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Charley’s new neighbor is more than he seems. All of his friends start to think Charley has lost his mind when he starts claiming his neighbor is a vampire. Charley even goes as far as to try and enlist the help of an old washed up actor, who was best known for appearing in horror movies as a vampire hunter. As the movie progresses, it becomes clear that the neighbor is a vampire and he means business. Eventually it comes down to a showdown between Charley and the old washed up actor against the vampire and his ever growing army of the night.
The title of this movie comes from the show hosted by the washed up old actor, Peter Vincent. On his TV show, Fright Night, Peter shows old vampire movies that he starred in. The funny thing is that back when I was in high school, a friend and I went on a kick of renting two horror movies every Friday night and we started to call our weekly ritual “fright nights.” The fact that two nerdy teens were willing to draw upon this movie to give a name to their loser lifestyles speaks volumes about this film. As well, Roddy McDowall’s performance as Peter Vincent is fantastic. There’s an interesting parallel throughout this movie between Peter Vincent, and the vampire, Jerry Dandrige. Peter is old and past his prime, and this is reinforced by him losing his TV show. Jerry is forever young and seems unstoppable. While Peter is shown to be somewhat of a coward, Jerry is equally as much a coward as he is terrorizing a group of high school kids. In the end, Peter overcomes his fear and helps Charley save the day. It is pure irony that the forever young vampire is defeated by a decrepit old man and a scrawny teenager. As alluring as a vampire’s immortality might be, this movie shows that it is unnatural and no match for the humanity that vampires are so often lacking. The makeup is fantastic when you consider that this movie is over twenty years old. There’s just something in the way the makeup and effects look in Fright Night that you don’t see anymore. In spots the special effects in Fright Night might not be as well polished as today’s horror movies, but to anyone who is a fan of the genre, they are a treat. Take, for example, Evil’s death scene. In a horror movie today it would have all been done with computer animation. However, using the old effects from the 1980’s gives a feel that I don’t think would be possible with computer graphics. I’m not bashing computer animation, but sometimes I miss the old style of effects in movies.
The delivery of the movie is brilliant. In the 80’s there were a whole lot of movies about teenagers. The makers of Fright Night saw that market and decided they wanted in on it. However, they did something that wasn’t another typical 80’s teen comedy or drama. They made a teen horror movie, which I’m sure appealed to a lot of teens at the time.
For those of you out there who hate the 1980’s, this is not a movie for you. Fright Night reeks of the 80’s, which makes it seem very dated in spots. Some of the music is so 1980’s that I’m sure it must hurt some of the scenes for some viewers. I personally didn’t mind the music, but then again I grew up in the 80’s and loved every second of it. When you consider how dated Fright Night seems in spots, it would make a perfect movie to do a remake of. I didn’t think Dawn of the Dead needed a remake, so why not remake this movie?
There are some continuity issues in Fright Night as well. For example, how did Evil get into Charley’s house without being invited after he was turned into a vampire? I also can’t help but wonder how Evil survived when he got staked. I guess there’s a sequel, so that might answer some of my questions… oh wait, it doesn’t… the sequel doesn’t have Evil in it anywhere…
I would recommend Fright Night to all horror fans. It’s way too much fun to pass up. For those of us who lived through the 80’s, it’s a fun trip down memory lane. And for those of you who don’t know the 1980’s, just think of it as a fun history lesson.
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