BigGiantEyeball

It's sad how defensive positive reviews of this movie are. It as though the reviewers fear upsetting that Great Todd Spengo of the film world, the Cult of Star Wars.

This is one of the last and best products of the pre-CGI dictatorship that fantasy and sci-fi now labor under. The art direction is imaginative and very accomplished, presenting a steampunk by way of Oz physicality denied those raised on green screen.

The cast is perfect. Jon Lovitz absolutely becomes the essence of every overcompensating "small man" who ever got an ounce of authority. His smallest gesture or expression project his total inadequacy. I laugh at his every scene.

I've loved Teri Garr since I first saw her on an episode of the Andy Griffith show, and this is a fine capper to a showbiz career which she seems to have retreated from.

Everyone else throws themselves into their roles with a joyful abandon. I'll bet the set was a fun place to be.

The story pops along at a brisk pace, never once looking back over it's shoulder, or digressing into something "meaningful". Every time I watch this I'm once again surprised to realize, as Mom and Dad wheel back into their driveway, that their kids haven't been seen since the beginning of the movie. Any director of this today would have layered some crap "coming of age" parallel plot line and stretched the flick to two-plus hours.

Is this film silly, escapist? Is the science pure bunk? Is Spengo and it's society improbable and ridiculous? You darn betcha!

But so is Star Wars.

Stick that in your planet destroying death ray and smoke it.

PS. I've got a feeling there's a raunchier version of this that hit the cutting room floor.

With all the reviews here, I won't waste your time with redundancy. But I do have a word to add.

First: This is available to watch free here at IMDb. Get it while it's hot!

Second: Jeffery Combs is one of my favorite actors, and I harbor deep resentment at the fact that he was never elevated to mainstream success. The emotions, thoughts, and inner conflicts of his characters flicker across his visage in a way that few actors can manage. There are many actors who can do "twitchy", and a few that can't help but come off as deranged, but the discipline Combs brings to gradual mental deterioration shows great craft.

Take a bow, Mr. Combs!

Third: This is a rip-snortin' roller coaster of a movie. It's funnier, smarter, sexier, and more creative than the genre, audience, or era demanded. Like "A Boy And His Dog", "Flesh Gordon", "Liquid Sky", "Eyes Of Fire" or "Sore Losers", this flick rises above every expectation the uninitiated may have for it.

Old school? You bet!

But on a psychologically fantastic level not affected by changing fashion and technology, this little bugger should be able to freak people out for generations to come.

This thing is chugging right along as I write this review.

I rented it from a Red Box today. I've hated every Fright Night flick except the 1st 1st, but I know that sometimes when a franchise spins far enough into obscurity, oddly compelling movies can be made...Though they may have little to do with the original concept.

This isn't one of the good ones.

This is one of those movies that make you scratch your head at the mysterious positive role that badly made movies must play in the economy of filmdom. It's hard to believe that any number of people couldn't have coughed up better product than this. How is it that movies are so frequently made these days that show no worthwhile sense of craft, let alone artistry? There must, as they say, be a reasonable explanation.

All that aside, don't watch this. Don't watch the 1st number 2. Don't watch the 2nd number 1.

Watch the original number 1.

It's funny. It's sexy. It's got a great cast. The writers understand Vampires and their darkly seductive nature. The art direction is superb. But most of all, when it gets scary, it gets SCARY!

Skip Fright Night 2 number 2.

You'll thank thank me me if you do.