Fright Night is what vampire movies should be- hot chicks, blood and guts, cool vampire death effects, explosions, fangs, and vampires that obey the rules we all know they have- like NOT WALKING AROUND DURING THE DAY WITH GLITTER ON. It’s a remake of a classic 80s horror comedy, and it does a faithful job of recreating the spirit of the first film without ruining it the way the crappy Halloween and Dawn of the Dead remakes did. The movie is about a former nerd and the vampire that moves in next door.
Colin Farrell is fantastic as Jerry, the charismatic fanged neighbor that menaces Charley (Anton Yelchin) and his friends. Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), the class geek, notices that kids are turning up missing, and entices Charley into sneaking into the house of a mutual friend with him to see if they can discover what happened. At this point Ed tells Charley that he’s living next door to a vampire, and the hunt is on.
Ed is caught by Jerry and turned into an undead vampire nerd, as are the bully and stoner that Charley is now friends with. Jerry devours the incredibly hot stripper…err, “go-go dancer” that lives across the street, and Charley enlists the help of Peter Vincent, a Las Vegas magician with an interest in the occult.
David Tennant plays Peter in an acting style that reminds me of Johnny Depp; just as Depp effectively mimics Michael Jackson in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Keith Richards in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Tennant channels his inner Russell Brand for this role. When watching him on screen, I actually asked my friend, “Why didn’t they cast Russell Brand?” I suspect that he was offered the role and turned it down, but having David Tennant act as a caricature of him adds an even greater comic dimension to the role.
Charley, his girlfriend Amy (Imogen Poots…heh heh, that name is awesome), and his mother, played by Toni Colette, are chased by Jerry on what must be the North I-15 highway. I say that because within 30 seconds the lights of Vegas are non-existant, and heading North on the 15 is the only way to leave the hustle and bustle of Vegas behind. After a series of fantastic action sequences with great vampire effects, blood, and guts, Charley and Amy meet up with Peter Vincent to strategize their vampire battle plans.
They are ambushed by Jerry, and a fight erupts in which we get to see the use of a myriad of vampire destroying weapons. My favorite was the mace that nearly knocked Ed’s head clean off. 1000 year old weapons really should be used in modern movies more often. Ultimately Amy is taken away by Jerry, leading Charley to head back to his lair to face him once and for all. The climactic battle makes clever use of sunlight (which HARMS REAL VAMPIRES), and of course, good vanquishes evil, with a satisfactory ending.
This is a fun movie to watch, and while I saw it in 2D, I could tell where the 3D effects would have been advantageous. The vampire death effects were very well done, and they seem like an updated version of the great effect seen in Blade 2.
Imogen Poots is stunning, as are Sandra Vergara (Sofia’s sister) who plays Peter’s girlfriend and Emily Montague (pictured above), who plays the stripper across the street. They provide some nice eye candy, and for you women and/or gay men, Colin Farrell does the same. But if you’re a woman or a gay man, you’re probably watching Twilight instead.
Toni Colette looks fantastic in this film as well- it’s strange to see someone I still think of as Muriel from Porpoise Spit as the hot mom. She is so good at doing an American accent that you don’t even remember that she’s an Aussie.
The link between Charley and his friends is a bit forced- the bully he hangs out with is such a tool that I’d like to think no one would want to befriend him. He also mistreats Ed a bit, so it took me a while to warm up to him as a character. After he starts trying to fight the vampire, however, he becomes much more likable and I started rooting for him.
If you like movies with blood, beautiful women in skimpy outfits, vampires, explosions, medieval weaponry, funny characters, and garlic, then you should see Fright Night. If you dislike these things, then you should stop reading my blog, because really, we have nothing in common.
I’ll rate this film on a scale based on the size of bats, from the tiny Kitti’s Hog-nosed Bat (about 1.25 inches long) to the Giant Golden-crowned Flying-fox (about 13.5 inches long). Fright Night is a solid Spectacled Flying Fox (about 10 inches in length- pictured at right).
