Fright Night (2011)

It would not be inaccurate to say that I am concerned for the vampire genre. In a way the genre is like an alcoholic that doesn't know that he's made an irredeemable ass of himself, and that the only way to save any sort of dignity is to move out of town, change his name and start over after having attended intense therapy for a few years. And if Anne Rice was the chick at the party who introduced him to Jack Daniels, Stephanie Meyer would be the person who has been tying him to a chair and forcing him to main-line Wild Turkey.

Oh, there have been some diamonds in the rough as of late, to be sure. In what seems like a backlash to the "Twilight" so-called-"saga", there has been a movement of films that treat vampires like the grown-up, responsible unholy monsters of the night that they started out as. Movies like "Priest" and "Daybreakers" gave a unique spin on the mythos with varying degrees of success (the later being supremely better than the former), the Korean film "Thirst" directed by Chan-wook Park was one of the best vampire dramas since Bram Stoker's Dracula, but the prize has to go to the Swedish masterpiece "Let The Right One In" and the shockingly good (some might say better) American version, "Let Me In." These afforded some measure of dignity to a genre that has become a joke of the badass it used to be. Remember "Blade?" Remember "Underworld?" Back in MY day, vampires didn't brood!

D'oh! Never mind...

Having unfortunately never seen the 80's original, I didn't quite know what to expect going into the remake of "Fright Night." I was anticipating something that was lite and fluffy that wasn't taking itself too seriously. And true enough, at the end of the day this did turn out to be more of an entertaining romp than a suspenseful horror flick. But nonetheless, that didn't change the fact that it remained an entertaining romp. And like the aforementioned wave of "we want to be taken seriously again" vampire movies, "Fright Night" does make the monster a threatening presence worthy of the protagonist's fear thanks to some great writing and very solid performances. For that reason, as tacky as it got at times, I would have to put "Fright Night" up there as one of the better vampire movies I've seen lately.

There is a very strong "Lost Boys" vibe to this film. You almost expect the Frog Brothers to step out of the shadows at any time to toss someone some holy water. In fact, the first act is very much "Lost Boys" as Christopher Mintz-Plasse (yes, McLovin is in this movie) attempts to convince our main character Charley, played by Anton Yelchin, that his next door neighbor, Jerry, is a vampire. It plays out much like you'd expect. Charley thinks his friend is nuts and won't listen to him and his eccentric ideas, but we all know he's right. I was anticipating a long, excruciating, drawn out second act, where Charley slowly comes around to believe his friend while the audience face palms every time he dismisses as coincidence damning evidence that Jerry is indeed a creature of darkness, but then something interesting happened. Charley is a full out believer before the end of the first act! Way to get the ball rolling, movie!

In fact, "Fright Night" surprised me on several occasions. It really did go against the norm, and did gutsy things that I was not excepting. Characters get "taken out" when most movies wouldn't dare touch them. And this happens not once but twice, leaving you really wondering if anyone is truly safe in this film. That also adds to the menace that Jerry already has, which is a lot.

That is, of course, due to a rather good performance by Colin Farrell as the vampire. I like Colin Farrell, despite him not having an outstanding track record with the movies he's in. He's a bit like Matthew McConaughey for me in that even if the movie isn't that good, I always find him entertaining. Farrell plays Jerry the way you would hope a vampire would act. He's charming as hell when he needs to be, and scary when his true nature emerges. Let's face it, the dude's rocking a solid 20 Charisma score.

"Looks like Jerry is giving Charley a 'cross examination.'" (YEEEEAAAAAAH!!!)

This all culminates in the best scene in the movie, for me at least, when Jerry is trying to get Charley to invite him in his house. This is after Charley's mind has officially been blown after the proof of Jerry's vampire-nature was revealed to him. (Of course, this begs the question why McLovin didn't show Charley this evidence earlier, but I digress.) The scene reminds me of the interviews Agent Starling has with Hannibal Lector in "The Silence of The Lambs" when he's behind the glass like a wild animal in a zoo, and she only has this near-invisible barrier between her and a monster. Jerry can't enter without being invited in. Jerry knows this, Charley knows this, and not too far into the conversation, Jerry knows that Charley knows this. So Jerry is just standing at the open doorway with this invisible force field keeping him out, while Charley is sweating bullets on the other side. Then it becomes a game of unspoken threats that is very well written, and all the while Farrell is just oozing sleazy evil and you can tell he's just having a ball being a sick bastard.

It would also be amiss for me to not mention the other lead actor in the film, David Tennant. And although most people would probably be stoked to see him simply because of Doctor Who (oh my god shut up shut up I don't care) he does wind up being one of the more memorable characters in the film, despite being ever so slightly underused. His character is what you would get if you took Chris Angel and Russell Brand and turned him into a Van Helsing inspired Las Vegas act who is a vampire hunter who totally doesn't believe but at the same time totally believes. It's a lot to take in, I know, just roll with it. Weird character aside, he was very memorable and quite funny, although it distracted me how much he looks like Martin Sheen circa "Apocalypse Now." What has been seen cannot be unseen. You're welcome.

"Saigon. Shit. I'm still only in Saigon."

So when all is said and done, do I recommend the remake of "Fright Night" to everyone? I'd say so. It was a surprisingly good time, and does enough different and unique things to make it stand out from the masses, including some striking scenes and set pieces, most notably an extended car chase sequence using some fantastic camera work, and a truly horrifying and memorable final confrontation between Farrell and Tennant. And heck, any movie that gets in a good dig on "Twilight" (you just knew it was coming) is doing at least one thing right.

BOTTOM LINE - A darn fun movie that plays out like a modern "Lost Boys." Worth seeing.