When am I going to learn? The Mona Lisa is not going to be getting any remakes or reimagings any time soon. So why bother trying on another type of classic?
O.K. first of all,this film wasn't as bad as I first feared. Don't get me wrong, it is still no where near as good as the 1985 original version directed by Tom Holland but it does have it's moments of inventiveness.
The 1980's produced some of the genre's best loved films many becoming iconic and in turn giving birth to prolific franchises, such as Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Evil Dead to name three.Unfortunately Fright Night's sequel didn't fare as well at the box office, probably due to the fact that only Roddy McDowell and William Ragsdale were the only two original cast members to return.
Fright Night the remake or re-vision , what are they calling these things now a days ? For this viewer, a lot of the elements that made the original so endearing were sadly omitted in this re haul. To me it's not just what has been changed, either for the better or the worse but what the film makers have done away with. They've tried to compensate with some other ideas that are not always successful. For instance one of the best scenes in the original, plays on the idea of the vampire lore that a member of the blood suckers union can not enter your home unless he is invited in by the owner. Charlie believes himself untouchable from the undead Jerry Dandridge, his mother unaware of Jerry's true nature has invited him into their house. Charlie is asked to come down stairs so he can meet some company. As Charlie approaches the sofa chair, we see the gnarled fingers of a hand tapping on the chair's arm , the visitor anticipating the shock and surprise that will come to Charlie. Now able to enter his house as he pleases, Jerry later shows up in Charlie's bedroom and terrorizes him to no end, even roughing him up a little. The newer but not necessarily improved version has Jerry wanting to borrow some beer from Charley's mother ( Collette ). Waiting for an invitation to enter their home, Jerry hovers at the door's threshold but an invite never comes. Colin Farrell's character of Jerry Dandridge comes across more of a creepy sexual predator as he warns Charley he should be concerned about the safety of his mother and girlfriend. Chris Sarandon who makes a surprise cameo appearance here, played the original Jerry Dandridge. He played the role more traditional, seducing his victims until they surrendered themselves to him, be it Charlie's girlfriend Amy or his best friend Evil Ed. Farrell's vampire keeps his victims in captivity until his next feeding. I suppose this is to keep the fans of the torture porn like films feel more at home. What about the vampire's power to seduce, the scene where Jerry seduces Amy (Poots ) on the dance floor was weak and unconvincing. Compared to the powerful performance in the original, this looks like Amy had been given a dose of date rape drug.
Other things I would have liked to see in this revamping include Jerry's transformation into that ferocious bat like demon creature, I love that kind of shit. The Renfield character of Billy Cole, a missed opportunity for the writers to help explain how Jerry could excavate his basement of tons of dirt in a matter of days. And the possibility to explain the holding cells inside a secret closet. I'm sure the previous owners had no reasons for the makeshift holding cells through a secret panel at the back of the closet. Speaking about closets , this would have been an opportunity to expand the are they friends or lovers aspect of their relationship that was started in the original. But you can't without a Billy Cole.
In this 2011 version Charley ( Yelchin ) and Ed ( Mintz- Plasse ) are no longer best friends, the two have had a falling out. Charley has a hot girlfriend, Amy ( Poots ) and is now hanging out with what the writer's thought is the answer for today's cool kids. Ed is still an obnoxious tool, but unlike Stephen Geoffries who brought an eccentric flare to the role of Evil Ed, Mintz-Plasse adds very little to a once interesting character. I find Mintz-Plasse brings the same geeky but cock sure life to all of his characters, my favourite by far is The Red Mist from the film Kick Ass. Ed is now the one to inform Charley that his new neighbour, Jerry is a vampire, a creature of the night. The dialogue has diminished Ed to a potty mouth, second rate character that you won't miss until he shows up again as one of Jerry's undead minions. The film makers don't even bother to try that great transformation of Ed into the wolf creature that literally brought a tear to your eye when you witnessed the pain and sorrow it suffered as it lay dying at the hands of Peter Vincent.
The character Peter Vinent who was named after the great actors Peter Cushing and Vincent Price who is now portrayed by David Tennant shows none of the charm associated with the two thespians. This Peter Vincent is a joke, written off as a pathetic, heavy drinking coward constantly bickering with his girlfriend/assisstant. Peter performs a magic act at one of the many theaters on the Las Vegas strip. He looks like a Criss Angel, Russell Brand hybrid type magician. The original Peter Vincent was a host of a late night horror film program, titled Fright Night.
Believing Peter Vincent could help with his vampire problem, Charley poses as a news reporter and sneaks into a rehersal of Vincent's act Fright Night, a performance dealing with vampires and the occult. Trying to persuade the non believer magician to help slay Jerry the vampire. Charley even has detailed sketches and notes of the vampire's lair, when after breaking into Jerry's house to make a daring rescue attempt of a neighbourhood resident. Why would the writers have the story take place in a city like Vegas where thousands of people come and go on a daily basis and then have Jerry feed off his own neighbourhood?
