Fright Night (2011)

Horrorphile

follow this blog

1040 followers

3571 daily readers

rank of 1

E-mail Subscription

Receive an e-mail notification of new posts on this site:

Fright Night (2011)

September 11th 2011 22:30

Every now and again I must eat my words, chew a little humble pie, assess my cynical attitude, and embrace the here and now, regardless of how unoriginal so much of it is. I saw Tom Holland’s original Fright Night (1985) when it was first released and thoroughly enjoyed it, from what I remember, especially its special effects – in particular the transformation of Evil Ed from werewolf back into frightened mortally wounded adolescent. I liked Chris Sarandan’s menacingly seductive performance as Jerry, the matinee idol vamp with the keen interest on his teenager next door who happens to share a mutual fascination, albeit of the more morbid and wary variety.

Anton Yelchin as Charley

As is the rule of thumb in this contemporary Hollywood climate, it’s not just the B-movies that are being re-booted, re-imagined, sequelised, and prequelised, now executive producers hungry for the Y-Gen dollar that shows no genuine concern for the purity of a bona fide classic, or the rustic charm of a cult favourite, an audience that thirsts for something that looks cool and wrangles something culturally poppy, something that is here and now, are turning to the movies that weren’t broke, that made a profit the first time round, that are regarded as successful and, in many cases, untouchable.

Colin Farrell as Jerry

Fright Night wasn’t a brilliant movie, but it succeeded in what it was designed for, which was an old school horror full of campy horror fun, rich on self-depreciating humour, and sporting some fabulous special effects (for the time). There was really no need to remake it. But it has been. Like many before and so many more to come. So I went to the screening expecting dire things. I mean, Colin Farrell and his thick Irish brogue playing All-American Jerry? David Tennant mimicking Russell Brand playing Roddy McDowell’s flaky charlatan Vincent? Toni Collette playing Charlie Brewster’s mother? (I’m not the biggest Toni fan, I gotta be honest).

David Tennant as Peter Vincent

So herein lies the Rub. With my low expectations I didn’t pay attention to two interesting key players in the remake; director Craig Gillespie, who made the excellent Lars and the Real Girl, and screenwriter Marti Noxon, a television producer-writer who penned several episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and more recently a couple of episodes of Mad Men. These two have managed to lift Fright Night (2011)’s game considerably. In fact, it wasn’t long into the movie (probably around the arrival of scene-stealing David Tennant) before I realised I was actually rather enjoying it, far more than I thought I would.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Ed

Noxon’s plot follows Holland’s quite faithfully (Holland receives a story credit as well as a credit for the original Fright Night itself), but makes a few key changes that add real colour and bounce. In this new version it is Charley’s geek-infested buddy Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) who tries to warn Charley (Anton Yelchin) of his freakydeaky new neighbour, but Charley is too cool-for-school to pay heed. He’s doesn’t want to lose his spunky girlfriend Amy (Imogen Poots) because he’s returned to his nerd-sac days, even when Ed threatens to youtube some old videos of them playing silly buggers in superhero costumes.

Imogen Poots as Amy

The new neighbour, Jerry (Colin Farrell) is quite the eye candy for Charley’s lonesome mother, Jane (Toni Collette), even Amy nods her approval, much to Charley’s chagrin. It isn’t long before supernatural intrigue roots down firmly in the Vegas satellite township. Ed has gone missing (along with numerous other teenagers) and now Charley knows there’s something real dodgy in Jerry’s all-too-nice demeanour. He eventually seeks advice from the Cris Angel-esque Vegas illusionist Peter Vincent (David Tennant), a soak and a flake, with his bored, but oh so hot, assistant Ginger (Sandra Vergara, stealing scenes even from Tennant!). But Vincent does proclaim expertise on vampire hunting, and his collection is nothing too shake a blunt stake at. Together they must fight the undead evil!

Fright Night (2011) Toni Collette and Anton Yelchin

Charley and his mom Jane (Toni Collette) hide from a home-wrecking Jerry

Fright Night is well-paced with some memorable set-pieces (Jerry’s bold way of entering Charley’s house without invitation), a few moments of choice visceral horror, and a persuasive sense of humour. The cast performs very well, with Colin’s Jerry making a much stronger impression than I anticipated. David Tennant is absolutely hilarious (some truly magic dialogue) as the charlatan who redeems himself, and there are some genuinely suspenseful moments. The climactic confrontation under Jerry’s house hits all the right notes, and the 3D presentation adds bonus dynamics (Jerry’s grotesque vampire visage is a stunner!)

Sandra Vergara as Ginger

If you’re a fan of the original, go in to this remake with low expectations and you’ll have a great time. If you’ve never seen the original then you’ll probably have an even more entertaining ride. Taking my rating cue from fuddy-duddy critic Roger Ebert, Fright Night joins the ranks of that rare breed of creature; the remake that that gets two thumbs up. Curiously, Ebert has a thing to say about current audiences: “They fear taking a chance. They fear informing themselves about new films. They remember a good movie experience and desire to repeat it … It will grow harder to make a great original film and impossible to avoid remaking it time and again.”

Here’s the trailer:

Vote

subscribe to this blog

follow this blog on Orble

start your own blog

[ Link ]

Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

Related Posts:

Relate This Post

[ Previous - Kim Bok-nam Salinsageonui Jeonmal (Bedevilled) ]

[ Next - Loose Change: Final Cut ]

Comments

10 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by David O'Connell

September 13th 2011 10:13

20/20 Filmsight
Screen Fanatic

My current holiday is cutting short my chances of writing a review of this Bryn - but in summary I wasn't a fan. It gets into the crux of it way too quick without any preamble and just destroyed many of the great elements that made the original such a great little film, almost perfect in its way.

Comment by Bryn

September 23rd 2011 00:27

Horrorphile

That's alright Dave, you and I don't always see eye to eye ... I went in with pretty low expectations and found myself rather entertained.

Comment by Anonymous

September 26th 2011 12:22

Odszkodowania kancelaria

Fright Night

Comment by LookUp1977

September 29th 2011 18:42

The Smore's Pork Incident
My Mother in Law
My Mom in Law
Drama before the Meal
Drama and a meal 2
The unexpected cycle

awesome job on your pages, you my firend are very creative and insitefull !!

Comment by gothic

October 24th 2011 00:56

im not sure how i felt about this one. no matter how he tried collin just didnt fit. it would have worked just as good if you picked some dude named billybob and had him play a vampire. he just wasnt believable. nore was making peter vincent a goth dude. fright night was a period piece for sure. some movies just cant be modernized.