You're So Cool, Brewster! The Story of Fright Night

I really enjoyed Fright Night (1985) I consider it a true cult classic that has aged extremely well, it's sequel however I found went the other way entirely and I try to forget about its existence.

This extremely difficult to get hold of documentary covers both movies and stands at around 3hr 40 minutes which is pretty hefty. I'd say each movie get's about 50% of the time and that's where the problem lies.

I really enjoyed the first half, the interviews were brilliant and the story of the movies creation was arguably the best I've ever seen. Play by play, scene by scene it told the story of Fright Night almost as well as the movie itself and was a joy to behold.

Then the second half kicked in, and it all fell apart. I'm bias I know, because of my dislike for the second film but almost 2hrs of interviews and stories about a film that poor was painful.

If you enjoyed Fright Night I'd heartily recommend this to you as it really is excellent, but if you are of the same mind as me that the sequel was a pathetic cash grab then turn it off about half way.

The Good:

Highly indepth

Great interviews

Brilliant behind the scenes stories

The Bad:

Second half was pretty lame

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Charlie Sheen was nearly Charlie!

William Ragsdale had a broken foot for most of the film

Some props from Fright Night had been used in Ghostbusters (1984)

The interviews are all great, the actors and crew all have such enthusiasm for the work. They share some great behind the scenes' information on their method and how the films came together.

I really enjoyed this documentary BUT It's a bit too long even for a hardcore fright night fan and the sequences with the Peter Vincent Impersonator are too numerous and stay long past their welcome. The novelty of him at the start begins to wear after a couple of hours of the same over enunciated hammyness.(maybe skip past those parts)

You're So Cool, Brewster! The Story of Fright Night (2016)

**** (out of 4)

If you're a fan of FRIGHT NIGHT then you'll certainly love this documentary no matter which version you watch. The original version apparently runs 217-minutes and discusses not only the original film but also the sequel and remake. There's an alternate version clocking in at 140-minutes and this version can be seen on Shudder at the time of me writing this and it only covers the original film and a few minutes of the sequel.

With that said, the 140-minute version that I watched was certainly highly entertaining and contained just about anything you'd want to know about the film. The director Tom Holland and the majority of the cast and crew are on hand to discuss the making of the film and how everything came to be.

It seems the new trend is to take movies and make documentaries on them that last longer than the film itself. That's the case here as this here is another mammoth documentary that covers every aspect of the production and there's no question that you're going to learn just about everything you wanted. I really loved the various discussions dealing with the pre-production and how everything came into place including the casting of the film.

There's also a lot of great talk about the various special effects that were used in the film and we get a very detailed look at their creation, what they were trying to do and what they did to achieve the look. These stories are among the highlights of the documentary as well is the discussion on the alternate ending that the studio had them get rid of.

As I said, I've only seen the 140-minute version but I honestly can't wait to see the longer one. If you're a fan of the film then you're certainly going to love this.

This is a documentary that I heard about through podcasts. It is interesting that Fright Night is a movie I remember watching a handful of times as a kid. I had always liked it, but when I got into podcasts, it wasn't high on my list. I've seen it in the theater at least once and I've come around to it as being one of my favorites from the 1980s. I was curious to check out this documentary to see what I could learn about its making.

Now that I've set this up, this is an excellent doc. There is so much information here. It includes hearing from Tom Holland who wrote and directed it. They interview Chris Sarandon, Amanda Bearse, William Ragsdale and Stephen Geoffreys, who tell how they became involved with the project, their experiences during it and lasting legacies of it. I even love hearing from the effects guys or other people behind the camera like Steve Johnson. There is so much information that it didn't bother me that it runs for as long as it does. It is never a drag for me, which is a perk.

Something that is a bonus is that there is a second episode that discusses and does similar dives into Fright Night 2. This is one that I've only seen once. I wasn't the biggest fan, but it is on my list to revisit. I'm even more on board for having seen this. I forgot that it featured Brian Thompson and Jon Gries. Or that Tommy Lee Wallace directed. He truly was the master of doing sequels for popular films. Julie Carmen was another fun person to hear from.

There is also a bit at the end bringing up the remake. I don't hate that one. Holland and others involved here especially with the original are shocked that they didn't do more to capture to bring back individuals. It is Hollywood so there's that as well.

I'll end here by saying that this is well-made. Editing in footage from both films to help drive home what they're saying, especially when discussing the effects, is great. It helps make sense of what they're saying. This is one of the better documentaries that I've seen on a film and its sequel. I do appreciate when they do a deep dive like we get here. I'm giving this the highest rating I give to docs for sure. Would highly recommend it to fans of Fright Night.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

I will be quick and to the point. I had to put this out once I read the very first review posted on IMDb. I agree with him on nearly everything. This is worth every penny and was worth the wait. It is not sold in the U.S. as of Feb.2017 so I had to order direct from the U.K. but still very quick and it is a great documentary. Well done and looks great. Everything the other guy said but I have one thing that just didn't work for me that he loved. The actor doing his take on Peter Vincent and popping up way to often than needed through out the set. No one can do Peter Vincent better than Roddy I am sure we all agree to that but this actor Simon Bamford, to me was an annoyance rather than entertaining. If his acting was over the top on purpose he still wasn't entertaining. If not for the showstopping segues into each different segment with this Faux Peter this set would get a 10. As it is, it still gets a 8 and is highly recommended. Maybe someone should make a drinking game for when Faux Peter comes on the screen you take a shot. If they do make one...you'll be drinking a lot but maybe he'll be more fun to watch that way. Still 8/10.