Ever walk out of a theater completely and utterly at a loss of what to think about it? That's the feeling I'm getting with this particular movie. Right now, I'm just in that very bizarre place. You know the one. It's usually reserved for Takashi Miike flicks or pretty much every other Friday night having not slept in over 20 hours. If you're expecting coherent thoughts with this review, don't expect it - I've been running on empty for well over an hour now and might not even make it to the finish line.
"Fright Night" isn't a terrible movie. Not by a long shot. In fact, there's quite a bit to admire in the flick. The performances are absolutely spot-on, especially Colin Farrell's modern-day vampire Jerry Dandridge. After seeing this guy in two excellent roles this summer (the other being a similar dislikable prick - although maybe not QUITE as malevolent as he is here - in "Horrible Bosses"), it's safe to say that he's found a pretty nice career revitalization. With a more "serial" version of the character, Farrell is able to make quite an impression and even be intermittently scary as the classic "vampire out of water in suburbia" character, so huzzah for him.
If you've seen the 1985 original, you're more than familiar with the rest of the plot, but here goes for anyone who isn't hip to the scene (and add that phrase to the list of things that anyone reading this is permitted to shoot me for EVER typing again). Nice guy Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin, a decent enough actor but one that I hold some immature level of hate for as a couple people have actually told me that I look like the guy) and his insanely MILF-ish mom (Toni Collette, best known for "The Sixth Sense" but most appreciated by this reporter for her unbelievable nude scenes in many other fine motion pictures) live seemingly normal lives in a suburban neighborhood where every house looks the same and the streets are perfectly symmetrical. Things especially look up for Charley, as he has managed to leave his dorkish friend Evil Ed (McLovin' himself Christopher Mintz-Plasse) behind and attain an insanely hot girlfriend (Imogen Poots).
This is definitely a movie that wastes little time to get going. Within ten minutes of the opening credits, a mysterious string of disappearances in Charley's high school presents itself. Ed has ascertained that Charley's creepy new neighbor who is conspicuously never seen in the daylight hours is an honest-to-christ vampire, and convinces his former friend to snoop around one of their missing classmates' homes for clues. Not soon after, Ed is chased down by Jerry and quickly turned into a vampire, at which point he summarily disappears for the next 75 minutes of the film.
You know, there was a time in my life when I scoured the internet for all the latest news, buzz, clips and other spoilers for upcoming movie projects. It's not a practice that I partake in anymore, as it effectively killed the enjoyment of a lot of theater experiences. Thus, I had no clue what to expect from the Peter Vincent character in this update, and...it's alright. Don't get me wrong - David Tennant does just fine with the role, and making the character a vampire-obsessed magician seems like a clever idea on paper. For whatever reason, the character just doesn't pop like it's supposed to.
Which is really the problem that I have with the entire movie. It's competent. It's skillful. It's occasionally tense and well-performed. The final act is even one of the most surprisingly well-done finales I've seen in any horror flick in a long time. What it lacks, though, is the "it" factor that the truly immortal movies have (with the POSSIBLE exception of Farrell), that certain extra something that make audiences want to see a film in theaters more than once and buy a DVD. You know...like the 1985 original.
Admittedly, I can't claim to be any sort of expert on the old-school "Fright Night" film. It's been a long time since my last viewing; six years would be my best guess. But everything about that film has stuck with me to this day ever since my first experience with it on TNT MonsterVision. The completely goofy, off-the-wall version of Evil Ed. The geekier version of Charley Brewster, wonderfully played by William Ragsdale, infinitely more relatable and likable than Yelchin comes across in this film. And, of course, Roddy McDowell as the horror movie luminary version of Peter Vincent, deliverer of this classic line in the era when slasher flicks ruled the world: "Apparently your generation doesn't want to see vampire killers anymore, nor vampires either. All they want to see slashers running around in ski masks, hacking up young virgins." This new iteration of an '80s classic doesn't feature that line, although it does recreate a couple others in nice nods to any fans of the 1985 film. The thing is, however, that the lines feel forced and out-of-place in this film, whereas they felt perfectly natural in the original.
In the summer of 1985, "Fright Night" became a surprisingly big hit, grossing more than any horror film that year with the exception of "Nightmare on Elm Street 2" (and being EASILY the superior of the two films in that regard) based on the strength of its goofy charm and its likable leads. And that brings me back to the missing "it" factor - "Fright Night 2011" features neither of those; there are attempts at humor, but they don't pop out of the screen, eliciting little more than a few pleasant chuckles from the theater audience that attended my screening, and the Yelchin-Poots pairing is nowhere near as likable or engaging as Ragsdale and Amanda Bearse were in the original.
Oh, and there's also a car chase scene where Collette tries to make a call to the police, but can't because of the "damn desert" and poor cell reception. God, I hate that plot device. Remember back in the good ol' days when screenwriters didn't have to explain how the cell phone that could be used to erase the problem couldn't be used? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
Overall, I actually recommend checking this movie out in theaters. The effort that Farrell and Tenant put into their key parts are definitely worth seeing on the big screen, as well as the only occasionally cheesy but otherwise fine effects work and stylistic action sequences. If you're like me, though, and like some emotional investment along with your flash, don't expect to remember much about this remake two days later. ** 1/2 out of ****.
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