Peter Vincent is a coward and an imposter, hiding behind fake hair, tatoos and a bottle of hard liquer he scampers like a little scaredy cat to the elevator for safety when trouble comes a calling. To be fair Peter does show signs of redemption towards the film's end.
I'm not sure why but Hollywood insists on some kind of explosion in their movies and this is no exception as Jerry blows up the Brewster's place of residence. A car chase also ensues causing more carnage of metal on metal. I 'd say the writing is the weak link of the chain for this Fright Night giving the actors one dimesional and sterotypical characters to work with. Saying this I believe most of the actors put in a decent effort considering the material given them. Director Craig Gillespie who helmed the hidden gem Lars and the real Girl has proven he is no flash in the pan but may not be suitable for the horror genre. Perhaps one day he will try his hand again at the genre with a better written script. Unlike the original, this opening scene lacks a proper build up, showing a family violently murdered and the audience is thrown into a world where vampires do exist as compared to a world of a possibilty of their existance. The original version plays on the fact that Charlie loves horror films and has an over active imagination, creating suspense for the audience as we are not sure if Charlie is seeing what he says he is seeing.
The final confrontation with Jerry the vampire was a little anti climatic for my tastes. It was wrapped up inside a nice little bundle I like to call " convenient ". A special stake was used to destroy the nocturnal neighbour and return his victims back to their former human lives.
My Final Thoughts: Some good may come of this, the original Fright Night and it's sequel Fright Night 2 may finally be released on Blu Ray
My Rating: Two Go Go Girls Out of Five
In this 2011 version Charley ( Yelchin ) and Ed ( Mintz- Plasse ) are no longer best friends, the two have had a falling out. Charley has a hot girlfriend, Amy ( Poots ) and is now hanging out with what the writer's thought is the answer for today's cool kids. Ed is still an obnoxious tool, but unlike Stephen Geoffries who brought an eccentric flare to the role of Evil Ed, Mintz-Plasse adds very little to a once interesting character. I find Mintz-Plasse brings the same geeky but cock sure life to all of his characters, my favourite by far is The Red Mist from the film Kick Ass. Ed is now the one to inform Charley that his new neighbour, Jerry is a vampire, a creature of the night. The dialogue has diminished Ed to a potty mouth, second rate character that you won't miss until he shows up again as one of Jerry's undead minions. The film makers don't even bother to try that great transformation of Ed into the wolf creature that literally brought a tear to your eye when you witnessed the pain and sorrow it suffered as it lay dying at the hands of Peter Vincent.
The character Peter Vinent who was named after the great actors Peter Cushing and Vincent Price who is now portrayed by David Tennant shows none of the charm associated with the two thespians. This Peter Vincent is a joke, written off as a pathetic, heavy drinking coward constantly bickering with his girlfriend/assisstant. Peter performs a magic act at one of the many theaters on the Las Vegas strip. He looks like a Criss Angel, Russell Brand hybrid type magician. The original Peter Vincent was a host of a late night horror film program, titled Fright Night.
Believing Peter Vincent could help with his vampire problem, Charley poses as a news reporter and sneaks into a rehersal of Vincent's act Fright Night, a performance dealing with vampires and the occult. Trying to persuade the non believer magician to help slay Jerry the vampire. Charley even has detailed sketches and notes of the vampire's lair, when after breaking into Jerry's house to make a daring rescue attempt of a neighbourhood resident. Why would the writers have the story take place in a city like Vegas where thousands of people come and go on a daily basis and then have Jerry feed off his own neighbourhood?
Peter Vincent is a coward and an imposter, hiding behind fake hair, tatoos and a bottle of hard liquer he scampers like a little scaredy cat to the elevator for safety when trouble comes a calling. To be fair Peter does show signs of redemption towards the film's end.
I'm not sure why but Hollywood insists on some kind of explosion in their movies and this is no exception as Jerry blows up the Brewster's place of residence. A car chase also ensues causing more carnage of metal on metal. I 'd say the writing is the weak link of the chain for this Fright Night giving the actors one dimesional and sterotypical characters to work with. Saying this I believe most of the actors put in a decent effort considering the material given them. Director Craig Gillespie who helmed the hidden gem Lars and the real Girl has proven he is no flash in the pan but may not be suitable for the horror genre. Perhaps one day he will try his hand again at the genre with a better written script. Unlike the original, this opening scene lacks a proper build up, showing a family violently murdered and the audience is thrown into a world where vampires do exist as compared to a world of a possibilty of their existance. The original version plays on the fact that Charlie loves horror films and has an over active imagination, creating suspense for the audience as we are not sure if Charlie is seeing what he says he is seeing.
The final confrontation with Jerry the vampire was a little anti climatic for my tastes. It was wrapped up inside a nice little bundle I like to call " convenient ". A special stake was used to destroy the nocturnal neighbour and return his victims back to their former human lives.
My Final Thoughts: Some good may come of this, the original Fright Night and it's sequel Fright Night 2 may finally be released on Blu Ray
My Rating: Two Go Go Girls Out of Five
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