31 Days of Hell continues with a review of the 1985 film, Fright Night.
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| "White Castle!!! Give me more!!!" |
Modern-day vampires, for lack of a better term, suck. They
used to be seductive and frightening creatures but now they are just bored,
sparkly Millennials who can’t be bothered to even turn into bats. How did we
get to this sad state of affairs? Luckily, Fright
Night is here to console estranged vampire lovers who yearn for the days of
yore. The vampires in this flick aren’t here to play pick-up baseball games or
take you on a date; they want to eat your ass for dinner. That’s the way they
are supposed to be, damn it!
Fright Night
concerns the tale of a teenage horror film connoisseur named Charley Brewster (William
Ragsdale) who has a sneaking suspicion that his debonair new neighbor Jerry
Dandrige (Chris Sarandon) may, in fact, be a vampire. Admittedly, this is as
cliché as vampire plots get, but the earnest eighties vibe makes it bearable. The
tone of the film is interesting because it shifts back and forth between cheesy
teen comedy and legitimately creepy horror. There are moments of genuine
emotion that shine through some of the silly banter and it makes them much more
effective when they happen.
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| "Hello. We're from the '80s. Take us to your leader." |
The vampires are scary as hell and the film does not shy
away from showing them in their demonic forms. They adhere to all of the normal
“rules” of the genre so there are crosses, stakes and holy water galore. Chris
Sarandon wears the sexy vampire mantel well and he exudes a sensual confidence that
makes him alluring. Vampires work best when there is a dichotomy between the
monstrous and the sexual; something that is sorely missing from recent films. The
film gives a nod to older Hammer-style horror movies by casting the always
hammy Roddy McDowall as an actor who pretends to be a vampire hunter in feature
films. He lends Fright Night a bit of
class with his faux Shakespearean line delivery and distinguished grey hair.
Although this movie is creeping up on being
thirty-years-old, the special effects have aged well. All of the vampires look
terrifying and they have giant toothy maws and huge claws; no glitter or abs to
be seen. They actually instill a sense of dread and fear, the way monsters are meant to do. Since this is
an eighties movie, some of it ends up being cheesy, but that can be chalked up
to the era. Sometimes you have to accept some radical synthesizer tunes with
your blood suckin’. It was cool at the time, okay? Overall, this is one of the
better vampire films out there and it’s worth a watch just for the awesome
make-up and vampire fight scenes.
-Michelle Kisner