Made in 2011 Fright Night is a remake of the 1985 film of the same name which starred Chris Sarandon. This time around the film stars up and coming actor Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, and former Doctor Who David Tennant.
Welcome to Fright Night
Charley Brewster (Yelchin) has managed to achieve ‘cool’ status at school having recently gotten together with the very attractive Amy Peterson (Imogen Poots), much to the displeasure of nerdy kid Ed (with whom Charley used to be best friends). Ed is convinced that Charley’s new neighbour Jerry (Farrell) is in fact a vampire who has been killing numerous people around the town. Needless to say Charley doesn’t believe Ed and soon afterwards Ed disappears.
With Ed gone Charley starts to suspect that he might be right and Jerry may in fact be a vicious bloodsucker. As he becomes more suspicious Jerry notices that Charley is paying him a lot of close attention. Charley’s suspicions are confirmed and so he seeks out Peter Vincent (Tennant) a magician working on The Strip who is supposedly a vampire expert and monster hunter. Vincent doesn’t take Charley serious and throws him out of his office.
Realising that he is going to have to take Jerry out alone Charley arms himself for the final battle against Jerry and the vicious vampires that he has created. Along the way he is aided by none other than Vincent, whose parents were killed by a vampire when he was just a boy.
Calling All None-Twilight Fans
Straight off the bat the audience are going to see that Fright Night is not another vampire sell out. In the first few minutes Ed and Charley are already making fun of the Twilight films, with Ed saying it is ‘offensive’ that Charley thinks he has ever seen Twilight. Jerry may have a stupid vampire name (he’s no Angelus or Alucard), but mercifully he is also no Edward Cullen, he is vicious, powerful, bloodthirsty and does no brooding what-so-ever. He is exactly what a vampire should be, charismatic, charming, and of course completely obsessed with killing anyone that should discover his secret.
In recent years Anton Yelchin has proven again and again that he is definitely one of Hollywood’s up and coming stars. He was one of the highlights of 2009's Star Trek with his portrayal of Chekov, and was probably the best thing in Terminator: Salvation. Once again he does a superb job, this time as teenager Charley who is struggling to outgrow his nerdy past, but also protect his mother and girlfriend from the vicious monster that has moved in next door.
The supporting cast are all on fine form, even Colin Farrell who hasn’t done anything decent since 2002’s Phone Booth. Hopefully this will see him return to that form (especially considering he is taking over from the role formerly played by Arnie in the up and coming Total Recall remake). David Tennant proves that there is life after Doctor Who and seems to be having a ball playing a character that unlike The Doctor is allowed to swear and be generally a bit of an arse. Tennant steals every scene as Peter Vincent, the magician who has made a career out of being into the strange and unusual, but has denied the horrors he witnessed as a child.
Eagle-eyed viewers (and those who saw the original film) will recognise Chris Sarandon (who played Jerry in the 1985 version) popping up in a cameo role.
The film is a good fun remake that pokes fun at the drivel that is Twilight and shows the audience exactly what vampires should be like. Whilst not the best vampire ever to grace the big or small screen Jerry is still a vampire that like all truly great vampires will play with his victims a little before attacking them.
4/5
Great fun tongue-in-cheek horror that is a must see for vampire and/or David Tennant fans
Christopher Sharman - In 2009 I self-published my first novel entitled The Darkness Saga: The Light (currently available at amazon.co.uk) which has been ...
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