Halloween Week: Fright Night movie review

Here's what you need to know; Charley's having some problems in his life, partly because of the strained relationship with his girlfriend, and partly because no one will believe him when he tells them that his new neighbour Jerry Dandrige is a vampire. But as the number of bodies starts rising, Charley learns the horrifying truth, that an ancient evil really has moved in next door, and that him knowing this has put a target on his back, but Charley isn't going to go down that easy, and enlists the help of TV vampire hunter Peter Vincent in an effort to save his own skin, and end Dandrige's feeding for good.
The Spookiness is only getting more intense as I rewatched one of my favourite films from when I was a kid, a film I was way too young to actually be watching, I mean, tits, gore, disturbing imagery, all a bit much for an impressionable 10 year old if you ask me, blame my Dad. But watching it now, with my more honed filmmaking eye, I see that there was actually a lot a little kid like me could get from a film like this, apart from nightmares about vampires. So, get your wooden stakes at the ready, we're looking at one of the best Vampire movies out there, and my personal favourite of the genre; Fright Night.

The first shot of Fright Night is an instant hook for me, a gorgeous shot of the moon, accompanied by the howl of a wolf, lets you know you're in for a spooky time right out of the gate. Before we see a very to the point introduction to our main characters. We get this both in a brilliantly cheesy old horror movie starring Peter Vincent, which is impossible to take seriously, and as a surprisingly blunt depiction of relationship troubles, and while I get the point, it's not exactly a good way of setting up likable characters. Fortunately there's actually some decent setup in future scenes. But that's the weird thing, the two most interesting characters in the film are Peter Vincent and Jerry Dandrige, and I'll explain why, but Charley and Amy aren't terribly complicated or nuanced characters, they don't need to be though, so let's see that they do right. Charley's strongest aspect is his personal quest to kill this vampire, more specifically the relatable aspect of that; he knows that there's a monster next door that  wants to kill him, but no one will believe him, that's something probably a lot of us can relate to, minus the killing him part, but as the film progresses, his fight against Dandrige is easy enough to get behind. Amy, is cute, for a while that's actually all I was thinking, but she is a really sweet character, as seen in her want to help Charley, even if for a lot of the film she thinks he's nuts. Then there's Evil, his real name is Ed, but I see why they call him Evil, because for a lot of this film he's annoying. It's almost like the film knows it though, he's constantly either getting punched or being told to knock it off, and I agree with the sentiment, because all he does is talk and laugh, and the jokes he cracks rarely land. This is a character that you can do right, but this film just doesn't, he has two good scenes, and that's it. Wow, for a film I apparently love, this review is pretty negative so far. Let's now talk about some good characters, and the film has them, thankfully. First we have Peter Vincent, who I really like, because of how cartoonish he is at first, for the majority of the film he is the character he plays on TV, a fearless Vampire hunter, but there are times when the mask slips and you see the real Peter Vincent, a man struggling financially who was left in the misery of obscurity in a changing world, he's actually a coward. And for the film's final act he has to become the fake Peter Vincent again, it's a great character dynamic that makes him a ton of fun to watch, and having him running around in a cheesy Vampire hunter costume is a great touch. And then there's Jerry Dandrige, where do I even begin. From the very first time you see him, he's a gripping villain, and his character transformation throughout the film is also gripping, starting off a charming, polite man, who just seems to be really popular with the ladies, but as the film goes on, he gets more and more sinister and threatening. Every scene he's in is completely nail biting, and while the intimidation ramps up throughout the film, the charm persists; he's just so polite, and knows how to get the girls, there's a few scenes I'll try to be nebulous on later, but they're some of the best scenes in the film, And Dandrige is about as good a villain as you can get, he's not quite as scary as I think he could be, but a great villain nonetheless. There is, however, no charm at all with his gay roommate, who gives off some serious serial killer vibes, he's all intimidation, though not even comparable to Dandrige, but none of the charm, he's a creep.

What makes Fright Night so appealing from the outset is A the excellent establishment of the mood, and B a simple yet brilliant premise. The film's story is; there's a monster next door, not really much to it, outside of the coolness of Dandrige and the nuance of Vincent, there's not really much to be dug out of this film. Yet despite the simplicity, the film actually takes a few twists and turns that are really good, one in the final act in particular that is fantastically done, and gives that final act some real tension. And that's something a lot of scenes in this film have, tension, and I love that shit. There are some scenes in this film that are real heart pounders; there's a chase in this film that's beautifully atmospheric, the first time we see Dandrige, and another scene later in the film, show a fantastic balance of both apprehensive and sexual tension, which is actually another thing the film gets right, the first time you see Dandrige is possibly the most riveted intro to a vampire I've seen. It's not even 15 minutes into the movie, but it's a scene I look forward to every time I watch it, because it's just so intense. There's a particular shot that is just beautiful, and I'm not even on about the tits, yes, there's a pair of tits 13 minutes into this film, I'm instead on about a beautiful zoom close up of Dandrige's hand, it's really effective. But if you want sexual and apprehensive tension, you can't not mention the club sequence, which is easily the second best sequence in the film. This scene actually throws up an interesting idea about what Dandrige is, obviously he's a vampire, but seeing his target constantly snapping out of his lure, try to get away, and then instantly be back in his arms after one look into his eyes, it's something deeply psychological that you don't expect in a vampire film, and it adds to Dandrige's brilliance as a villain. The way this scene plays out is also amazing film making, there's no dialogue, just music, which is great because it's the 80's, and the cinematography is simultaneously gorgeous and creepy, sensual and apprehensive, there's one particular sequence of shots that's amazing to look at, and if you want a hint, it involves a mirror. I really could gush about cinematography with some of the this film's scenes, there's one shot in particular that is just imagery porn, it's the most quintessential shot I've ever seen in a vampire film, and I fucking love it. The film's final act is where things might get a bit cheesy however. The film's second act has a habit of being a drag, which is a negative for sure, but the film accelerates to attack speed following the club sequence. It's got all the gore an 80's horror film could ever need, some great visual effects for the most part, and is, most importantly, a huge amount of fun. It can get a bit cheesy though, and I'd blame Dandrige's makeup for that, it's not bad, but you do see it early in the film, in a particularly intense faceoff between Charley and Dandrige, and it's a bit distracting, it's not bad, it's just not as great as a lot of the film's other visuals. And as a final minor criticism, the film's ending doesn't make a lot of sense, to even imply why would be a massive spoiler, but the last 20 or so seconds of the film throws a curveball at you, sort of as a final scare, but it really comes out of nowhere, and doesn't make a lot of sense.

Fright Night has its weaknesses, and they're pretty much entirely its underdeveloped or annoying characters, and even there the film can pull out a few strengths. But where this film's biggest strengths are found is undeniably in some amazingly intense scenes, really cool visual effects, and incredible eye candy, and to again clarify, I'm not on about the tits. The film has some gorgeous cinematography, a villain that completely steals the movie, from his first appearance all the way up to his last, and a surprisingly developed vampire hunter that really works for the film. I said it before, but Fright Night is my favourite vampire film, and it's definitely one of the best out there, and definitely worth watching.