Fright Night (2011) review

If I didn't have enough to say about this film to write a review, I would've had to see Conan just to get something to review.


Every once in a while, filmmakers take a look at a box office hit and begin to wonder how it became such a hit to begin with. What they don’t realize right away is that most films that succeed financially do so because they’re based off of well-known franchises, because, let’s be honest, people relate to films better when they know about the franchise it’s based on. But since said filmmakers don’t realize that right away, they end up experimenting with the genre of which that film came from by creating their own series of films. In fact, something tells me that someone's going to make a fantasy epic about gods at war to cash in on the success of Clash of the Titans and Thor. In this review, however, the prime example is the Twilight franchise. Now, I’ve personally always hated the Twilight movies, and no, I’m not one of those guys that judges a film before they see it. I actually had the courage to rent the first film, and it was an all-around disaster. While some filmmakers have attempted to stay true to the style that Twilight gave to the vampire genre, others have attempted to bring back what truly made a vampire movie stellar to begin with. The trouble is that those attempts (namely, Daybreakers and Let Me In) have flunked at the box office, and judging by how empty the theater was, I doubt Fright Night will do any better, despite it being among those films.




The film follows a kid in high school named Charlie, played by Anton Yelchin. He finds out that his neighbor, Jerry, played by Colin Farrell, is a vampire after an old friend of his mysteriously disappears. What's worse is that Jerry is going after all of Charlie's friends as well. He seeks out all the information he can get on how to kill a vampire, even getting the help of a famous staged vampire slayer played by none other than Doctor Who.


Now, Fright Night is in no way anywhere near being a masterpiece. It’s reminiscent to those classic horror flicks of the 80s, and it has all of their same flaws; typical teenage characters, very little backstory given to the villain, and some pretty cheesy special effects, only instead of cheesy organic effects, we get cheesy computer effects. Perhaps the problem with the effects isn’t the detail put into it, but rather the constant quick movements of the vampires that makes them look blurry and artificial. Also, the plot tends to stretch itself a little. Charlie has to stab Jerry about three or four times before he finds a death that’s actually effective.


Regardless of all that, however, I still found Fright Night to be an enjoyable horror flick. The suspenseful moments are pretty well-established and a lot less predictable than I had anticipated. Not only that, it manages to find the right balance between scary and funny. Even though the characters are by-the-numbers, it’s still pretty funny seeing them interact the way they do. Also, the way the script utilizes the rules of a vampire is very clever. They’re not allowed to enter a home without an invitation, they’re allergic to garlic, and they’re basically resistant to anything related to Christianity, whether it’s holy water or a simple cross. These writers didn’t let anything slip. Also, without giving anything too big away, it's kind of refreshing to see a horror film that doesn't end on a startling cliffhanger.


So, do I recommend it? Well, there have certainly been bigger and better films this summer, but if you’ve already seen those and you’re looking for something new, Fright Night is definitely a lot better than some of the other releases from this weekend.