Fright Night 1 and 2
Sorry for the delay folks. I was away for a few days because of the Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada but that’s not to say I haven’t been watching movies.
Today I’m doing 2 days in 1 seeing that they’re both in the same series. Without further ado…
Welcome to…Fright Night.
Fright Night is about a teen by the name of Charlie Brewster (William Ragsdale), an avid horror fan and average teen horndog who continually gets denied access by his girlfriend Amy (Amanda Bearse – “chicken legs” Marcy Darcy from Married with Children). One night during a heated make out session, he notices that the new neighbors are moving in what appears to be a coffin. Laster that night after a blow out with his girlfriend, he hears a scream come from next door. The next night, he decides to stake out the neighbor and he falls asleep while watching his favorite show titled Fright Night, hosted by his idol Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowell)and is awoken in the middle of the night. He peers out the window to see a topless woman with a man who reveals himself to be a vampire to Charlie. The vamp notices Charlie and that’s when the fun begins as Charlie enlists the help of Peter Vincent: The Great Vampire Killer and he sets out to prove to his friends that Jerry Dandridge is a vampire.
For a horror movie made in the mid 80s when horror was at it’s peak in popularity, it still holds it’s own against those of today. The story is smart, witty and overall extremely entertaining. The interaction between all the characters is great as they all seemed to have great chemistry with one another and really fed off each others performances. The makeup and SF/X though dated still look pretty good – in particular the transformation from wolf to man.
I absolutely loved this movie back in the day and even now. It’s a cult classic for very good reason. This is a must see for any horror fan.
Fright Night 2
The sequel to the highly popular namesake takes place 3yrs after the events of the original. Charlie is in therapy and working through the demons of his past though he hasn’t really changed much despite the events he witnessed. He’s in college and trying to score with a new girl – and still getting shut down…Poor Charlie. One day after visiting with Peter Vincent, he notices a pretty woman and her “servants” moving into the same building but something is different about her – Charlie is strangely drawn to her, even infatuated with her and even has a one on one encounter with her in a dream…or was it a dream? When he sees the strange new woman in town feeding on one of his friends, he again enlists the help of his friend Peter Vincent and together they have to face the dark forces but something is happening to Charlie.
This movie tries feels like it tries to be like the original and when I say that I mean it. He notices the vamp by chance, he witnesses a kill while peeping, he tries to tell his gf and she won’t believe him and there are other ways but that would ruin the rest of the movie.
The fact that they kept Roddy McDowell and William Ragsdale for the sequel was the one of the best things they could have done but I really wish they followed the spin-off comic and the story behind Evil Ed instead of they path they chose. The makeup effects are fine but the fangs are too long and they look out a little out of place at that length.
I can’t say that i hated the movie, though I really can’t say that I loved it either. If you loved the 1st movie, there’s probably little reason to see the sequel but you may want to check it out just to finish off the series. I’d recommend the comics higher then this one.
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