On Fright Night - A Review

Fright Night is a verifiable horror classic. Released just after the height of the 1980s' horror craze, director Tom Holland crafted an interesting flick that engages audiences on several levels, as opposed to the majority of era horror films which narrowly focused on one aspect (such as FX, Creature Feature, etc.). He also managed to bring the very traditional vampire tale into the modern age.

To be sure, Fright Night is nothing original in the way of story or concept, but the most refreshing thing is that it makes no pretenses about that; Fright Night is a modern retelling of Dracula, and it's very comfortable being just that. Vampires' popularity was resurging at this time, thanks to books like Interview with the Vampire and Salem's Lot, and movies like The Hunger, though it would be a few more years before it hit its height. But while most of these newer works did their best to update the vampire, or give a "new spin" on the "old tale," Fright Night gleefully skips down the paved lane to bring audiences the same old story in contemporary garb. And it scores. Big.

The story is solid and the dialoguie fluid but again, you've already heard this tale. Everything in this classic vampire flick is a cut above what audiences expect, but the acting deserves special mention, as it carries the film. Modern viewers may balk at some of the admittedly cheesy SFX, but should know that we did, too; it is more enjoyable to marvel at just how much Holland managed to do with what little money he had, not to mention how effective the scenes requiring little or no SFX are! By this time, we already had SFX heavy-hitters like Nightmare on Elm Street and American Werewolf in London, so Fright Night was never considered a big SFX event even though it delivers on this aspect.

This movie is currently being remade, which is a fucking shame, because this is one must-see horror movie for all audiences, and one that's actually appropriate for Twilight viewers (whose moms have probably already seen it). But Twilight and Anne Rice fans should be forewarned: Fright Night is not for glitter-endowed, vampire-loving pussies. It reinforces the stereotype that vampires' relationship to human life is akin to that of a lion's to a gazelle's -- because, you know, vampires eat people, not pigs or monkeys or whatever.

If you are looking for a classic vampire movie in a semi-contemporary (well, 25 years ago) setting, look no further than Fright Night!

© C Harris Lynn, 2010