Fright Night

All that needs to be said about the remake of Fright Night is that it ends with a terrible cover of Jay-Z's already bad "99 Problems" blasting over the ending credits. This is a completely random song choice that belongs in another movie and is tonally out of nowhere, a feeling that permeates most of the picture's long 105-minute running time. The movie starts off like a typical teen horror movie, only slightly worse. The dialogue in the high school scenes is horribly inauthentic, feeling like an R-rated CW drama of "The Vampire Diaries" variety complete with the usual clichés of bullying jocks, super stereotyped nerds, and the aforementioned "hip" teen dialogue. When the second act kicks in, the movie heads in the direction of the comedy-horror hybrid it should have been going for all along. The only problem with this is that there is no real sense of tension as the blood is all CG and anyone who has seen the original knows what's coming long in advance. The Las Vegas setting sounds cool in theory, but it's never used in a way that adds to the proceedings. Despite having the very cool idea of having the remake set in Vegas, screenwriter Marti Noxon and director Craig Gillipse decide to keep almost all the basic story beats from the original movie instead of using the new setting to their advantage. The one change that is made that actually does work is the new interpretation of Peter Vincent, hilariously played by David Tennant. Tennant is the pulse that keep the film alive. His energy and dead-on comedic delivery almost give the remake a purpose to exist beyond making a buck off a cult classic. Other performances are okay, but Anton Yelchin is too old to being playing a high school kid and Imogeen Poots is given the girlfriend role that hasn't changed since the 80s. One thing that has changed since the 80s: there used to be original horror movies. 3/10

Twenty-six years ago, "Fright Night" premiered in theaters and went on to become a fondly remembered title amongst horror fans. The movie cleverly combined horror and humor to create a fresh take on the vampire and teen horror genres which had started to grow stale. While the movie spawned a largely forgettable direct to video sequel, the original film has remained popular over the years. So, when I first heard that they were planning on remaking the film I was skeptical as I felt it would be very difficult to match the original film.

Boasting an impressive cast which includes Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, David Tennant, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Toni Collette, the remake does not try to reinvent the wheel, but instead takes the formula of the original and creates an entirely new entry into the saga.

For those unfamiliar with the series, Yelchin stars as Charlie Brewster, a young man who is trying to balance watching over his single mother, and his growing relationship with a girl way out of his league named Amy (Imogen Poots). He is also wrestling with becoming part of a cooler crowd at the cost of alienating his geeky former best friend, Ed, played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse.

Colin Farrell plays the handsome and suave new next door neighbor who easily charms Charlie's mom, played by Toni Colette. Unbeknownst to his neighbors, the charming and charismatic Jerry, played by Colin Ferrell, is actually a vampire who's come to their Las Vegas suburb to continue his nighttime hunts. Ed has become suspicious of the recent disappearances in their community and confides to Charlie that he's had Jerry under surveillance and knows that he is a vampire.

Needless to say this does not sit well with Charlie, who distances himself further from Ed. But when Ed goes missing, Charlie decides to do some investigating of his own. Charlie turns to a local Vegas performance artist named Peter Vincent (David Tennant), whose vampire-themed show portrays him as an expert in fighting the undead. While at first skeptical over Charlie's claims, a few devastating confrontations with Jerry and his minions forces Vincent to rethink his role. The two unlikely allies soon find themselves in a deadly race against time to defeat Jerry and save their loved ones before it's too late.

The film cleverly combines horror and comedy and does a good job of providing some suspenseful moments in between the blood and gore, managing to squeeze in more than a few laughs along the way. While not overly scary, the visual effects work is solid and aside from the converted 3-D is a really enjoyable to watch. The film would've been much better had it been shot in 3-D or simply left as a 2-D film as the conversion really didn't offer anything of value as is often the case in these lab converted efforts.

The cast works very well with one another and Farrell cheekily introduces a few new wrinkles to the vampire lore. I really enjoyed David Tennant's performance and should they do a sequel I certainly hope that they bring him back. Anton Yelchin gives a reliable performance but I was surprised that Christopher Mintz-Plasse did not have a bigger role but he does have some memorable moments in the film. What really impressed me was that the film did not attempt to do a shot-by-shot remake of the original but instead took the premise of the original and offered a fresh take that easily could have been issued as the third chapter in the series rather than a reboot. While there were nods to the original, outside of the premise it was very much its own film.

The film is not going to set any high marks for new standards in horror nor is the plot fresh and original. It simply knows what its target audience and source material are and sets a course right down the middle without attempting to deviate too much one way or another. "Fright Night" just might be perfect for those looking for a dose of nostalgia and some highly suspenseful, fun entertainment.

Three stars out of five

1985 is a popular year for remakes. Some of the movies remade from that year in one form or another are "Weird Science," "Teen Wolf," "Mad Max," "Day of the Dead," and "Fright Night." It's rare that a remake is as good, or better than the original. "Fright Night" was respectable, but not as good.

The movie takes place in a tiny suburb outside of Las Vegas. Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) and his mom Jane (Toni Collette) live next door to Jerry (Colin Farrell), the vampire. Charley and his mom are wholly unaware of this. Charley is far too consumed with his new life of popularity now that he has the hot girl, Amy (Imogen Poots), as a girlfriend. He is made aware of his neighbors night time activities by his nerdy ex-best friend, Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), vampire tracker extraordinaire. When Ed went missing Charley decided to act.

