Fright Night (2011) Review

Rated R (Bloody Horror Violence, and Language including some Sexual References)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 46 Minutes

Cast:

Anton Yelchin-Charley Brewster

Colin Farrell-Jerry Dandrige

Imogen Poots-Amy Peterson

David Tennant-Peter Vincent

Toni Collette-Jane Brewster

Christopher Mintz-Plasse-Edward ‘Evil Ed’ Lee

Dave Franco-Mark

Reid Ewing-Ben

Will Denton-Adam Johnson

Sandra Vergara-Ginger

Emily Montague-Doris

Directed by Craig Gillespie

Colin Farrell gives Edward Cullen a run for his money in Craig Gillespie's remake of "Fright Night."

Action, comedy, and romance films have dominated this summer but one genre that’s been overlooked is horror. Sure, there was “Priest” back in May but despite its strong visuals, the film ended up being a dull and uninspired affair. The month of August has been making up for the relative lack of horror films, one of which is “Fright Night,” a remake of the 1985 original of the same name. The original “Fright Night,” which starred Roddy McDowall of “Planet of the Apes” fame in a supporting role, is far from a cinematic masterpiece but it was well-received by critics upon its release (93% on Rotten Tomatoes) and fans today have a certain nostalgic fondness for the film. A sequel was released in 1989, titled “Fright Night Part II” but it saw a very limited release as Jose Menendez, the head of distribution company New Century/Vista, was murdered by his two sons, throwing the company into chaos and delaying the sequel’s release. When a “Fright Night” remake was announced as far back as 2009, fan reaction was understandably mixed as many felt it was unnecessary to redo a cult classic and that it came off as a desperate 3D cash-grab. While this new version of “Fright Night” doesn’t do anything wholly new or original, the film’s gleeful blend of suspense and comedy, combined with the cast’s lively performances, especially Colin Farrell’s, makes this new rendition a fun ride and an example of what a proper remake should be. 

Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) is a high school student living in the suburbs located on the outskirts of Las Vegas. He has a great relationship with his mother, Jane (Toni Collette), and a beautiful girlfriend, Amy Peterson (Imogen Poots). One day after class, Charley’s former best friend, Edward ‘Evil Ed’ Lee (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) informs him that several of their fellow students have gone missing, including his friend Adam, which has him concerned. Charley disregards this but Ed blackmails him into visiting Adam’s house to see if there’s anything amiss. Returning home after school, Jane introduces Charley and Amy to their new neighbor, Jerry Dandrige (Colin Farrell), who is helping with some minor repairs as he works in construction. Jerry flirts with Jane and is clearly smitten with Amy, leaving Charley feeling uncomfortable. At Adam’s house, which appears to be abandoned, Ed drops a bombshell on Charley and reveals that Jerry is a vampire. In disbelief, Charley angrily scolds his former friend to grow up and leaves. The next day, Charley notices that Ed is absent from class, which raises his suspicions. Later that night, Jerry asks Charley if he can borrow some beer as he is expecting female company but appears to be unable to enter his neighbor’s house, as if there was some sort of barrier preventing him. Charley spies on Jerry throughout the night and hears a woman scream. He breaks into his house once Jerry leaves and discovers a false wall behind the closet, leading to a small hallway with a number of locked rooms. He sees Jerry’s date held prisoner in one of the rooms and attempts to free her to no avail. Jerry returns, forcing Charley to hide, and to his horror he sees him feeding on the woman, confirming all of Ed’s claims that he is a vampire. When his mother and his girlfriend’s lives are threatened, Charley is forced to put his fear behind him in order to defeat Jerry. 

