Starring: Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, Toni Collette, David Tennant, Imogen Poots
Directed By: Craig Gillespie
Run Time: 2 hours
I watched the original Fright Night as a youngster. I loved it. When I heard there was going to be a remake, I was skeptical (just like I am about the Dirty Dancing remake). I was on the fence about seeing the remake but the reviews indicated that it was pretty good. I love horror movies.
Fright Night is about a teenage boy named Charley (played by Yelchin) who suspects that his new neighbor Jerry (played by Farrell) is a vampire. He tries to protect his girlfriend Amy (played by Poots), his mother (played by Collette), and his best friend from the vampire but the vampire is hell-bent on sucking their blood. Charley enlists the aid of a well-known vampire expert Peter Vincent (played by Tennant) but it seems as though he is more of a Las Vegas showman than expert.
The previews before this movie were all for horror movies. I wasn't happy about being scared before the movie even started! The opening scene of the actual movie borders on quite scary and a little hokey because the the split second images of the vampire is very laughable monster-ish looking.
My one disappointment with this movie is that it leaps right into the premise. Within the first five minutes of the movie, Charley's friend announces that Charley's new neighbor Jerry is a vampire. He's done a little research, gathered some evidence. Bang. Plot exposed. And even though the movie opens with the main premise already revealed, the opening few scenes drag. They're slow. We're waiting for something to happen. The movie opens full throttle, backs off to a snail's pace, and then launches full throttle again. The movie really picks up once Jerry wages war on Charley.
At first, I was not nuts about Colin Farrell's Jerry. He didn't have that allure, that charm, that draw. He was supposed to be drawing Charley's mother in, drawing the audience in, but it seemed a little stilted. There's wasn't an oozing suaveness to his character, although I could see that he was trying. When we saw Jerry in full vampire force, I sensed the vampire charm. He won me over more with his bad-boy tactics. In the original, I rooted for the vampire because he had charisma that just sucked (ha!) me in.
I absolutely loved David Tennant's embodiment of his character Peter Vincent. At first, I kept thinking, "He's no Roddy McDowell" but I grew to enjoy his version. There was a simple beauty to his character and his behind-the-scenes persona. I loved the charlatan reveal (removing his costume). Beautiful. I loved how each second more was fraud was revealed. I actually thought the actor playing Peter was Russell Brand until he removed his costume. And I cheered towards the end when he decided to own up to his character.
The special effects for the vampire transformation were incredibly bad. I don't understand why Jerry had to morph into some monstrous CGI-laden abnormality. Give us some fangs and be done with it. We get that he's an evil vampire. No need to beef it up.
One absolute moment of pure genius - Chris Saradon, who played Jerry the vampire in the original, had a delicious cameo in the remake. I hooted loudly out loud when he graced the screen. There were three other people in the theater. I'm hoping at least one of them saw the beauty of this scene. I think they just wondered why the only chick was cheering just because some old guy got out of a car.
Normally, I prefer the original to the remake (The Mechanic is the exception to liking the remake more). This one is a tie. I'm still wavering between the original and the remake. Loved, loved, loved the remake, especially the ending where Charley took Peter's advice on how to battle the vampire and made it work. I also loved the original. It had a sweetness to it, a simple charm. The remake had a lot more action, had some great characters, and a fabulous ending. You can't go wrong with either. If you like horror, see this movie. If you like vampire movies, see this one. If you like David Tennant, this is a good one for you.
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