Of course, Craig Gillespie’s shiny new remake cannot possess an ‘80s charm, instead having to make do with a ‘10s charm; we don’t quite know what that is yet, but I’m sure we will 20 or 30 years from now.
This revamp (ha!) stars Anton Yelchin (“The Beaver”) as Charley Brewster, a high school kid living with his mother (Toni Collette, “Little Miss Sunshine”) in a suburban area that looks just like the suburban area in any other movie. In this suburban area, local schoolkids have been going missing, with the morning attendance check in Charley’s class receiving less and less responses. I wonder if there’s a vampire on the loose…
The small family has a new next-door neighbour, Jerry (Colin Farrell, “In Bruges”), who Charley’s ex-friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, “Kick-Ass”) is convinced is a blood-sucking vampire. Hmm, I wonder if the missing students and the suspected vampire neighbour are somehow connected…
Charley goes to investigate, and discovers that (gasp) Jerry is a vampire! Who knew?! And to make matters worse, Jerry knows that Charley knows that Jerry is a vampire. But does Charley know that Jerry knows that Charley knows that Jerry is a vampire? Well, you’ll have to see the movie to find out.
Much like the original, “Fright Night” is both a comedy and a horror; inevitably, the horror aspect is much more prominent than the comedy, given the vampiric premise. However, the comedy is much stronger in the remake than it was in the original; the remake actually managed to get a few laughs out of me, unlike the original.
It’s a chilling movie, all sprayed with blood and chock-full of suspenseful moments, thanks to the undead villain of the piece. Jerry sinks his fangs into the necks of several victims, quenching his supernatural thirst with droplets of blood, and unapologetically enjoying it. He’s an intimidating character with otherworldly powers; he’s a creature of the night who’s hungry for the taste of human juice, and he unfortunately lives right fucking next door.
Farrell is no Chris Sarandon here, but he serves his purpose in creating a menacing antagonist. He’s effortlessly scary and naturally sexy, two traits that make up your typical movie vampire. He’ll charm you, possibly through his good looks or hypnotic powers, and then he’ll bite your damn head off in a beat of his cold heart. There’s not much more to him than that, but does there really need to be?
Yelchin proves himself to be an excellent lead, making this typical high school kid a very watchable and amusing character who stands out beside the villainous vampire and vampire killer (we’ll get to him in a minute). Yelchin is charismatic in the kind of role that typically gets lost in horror flicks amongst all the blood-curdling shenanigans and murderous monkey business. I trust we shall see more from this young actor in the future.
Now, onto that vampire killer. His name is Peter Vincent (I think that may be a Hammer Horror reference), and he is played by Scottish “Doctor Who” actor David Tennant. He’s an English magician of sorts in Las Vegas, and is supposedly an expert in all things vampire. Charley goes to him for help, but Peter is not exactly cooperative. Tennant is marvellous in the role that was previously played by Roddy McDowall, swearing like a sailor and drinking like a, well, sailor. I must say, it’s odd to see the Doctor swigging away at beer bottles and saying the F word every five seconds; I’m sure his assistants would protest.
All in all, “Fright Night” is a very entertaining, very exhilarating and very cool vampire horror. It’s a successful remake that’s well-made, well-written and well-acted, supplying some scares, some laughs, though sadly no nudity. I hasten to use the pun, but I must profess that it is, ahem, fang-tastic.
8/10
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