I have not seen the original “Fright Night” as it is not available on Blu-Ray yet but I did read up on it before seeing this new rendition. The remake keeps the basic premise but forges its own path that is fresh yet also honors the original film. While it’s not particularly scary, it is suspenseful thanks to some strong pacing from director Craig Gillespie, whose only credits thus far has been 2007’s “Mr. Woodcock” and the critically-acclaimed indie flick “Lars and the Real Girl.” Gillespie is aware of his film’s inherent silliness and provides quite a lot of laugh-out-loud moments to keep things from being too serious but he also does not downplay the threat that Jerry poses, whom Ed compares to the shark from “Jaws.” One of the many problems plaguing modern horror films is that it never develops its characters and even when the writers try, the results are always sloppy and half-baked. Color me surprised when writer Marti Noxon believably turns an everyday high school student into a bona-fide vampire hunter. At its core, the film is just about a kid forced to protect his loved ones from a killer who turns out to be a four hundred-year-old vampire and it is that simplicity which makes it so engaging to watch as we become emotionally invested in this character. There’s even a surprising bit of subtext about never forsaking who you are to please others because in the end, you’re only lying to yourself and everyone around you. This is reinforced when Ed shows up during the second half, the circumstances of which I won’t reveal. The story does have some lapses in logic but it’s relatively minor and relates to the puzzling lack of law enforcement despite the fact that a house gets blown up and no one, not even the neighbors, seem to notice! While action scenes are sparse, there is an excellent car chase through an open stretch of road at night which was shot in one take and ends with a reveal of Jerry’s true vampire form, plus a welcome cameo that I won’t spoil. 

Eschewing the use of make-up in the original film, the vampire transformation effects were done in CG to keep costs down. It looks competent but also obvious that it’s rendered on a computer. Although you wouldn’t notice it from the advertisements or previews, “Fright Night” is being shown in 3D but I stuck with plain-old 2D instead. While it’s not a post-conversion, shooting in 3D serves no tangible benefit as much of the film takes place in dimly-lit environments and is used in a gimmicky, old-fashioned manner that includes excessive blood splatters or objects being thrown, invoking the cheap thrills seen in 1980’s horror flicks. Some critics have commented that Gillespie tries his best to take advantage of the extra dimension but he should have just utilized 2D, which is highly recommended for audiences interested in seeing the film. 

What elevates “Fright Night” is the cast with Anton Yelchin displaying quite a bit of range as his character convincingly transforms from an awkward, self-absorbed nerd to someone who is determined to protect his loved ones, knowing that he might not come out of it alive but is left with no choice. I appreciated the everyman aspect of Charley as it made him more relatable to his plight. Replacing Roddy McDowall as Peter Vincent is David Tennant, best known as the tenth incarnation of the BBC’s long-running science-fiction television series “Doctor Who.” Tennant is a riot and generates a lot of laughs as an eccentric celebrity magician with too much money to spend. His best scenes are when he interacts with his loud assistant Ginger, played by Sandra Vergara, who is the younger sister of Sofia Vergara. However, it is Colin Farrell who makes the film so fun to watch. An inspired choice, he clearly enjoys and relishes being a malevolent vampire who has grown over-confident from living on top of the food chain for the past four hundred years. Jerry is charming and charismatic but also vicious, qualities that Farrell so gleefully embodies, making it one of the best performances I’ve seen this summer. His conflict with Yelchin’s Charley invokes a David vs. Goliath feel. Imogen Poots and Toni Collette are fine and bucking the trend, the mother isn’t made aloof to the film’s proceedings. The weakest link is Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who is just playing a darker variant of his character from “Superbad.” I fear that he has become typecast. 

“Fright Night” was released on August 19, 2011 and has surprisingly received positive reviews with 74% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics admitted that ‘it may not have been necessary to remake the 1985 cult classic, but the new [film] benefits from terrific performances by Colin Farrell and David Tennant—and it's smart, funny, and stylishly gory to boot.’ Unfortunately, it had a disastrous weekend debut at the box office with a paltry $8.3 million and it looks like it’ll struggle to make back its modest $30 million production budget. Adding insult to injury is the fact that “Spy Kids: All the Time in the World” performed better despite being critically reviled. With the exception of “Twilight,” it seems that most vampire flicks are destined to flop, which is a real shame. I had a nagging suspicion it wouldn’t do well financially considering the middling audience attendance when I viewed the film. “Fright Night” may suffer from unoriginality yet it’s the most fun cinematic experience you’ll have this summer thanks to its successful fusion of suspense and comedy but really, Colin Farrell is worth the price of admission alone, and I’m not talking about his looks!

Final Rating: 4 out of 5

“Hey, guy. You've been watching me. I've been watching you. Your mom…there's a kind of…neglect…gives off a kind of scent. And your girl…she’s ripe! It's on you to look out for them because there are a lot of bad people out there, Charley.”