LogFAQs > #979921606

16. Fright Night (1985, 221 points)
Directed / Written by: Tom Holland
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Why Its Significant - Like many classic monster movies of the 80s, Fright Night (along with The Lost Boys) helped revitalize the played out vampire genre. With a teenage angle and a healthy dose of comedy, the film switched up the vampire mythos. Jerry Dandrige, the charismatic vampire, was sophisticated, seductive, and held a dark sense of humor like the vampires before him, but he didnt reside in some stuffy old castle - he was your next door neighbor. This simple but effective twist along with Charley's fight against the vampire is met with skepticism, mirroring the anxieties of teenagers often dismissed by adults. Fright Night was followed by a sequel, remake, sequel to the remake, stage play, documentary film, video game, novelizations, & comic book series.

The Rankers
Evilordexdeath - 5
Jcgamer107 - 6
Inviso - 10
Rockus - 10
Bitto - 13
Mythiot - 13
Johnbobb - 14
Lightning - 16
Snake - 22
Plasmabeam - 25
Karo - 28
Fortybelowsummer - 29
Seginustemple - 30

Evilordexdeath - Ostensibly, this is the story of a guy who gets a new next-door neighbor and instantly realizes that he's a vampire. It feels like an opposite to Christine - in that film the protagonist mentally unravels as everyone around him tries to help. By contrast, one message you could take from this movie is that everyone will let you down - bro's friend becomes a thrall of the vampire, his girlfriend gets seduced by the creature right in front of him, the police think he's a lunatic, and even his mom goes out and invites the vampire over so he can get around the whole clause that vampires can't enter a house uninvited and attack the kid. Everyone will disappoint you, that is, except maybe out of work T.V. actors, because this film is really the story of Peter Vincent, a hammy faux-vampire hunter who the kids enlist to help with the monster, who reveals himself to be a complete coward but then spends the entire film gradually transforming into the character he's used to playing in movies. It's him who kills the vampire's thralls, him who saves the much more static protagonist Charley Brewster, and his character arc that the film centers around - at one point he fails to wield a crucifix against the vampire because "you need faith for it to work," only to manage it successfully in the climax. I was absolutely onboard for every moment of it, and his character made this movie one of the big pleasant surprises of the list.

Jcgamer107 - 7/10

Inviso - This is a really fun concept for a film, particularly one that feels like its a few full-frontal nudity scenes away (cutting, not adding) from being a Disney Channel original movie. You have a kid whos obsessed with this late-night horror anthology show, and then he happens to glance outside and realize that theres a new neighbor next door who sure does have a coffin, and then several women going to his house who are later discovered to be murdered. Why, its almost like theres something about this next door neighbor thats unsavory. But yeah, Charley catches the neighbor about to bite his victim, revealing himself to be a vampire, and suddenly he finds himself in Jerrys (yes, the big bad vampire is named Jerry) crosshairs.

I think the first half of the movie does a decent job of setting the stakes by introducing Charley as this dorky guy who somehow has a girlfriend willing to round home base with him (despite him getting distracted from sex by goings on outside his house). Evil Ed is his douchey loser of afriend? Nah, acquaintance. And then of course theres Jerry. I love how they set him up with Charley going to learn vampire lore, specifically the lore about how vampires cant enter your house without permission, only for a scene later, his mom invites Jerry over for drinks. Jerrys not even subtle about his sinister behavior, and it really works well to sell this guy as a smarmy, dangerous douchebag. Its actually funny to see Fright Night on the 80s list, because Jerry comes across as a total 80s businessman in terms of how he acts throughout this film.

Anyway, the movie is fine in that first half, with Charley trying to get ANYONE to listen to him, and his friends just humor him and eventually rope in Peter Vincent, the vampire hunting movie star from Charleys favorite show. But it turns out hes a non-believer and a coward at that, and when he discovers that, oh shit, Peter actually IS a vampire, he just wants to hide out and avoid this situation entirely. Watching Roddy McDowall have to play a reluctant hero instead of the brave, bold, conquering vampire hunter is pretty amazing, and hes the best part of the film as a result.

The final act, with the battle in Jerrys house, is great. Jerrys SO cocky and just toying with Charley and Peter (having kidnapped Charleys girlfriend and turned her into a vampire spawn herself), and we get some great stuff with Peter killing Ed (just generally fucking Ed up with a cross burn to the forehead before the endgame, and then killing him when he turns into a wolf for some reason), and then Peter and Charley teaming up on Jerrys thrall to kill him. But the best part is when Peter tries using a cross and Jerry rebuffs him, saying you have to believe in the cross for it to work, and this comes back later when Peter has Jerrys back against a window with the rising sun, and he truly starts to believe and empower the cross. And then of course we end on the heroes breaking all the windows in Jerrys basement to get him overwhelmed by raw sunlight and save the day.

It's a FUN movie; not the BEST, but I think Jerry plays the sinister villain well, and Peter plays the washed-up phony well. And the concept of facing down your new neighbor when he turns out to be an evil vampire is a fun one, especially when its one of those situations where NO ONE is going to believe you, so it falls on you to save your own ass. Seems to happen a lot when leads in these movies are teens, but I guess that makes sense, with the old children should be seen and not heard mantra.

Rockus - Initially I was thinking the first thirty minutes of this was like a suburban Rear Window, but with vampires. But really its probably more like a teenage version of The Burbs, but with vampires. But after that it gets really good with the first real glimpse of Chris Sarandons true vampire form, the introduction of Roddy McDowalls Peter Vincent as a major character rather than just a B-horror personality on television, and we get ESCALATION. The movie is in its bag with a wolf transformation, a green goopy death, a slimy bat transformation and all of it delivered with some great practical effects and detailed makeup. They just dont make them like this anymore and its a real shame. Vincent even gets to have his own little mini-character arc about regaining some of his faith and, I presume, satisfaction with his career. Great premise, great effects, just a great picture.