There are some very good reasons to be afraid…of the dark. When a teenager learns that his next door neighbor is a vampire, no one will believe him. This is the premise of Fright Night released in 1985, and is also the first one in my vampire series for the week of January 30, 2011.Fright Night stars Chris Sarandon as Jerry Dandrige, William Ragsdale as Charley Brewster, Amanda Bearse as Amy Peterson, and Roddy McDowell as Peter Vincent.
Charley Brewster is a normal, average teenager. He has a steady girlfriend, Amy Peterson, a best friend, “Evil Ed“ Thompson, an old beat up car (still cool though), and new neighbors.
One night as Charley and Amy are upstairs in his room, Charley looks out his window and sees two men carrying in things. Upon closer examination, he realizes that it‘s a coffin that‘s being carried in.
The next day a young woman pulls up in a cab looking for the new neighbor‘s house. Charley
points her in the right direction, but later that night he hears a scream coming from the house. While talking to Amy, he sees a news report telling of the reported murders in the area. Later that night, he sees his neighbor, Jerry Dandrige, biting the neck of a young girl.
Charley tries to tell his mother what he saw but she dismisses it as pure imagination. Charley then tries to tell his friends, Amy and Evil, what he saw but neither of them believe him.
Worried about Charley‘s mental state, Amy and Evil enlist the help of Peter Vincent in staging a rouse. Peter, Amy, Evil and Charley go to Jerry‘s house to disprove he‘s a vampire, but after Jerry cast no reflection in his mirror, Peter gets scared, gathers the group up and leaves the house.
When Peter drives away, Charley and Evil walk Amy home. Not wanting to take the long way, Evil turns down a dark alley. When Jerry shows up, he makes Evil an offer he can‘t refuse.
Jerry chases Amy and Charley to a night club, trapping them inside. As Charley tries to call for help, Amy is lured away by Jerry. When Charley tries to stop him, Jerry causes a panic and Charley and Amy get separated. Jerry grabs Amy and speeds away with Evil in tow.
Charley goes to Peter Vincent for help and the two head for Jerry Dandrige‘s house where the battle of good versus evil plays out, or as Jerry said, “Welcome to Fright Night…for real.“
Fright Night has become a cult classic and why shouldn‘t it? Chris Sarandon and Roddy McDowell give absolutely fantastic performances. Chris is wonderful as the taunting vampire while Roddy is hilarious as the campy vampire killer Peter Vincent.
While this is probably the least scariest horror movie I‘ve re-watched recently, it was entertaining. While I‘m not an expert in cinematic elements, I can tell you what I like or don‘t, or if I was entertained. I was entertained with Fright Night and give it 4 out of 5 bloody stumps up.
One Comment
Leave a Reply