Movie Review: Fright Night

When I was a kid we had a VCR but very few store bought movies. Pretty much none. But I still had a modest collection of movie recorded off of broadcast TV. The original "Fright Night" was one of them. I watched it a lot. I had very little to do in pre-internet, pre-drivers license, Kansas. It wasn't a scary vampire film, but it was enjoyable. And it had proper vampires. When I heard they were remaking it I wasn't expecting much. In fact, what made me decide to see the new version was David "Dr Who" Tennant playing the role of the TV vampire expert being drug into the mess. What? I've seen lots of Hamlet but I watched the one he and Patrick Stewart were in just because it was them. There's very few actors that make me think a movie is gonna be respectable because they're in it. A lot more actors that make me think a movie is gonna be BAD because they're in it.


This is a vampire movie in the traditional sense of the word. Nobody sparkles. Nor do they eat chocolaty cereal or have an obsession with counting things. Although, truth be told, they are supposed to be a bit OCD. This is not the story of vampire as hero. This is the natural development of a Dracula style vampire in a modern setting.

Our hero is warned by one of the school nerds, and his former best friend, that his new neighbor is a vampire. Naturally, you blow off anyone talking like that. You do until the friend vanishes, along with so many others in the school. Then he has the unenviable task of protecting his single mother and unlikely girlfriend from the handsome menace next door without looking insane. Knowing only what he learned from messed up movies, he turns to the head of a Las Vegas magic act that's all gothic and claims to know about vampires for expertise. But he's no different from anyone else. "Vampires don't exist, kid".

That's your basic framework. The movie is what comes between that framework. The movie still isn't scary, but it's not a slasher flick either. It manages to get a few jumps and surprises from the audience without having to resort to cats jumping from closets. Colin Farrell really manages to sell himself as a 400 year old vampire who likes to play with his food. David Tennant acts and sounds much like he did as The Doctor while still managing to come off as cynic, jackass, and coward.

I'm not gonna be getting it on DVD. But I'm glad I saw it. It's not a blockbuster, but it is worth a watch if you're embarrassed by the state of today's vampire.