Because I saw the original and it was such a classic, this version only reminds me how much better the original was. The original was funnier and quirkier while "Fright Night" 2011 goes for a more serious approach. They threw Christopher Mintz-Plasse in there, gave him a few funny lines, and dubbed this a comedy. It was hardly a comedy. So now, instead of a rather plain, yet funny girlfriend, Amy (who was played by Amanda Bearse in 1985--well known as Al Bundy's neighbor Marcy Darcy in "Married with Children"), we get a hot-and-she-knows-it Amy who looks like a clout chaser and didn't have a single funny line.

The Peter Vincent (David Tennant) this time also wasn't as appealing. Peter Vincent was the Vegas showman who Charley went to for help against Jerry. In '85 Peter Vincent was hosting a fledgling late night vampire TV show. He was played by Roddy McDowall, an older man with this funny look of fear on his face nearly all the time. 2011 Peter Vincent is a younger British man who drinks, swears, and is surrounded by scantily clad women. He was comedic, but he wasn't funny.

So, as I mentioned, the 2011 version is not as bad as a lot of remakes out there, but the original is still better.

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Fright Night is directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Tom Holland. It stars Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, David Tennant, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Imogen Poots and Toni Collette. Music is by Ramin Djawadi and cinematography by Javier Aguirresarobe. Film is a remake of the 1985 film of the same name, also written by Tom Holland, it sees Yelchin as Charley Brewster, a teenager living in a suburb of Las Vegas who finds the new handsome neighbour, Jerry Dandridge (Farrell) is actually a blood sucking vampire. With nobody believing him and the vampire homing in on his mother and girlfriend, Charley turns to enigmatic playboy magician Peter Vincent (Tennant) for help.

Ah remakes, a word that often spells trouble in film fan circles, especially when populated by the horror faithful. So no surprise, then, that Fright Night has been met with much division whilst hardly making waves at the box office (it made a small profit when various costs were taken off the gross). Yet it did receive some favourable reviews in critic's offices, where like myself they feel that this more than lives up to the original, which was fun and scary but hardly what you call a horror comedy masterpiece. I often have my rose tinted spectacles on for the likes of the 85 Fright Night, but whether we choose to accept it or not, they were real fun films back then, but that was because they were viewed through younger eyes. Now when viewing in the haze of nostalgia, it's not hard to see why some modern film makers feel a remake is possible and can work; Fright Night is one such case.

This is no masterpiece either, it drags for the first third and the CG malarkey really doesn't offer anything particularly worthy to the film's substance. In fact the transformation sequences are quite frankly weak. You don't have to be a nostalgist to lament the absence of a Bottin or Baker. But for all its little missteps, it still rounds out as great fun and scores high in the last third with the well blended mix of comedy, suspense and terror. The dialogue, too, is very enjoyable, with many lines bringing the chuckles. The casting is very good, particularly with the core three characters of Charley, Jerry and Peter. It's great to see Farrell having such fun, free of emotional character restraints, he just lets rip with a sexy and vengeful performance. Yelchin is just so likable, a rising blockbuster star after turns in Star Trek and Terminator Salvation (he would sadly be killed in a freak accident in 2016), here he crafts top work as Charley shifts from geeky teen into babe magnet bravado. While Tennant slots in and steals the movie with a glorious excess of profanity, sexuality and witticisms that befit the nature of the piece.

Next up Farrell went serious and threatened to run the wrath of sci-fi fans with his star turn in the Total Recall remake. Here he comes out of this horror remake, like the film in general, with good credit. So those 80s teens like me should shake off the dust and strap themselves in to a seat for this particular ride. It may not surpass the original, but it is every bit its modern equal, and that is something that newcomers to the Fright Night world should hopefully rejoice in. 7/10

The original Fright Night was already a cult classic which makes this remake unnecessary. But since all vampires these days are less scary and like what Evil Ed said "Love Sick", it can be necessary for some reason. Bringing back the true vampire camp. Although it's not as scary as the original but Colin Farrel's performance improves the vampire villain. This Fright Night is endlessly watchable and fun. This may sound strange but I think this version is better than the original.

The original have the disturbing schlocky masks but this version actually has the vampire danger and thrills. The credit goes to Colin Farrel. He gives a lot of vigor and terror to the evil vampire. David Tennant has his own Peter Vincent. His charisma and delight shines through all of his scenes. Just like Roddy McDowall, David Tennant nearly steals the show. But Farrel really owns this show.

It's a welcome back, actually. It's not a cash in remake. It's the returning of the vampire horror to our cinemas. Our vampire movies these days are just tired and relies to nothing but the senseless violence. And some of them are in love with a bland girl and sparkle in sunlight. But the biggest thing that is missing in most modern vampire movies is how scary these monsters are. They are not only bloodsuckers. They can be terrifying for somehow.

The filmmaking is obviously good but some of the CGI tones the scares down a little bit but it works though. The score sounds nothing like the score of the original but it's true to its vampire genre. The movie is shot in 3D but most of the film is dark and 3D usually dims the aspect of a film but if you are in for some blood and sparks coming out of the screen then try it. Not quite recommending though.

Overall, Fright Night is enjoyable. Maybe the biggest mistake they made is the jump scares since Fright Night isn't really fond to that trend. Well, this is definitely better than all the unnecessary horror remakes we usually get every year. Colin Farrel made a lot of things better. Vampires are evil again. It has plenty of joys and thrills. Fright Night is recommendable by bringing back the true elements of the genre.