by far my favorite characters. Peter being a big part of the humor of this film.

The film is definitely worth a view. I wouldn’t go into it thinking it’s going to be a scary horror. Go in looking for an entertaining vampire movie. The acting is good and there is enough blood and fun for everyone. I enjoyed it, and plan on viewing any sequels released.