A Hora do Espanto

The 80's dropped a few movies of this ilk that blended horror themes with comedy (House being another good one). Plants its tongue firmly in its cheek and just focuses on being entertaining. Its really good fun.

Chris Sarandon is absolutely fantastic in this and the rest of cast contribute well.

Keep an eye on your neighbour, you never know who lives next door?

'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.

I liked Firght Night in 1985 and still like it - Fright Night is a nice little joyride, for a better rating I miss some serious gore, but well, you can't have everything, and not everyone is a gorehound like me. But Fright Night got solid acting, good effects, some moments of fun and a little horror, and an interesting story to tell. Still a good contribution to the vampire genre. Recommended if you like the movies style of the 80s, compared to modern production standards Fright Night is now a (golden) oldie and looks here and there a little outdated.

Fright Night is a good horror film. It's not scary but well made. It has enough violence to make a true horror bugf happy. It also has a good story. It's well made, written and acted. It's hard to believe thos movie is almost 40 years old. I remember seeing it heavily edited on broadcast television before I got a chance to rent it. Television cut out good stuff. I think the most interesting character is the vampire. Mr. Sarandon was convincing as the neighbor from hell. William Ragsdale along with Roddy McDowell played their parts to the hilt. I recommend watching this in the dark with someone who loves old movies as much as you do.

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.