FRIGHT NIGHT Movie Review

My review of Fright Night:

I have always rather enjoyed movies and books about vampires. In high school, a couple of friends decided to make me watch a vampire movie I had never heard of, "Fright Night". I was rather critical to begin with, not knowing what to expect, and having relatively high standards. When Jerry first appears, I was unimpressed, thinking that he didn't suit my idea of a deadly and charming vampire. However, by the end of the movie, I had found myself listing Fright Night as my absolute favourite film! At least ten years later, it still is. The acting of Chris Sarandon and William Ragsdale (and the others, too) was superb, and certainly worked to maintain the proper atmosphere. There is a fair amount of comedy, especially between Charlie and his friends who do not believe Charlie's claims. Look for the alley scene, when Charlie thinks that Evil Ed has been bitten!

Jerry is a tall, dark, and deadly vampire. At times, he is charming, and others, incredibly threatening -- take for example, the scene where Jerry shows up in Charlie's bedroom for a visit. Fright Night mixes reality with fantasy in a way that most films only attempt. Roddy McDowall's performance is very touching. You can feel what his character is going through, and this character *does* evolve quite a bit from pompous TV actor and disbeliever, to frightened and cowardly companion, to a man struggling to find the courage and faith from inside himself. Unlike most horror films (especially vampire), there is not a lot of blood, or sex, or violence. The main focus is on character development -- definitely something rare in so many films today! All I can tell you after all of this is to simply rent/buy this film and see for yourself.


Review by Craig Edwards (my pal!):

Holy Cow! What do you do if you're a teenage horror film fan and you realize your new next door neighbor is a vampire? Well if you're Charlie Brewster (William Ragsdale) and you're in this knockout horror movie from director Tom Holland, you go to enlist the help of your favorite horror movie host and star Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall). But Peter is not quite the hearty hero he plays in his films, and convincing him vampires are real may take more time than poor Charlie has.

Director Holland perfectly balances his horror with humor--with movie fan Ragsdale and cowardly McDowall showing a terrific chemistry in their scenes together. Add in great performances from Amanda Bearse as Charlie's girlfriend, Stephen Geoffreys as his weirdo friend Evil Ed, and especially Chris Sarandon as the bloodsucking but smooth vampire, and you have a film guaranteed to knock your socks off! Check it out!