Fright Night (1985) Short Review
I figured since I just did a review for the new version, I might as well do one for the 1985 original (the superior version). It’s one of the better horror comedies out there. Sure there are some weaknesses to the film (mainly the cheap 80′s soundtrack), but overall there aren’t too many vampire flicks that hold up as well as this one. Fright Night features fun performances by the actors and some cool visceral in-camera FX in the movie (no CGI). I’m a visuals kind of guy and I thought there was some fine work done by the production artists and crew.
The story is of typical teen Charley Brewster who enjoys his life living in an average American neighborhood living (with his single mom) and hanging out with his cute girlfriend Amy. His suburban paradise is interrupted with the knowledge that a genuine vampire has moved in next door. Being the fine upstanding citizen that he is, Charley feels the need to act. Hijinks ensue. That’s all you really need to know. There are some complications, but really, it’s a very ‘pure’ horror film with healthy doses of humor.
The creature FX were far more inspired than what’s offered in the new version (and I like the new version, BTW). It’s much more of a good old fashioned creature feature that took the ‘boring ol’ vampire who until this point had only been seen as semi-monstrous in appearance in Nosfratu, its remake, and Salem’s Lot where the head vampire looked like the vampire from… Nosferatu. Here, the filmmakers fully embraced the transformational abilities of the supernatural vampire. The vampires in this are much scarier than just actors with teeth prosthetics.
The vampire’s house even seems like a character itself at times; the director framed several very cool shots of it as when McDowell is re-entering the fog enshrouded house towards the finale. There are also many nods and winks to older classic vampire flicks, and not just with Peter Vincent’s name. In the finale you can spot several direct shots from a certain vampire classic, but its done the right way. A lot of contemporary filmmakers just steal outright and dont even try to use any imagination, but I digress…
Roddy McDowell is outstanding as the reluctant (and at times cowardly) Peter Vincent, a TV horror host sought out by one of his fans Charlie Brewster (William Ragsdale), who is convinced that an actual vampire has moved in next door. McDowell was always good in anything that he was in and had a very likable persona, even when he’s blowing off Charley at the idea of real vampires or acting as a coward in the film.
There are some actors that are great in one role and never find anything else to really suit their talents. I think that was true with Ragsdale (who plays Charlie). He does enough for the audience to get behind his character. His Charley is not nearly as hip with contemporary style as Yelchin’s Charley in the update. That’s not a bad thing, though. His lack of being the typical movie here makes fighting against the vampire villains seem that more of a daunting task.
Stephen Geoffreys plays horror geek Evil Ed, one of the more memorable characters who has a lot of extreme outbursts and several weird personality tics. He seems born to play this role being every bit as hilariously weird in this as Crispin Glover has been in… well, all of his movie roles. This film offered up a lot of ideas, such as with Ed who’s given the opportunity to embrace evil rather than live the life he’s living. Geoffreys and Ragsdale were both perfect in these roles. Amanda Bearse (who went on to fame as one half of the unlikeable couple that lived next door to the Bundys on “Maried…With Children”) is the nerdy love interest. She’s somewhat unlikely as ‘the girl all the bad guys want’ to use a musical reference. But as all of the characters in this film, personality wise she is much more of a presence than her counterpart in the 2011 film played by Imogen Poots.
Chris Sarandon does a fine job with a very well written part as the vampire. His vampire is an unusually complex villain.
I think it’s interesting that one of the more evil deeds he poses in the film is what he poses to Charley. “Just look the other way”. It insidiously creates some empathy for the character, while the ultimate end to which he’s asking is to do nothing while he murders people. I believe Sarandon teamed with the director Tom Holland on Childs Play, also; another competent genre film. Sarandon was/is a very underrated actor that maybe should have had a bigger career than he’s had (he was a standout as a villain with intentionally less charisma in “The Princess Bride”).
This is not as campy as some reviewers claim; there’s plenty of comedy, but it still exists in a real world setting and is a right proper entry in the horror genre. The people that call this camp are people that just don’t like horror films and ESPECIALLY hate anything resembling a creature feature. You know, those people with zero imagination. This is a very entertaining horror flick. There’s enough tension in the film that you’re not quite sure who’s going to survive by film’s end. Fright Night’s a fun movie. I only wish the disappointing sequel had been handled as well as this one. It’s a MUST SEE for anybody who considers themself a horror fan and one of the better films of the 1980s (not just in the horror genre).
4.5 of 5
