2011’s Fright Night is a hip, hop remake of the 1985 original which became a cult classic of its time. Fright Night focuses on a student Charlie Brewster [Anton Yelchin-Star Trek, Alpha Dog], who uncovers a series of mysterious disappearances and with the little help of geeky best pal Ed [Christopher Mintz-Plasse- Superbad, Year One] and girlfriend Amy [Imogen poots], they uncover the shocking revelation that Charlie’s next door neighbour may in fact be a bloodsucking vampire out to infect the whole town.
To sum up Fright Night, it is a fun and stylish addition to the genre and rightfully so as it is action pact and offers enough blend of thrills and chills to sink your teeth into as well as adding some delicious 3D moments and some great monster moments, from hideous transformations [that would put Van Helsing to shame], to crosses being thrown across the screen. It also contains an excellent choreographed finale that will have you clawing for sunlight by the end.
The Good:
What I particularly liked about Fright Night is its originality; there were no intentions to fill the film up with a host of cheap scares that audiences have seen before, take last year’s A Nightmare On Elm Street for example which largely consisted in boo scares.
The cast are excellent Colin Farrell is great fun playing the bloodsucker next door Jerry, and you can clearly see he is having a Ball with the character. Rising star Anton Yelchin is great as the main and shows that he is a talent to be reckoned with.
The effects are excellent and there are some great set pieces and the Director’s choice to shoot the film in 3D only enhances it, with each time Jerry sinks his teeth into a victim blood splatters across the screen, arms and heads go flying and it makes you feel like running for the nearest exit.
Another great part of the film is seeing David “Doctor Who” Tennant’s vampire hunter, Peter Vincent, who is a great laugh and a riot when he finally appears on screen battling vampires with his array of cool weapons, David Tennant needs to do more movies.
The Bad:
The only bad thing I can say about the film was that there were moments in the film that I felt dragged, the first half in particular as the film took a while to get into the story due to character development and setting. Without a doubt the second half is much better than the first.
Conclusion:
Overall Fright Night is a fun, stylish, solid worthy remake of the original that has enough gory violence to satisfy the most hardened horror fans as well as satisfying fans of the original alike. Fright Night meets all the requirements of a great Friday night viewing and by the end of the film Fright Night will leave you searching for the nearest garlic and silver steak you can find.
