Like in the original film, Jerry enjoys taunting Charley, but Farrell takes it to a whole new level by showing the tremendous confidence of a creature that has survived for over 400 years and is the dominant species on the food chain. He really is the shark from Jaws if the shark could talk, walk on dry land, and was really, really handsome. Since the remake has a bigger budget and can go far beyond the suburban streets that confined the original, the new Jerry treats Vegas like his own smorgasbord and he should. Chris Sarandon gave a great performance as Jerry in the original, but his character was confined to a one-on-one battle with Charley to the point where it seemed like Jerry was more preoccupied with taunting his next door neighbor than doing vampire stuff.
Marti Noxon's script has more than a few self-reflective elements and Mintz-Plasse and Tennant make them work.īut the true star of the movie is Farrell.
We don't meet Peter Vincent until halfway through the movie, Tennant has the audience rolling over in laughter, and then he doesn't come back until act three when he truly gets a chance to shine. David Tennant suffers from the same problem but in reverse. One of Fright Night's biggest flaws is how it introduces Evil Ed, makes us love the character, and then drops him out of the plot until the end of the second act. Collette and Poots also get in some good moments, but the scene stealers are Mintz-Plasse, Tennant, and most of all Farrell.Īrmed with angry nerd one-liners, Mintz-Plasse makes for a brilliant audience surrogate and he's the only character who seems truly aware of the outsized circumstances of the film's plot. Anton Yelchin shows some great leading-man chops as he convincingly goes from self-involved teenager to vampire slayer over the course of the story. The action scenes could also use some polish as the film's big set piece has such obvious green-screen that the one-shot take gets overshadowed.īut character is where it counts and while it may not be the scariest film this year or have the best set pieces, Fright Night has one of the best ensembles I've so far in 2011. There's still a horror aspect to the movie and director Craig Gillespie shows he's well-equipped at building tension even if the payoff is predictable (although there's one great surprise that threw the entire audience for a loop). It's a modern film that doesn't really want to owe much to the classic horror movies and instead is more intense, fast-paced, and action-packed. The remake of Fright Night keeps the set-up and the climax of the original along with the character relationships, but throws almost everything else away.
Meanwhile, the threat of Jerry (yes, the film makes fun of the fact that the monster's name is Jerry) looms over everything Charley does.
He tries to get some help from "professional" vampire-hunter/entertainer Peter Vincent (David Tennant) only to find that the Criss Angel-esque Las Vegas stage magician is a vainglorious ball of nihilism and hedonism.
In his on-the-nose description, Ed says Jerry "Is the shark from Jaws." Charley soon realizes that Ed was right and he has to find away to defeat Jerry and save his mom (Toni Collette) and girlfriend. Ed desperately tries to convince Charley that Jerry is a vampire. That's where the similarities begin to fall away as Charley has become popular and left his former best friend "Evil" Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) behind.
The remake of Fright Night ditches almost all of these aspects but still manages to be an entertaining creature feature filled with excellent performances, plenty of humor, and some nice surprises as it tries update the film for a new audience.Īs in the original, teenager Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) has a smoking hot girlfriend (Imogen Poots) but he also has a serious problem: a vampire named Jerry (Colin Farrell) has moved next door. There's plenty to like about the original 1985 version of Fright Night: the performances from Chris Sarandon and Roddy McDowall, the great practical horror effects, and the thoughtful subtext about teens coming to grips with their burgeoning sexuality and the familiar inadequacies that come with it.