Vampire, vous avez dit vampire ?

'Fright Night' is a movie that has stuck with me for years. Recently I was able to get it on DVD and have been watching it and trying to convince my friends to watch it ever since. It has it's flaws but time has been kinder, I think, to 'Fright Night' than it has been to either 'Near Dark' or 'The Lost Boys.'

Chris Sarandon is great and charismatic in his role as the new next-door neighbor. He gives a deep performance and it seems like he's having a lot of fun in every scene. William Ragsdale isn't bad either as he tries with greater desperation and anxiety to convince people that the vampire exists and win allies to help him destroy it. My favourite performance comes from Roddy McDowall. Like Donald Pleasance later in his career, Roddy McDowell could reasonably be accused of acting in anything if there was a paycheck involved; this has damaged his reputation somewhat. I think 'Fright Night' and his performance as Peter Vincent definitely falls in the plus category rather than negative. He is great at hiding behind masks and is constantly performing for the other characters. As an actor, the part required versatility, compassion and depth. Had they been able, Peter Cushing or Vincent Price would have also played the part splendidly -- McDowell's character is of course a tribute to both these actors and I think that he was simply fantastic.

So many of the moments in 'Fright Night' compete to be my favourite but I think it comes in the final third of the film. Peter Vincent has run out of masks to hide behind and becomes a very tired, very frightened and very old man. Redemption isn't out of reach -- but he's going to have to work for it.

I mentioned earlier that 'Fright Night' has aged fairly well. There is decent gore and make-up so anyone looking for that will likely be satisfied. Music can kill films and age them more quickly than anything else. It works here where it might fail in other films.

The strength of 'Fright Night' though are it's performances and the sense of fun that it has. Definitive vampire film? No, but a lot better than many, many, many of the pretenders to that title. Rewarding, fun, and worth a look.

While with his girlfriend Amy Peterson (Amanda Bearse) in his bedroom, the teenager Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) sees a coffin being transported to the house on the next door. A couple of days later, he concludes that his neighbor Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon) is a vampire, who is committing some recent unsolved murders. Charley decides to look for help first his friend Evil Ed Thompson (Stephen Geoffreys), since the policemen do not believe on his accusation. Jerry is upset and promises to kill Charley. Later, he meets Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall), a middle aged man, who is a vampire killer in a television show but does not believe on vampires in the real life. Amy and Ed seek out Peter Vincent, and the group tries to prove to Charley that Jerry is not a vampire.

'Fright Night' is one of my favorite vampire movies, indeed a cult-movie in Brazil. I do not know how many times I have seen this film in my life, but yesterday I saw it on DVD for the first time and I was not disappointed, since the Brazilian DVD offers two choices (widescreen and fullscreen). There is just a trailer in the extras, but it suffices. Chris Sarandon is incredibly funny and sexy in this role; the movie has a perfect combination and timing of the genres of horror and comedy; the 'Van Helsing' of the story, Peter Vincent, is a fantastic joke with the names of the great Peter Cushing and Vincent Price; the special effects were state of art in 1985. My vote is nine.

Title ('Brazil'): ' A Hora do Espanto' ('The Fright Hour')

Note: on 14 January 2012, I saw this wonderful film again.

This is another one of those examples where the classic is way better then the original. The remake completely changed the story line I would not even really call it a remake.The acting in this one is good and the special effects are actually creepy instead of that CGI crap. Really is a great classic horror.

This movie is about a young guy named Charlie Brewster. While spying on his neighbours one day he sees things to lead him to the suspicion that his new neighbour is a vampire. He is scared for his life while everyone else is scared for his sanity.

I have loved this movie since I was a kid it used to be scary then but now its just funny and enjoyable. Must see for horror fans if not might not enjoy it so much.

Before I first watched Fright Night, I admit I was unsure about what to think about it. All I knew about it was from what I had been told from my Dad (though his likes/dislikes are generally on par with mine, they sometimes border on plain stupid). But when I saw it to the end, I was almost totally converted.

Although the beginning is a bit cheesy and reminiscent of stereotypical horror B-movies, it soon becomes clear that this is part of what makes Fright Night so original. All the typical horror film genres are there: horror, romance, comedy (well maybe comedy isn't a typical horror element); but what makes this horror flick stand out a mile-and-a-half from the rest is that it's a very offbeat tale. It's creepily cheesy but gets away with it because it's atmosphere is so good.

All this and I haven't mentioned the acting or special effects yet. Sarandon seems to give such an effortless performance as the vampire and as a result is almost perfect. I had thought of what a modern day vampire would be like before I saw Fright Night; but Jerry Dandridge just blew all these ideas away and has to be the coolest (and I don't often use that word) and sexiest vampire ever, and is one of my favourite movie villains. Roddy McDowall can't hold a candle to Sarandon but is still very good, and Stephen Geoffreys is one of the funniest and memorable movie characters ever to grace a film screen too.

The special effects are good for 1985 and unlike where in modern films the SFX are the main point in the movie, here they add to the already present chilling atmosphere. And although on the one hand, Fright Night is quite dated, it also captures the atmosphere and the essence of the 80s. The soundtrack is excellent for the film, but paradoxically not very memorable (apart from one or two good songs).

[I wish I'd been born before 1981 (maybe 1961) so that I could have lived in the late-70s and 80s, and would have memories of the best music from that time, and not the boybands/Beatles clones/dance ditties (not decent tunes mind) we have now.]

All in all an (almost) perfect film: watch it and you'll (most likely) enjoy it and watch it again and again.

A Classic! Spawning a whole new subgenre of vampire movies e.g. Vamp (Richard Wenk, 1986), Near Dark (Katheryn Bigelow, 1987), Bram Stoker's Dracula (Coppola. 1991) and Blade (Stephen Norrington, 1998), Fright Night is very similar to Count Yoga – Vampire, but is a brilliant film in its own right. If you can get past those eighties fashions and mannerisms this is a timeless treasure.

Charlie Brewster (Ragsdale) is the student/horror film fanatic accusing his super-suave next door neighbour, Jerry Dandridge (Sarandon) of being a bloodsucker. He begs cowardly, unemployed has-been horror veteran, Peter Vincent, ‘The Great Vampire Killer' (excellent performance by McDowell) to help him stake the Vampire. Cue lots of laughs, scares and some genuine unforgettable sequences. Fright Night predates the Scream trilogy by over a decade and does a much better job of combining the chills and jokes with tongue in cheek all the way. Like the homoerotic Interview with the Vampire (Neil Jordan, 1994), there's a subplot concerning Brewster loosing interest in his girlfriend and obsessing over the good looking man next door.

Brad Fiedel (The Terminator & Serpent and the Rainbow) and Tangerine Dream (Firestarter & The Keep)'s soundtrack here is also perfect and almost steals the show. Tom Holland, who had previously gained recognition and flashed his genre credentials for his screenplays for The Beast Within (Philippe Mora, 1982) and Psycho 2 (Richard Franklin, 1983), would go on to give us the charismatic killer doll, Chucky, in the original Child's Play movie, also starring Chris Sarandon.

The Fright Night sequel followed in 1987, but was too similar to its predecessor and lacked the intense, roller-coaster feeling. It's still worth seeing though, for McDowell and Ragsdale's return to the characters, I for one, will mostly remember them for. Stephen Geoffreys also deserves a mention for his OTT performance as Charlie's manic best friend, Evil Ed.