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Film: Fright Night
Year: 1985
Director: Tom Holland
Writer: Tom Holland
Starring: Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale and Amanda Bearse
Review:
This film was one that I used to watch parts of when I was growing up. One of my cousins recorded this and that tape was at my grandma’s house. I know that I finally watched this film all the way through right after college and then rewatched it at the Gateway Film Center. They showed it on VHS tape the first time I saw it there. I went back to watch it again, this time I believe it to be the 4K.
Synopsis: a horror obsessed teenager discovers that his next door neighbor is a murderous vampire. He tries to convince the police, his family and friends but to no avail. He decides to take matters into his own hands.
What I took away from these last couple viewing was the elements that were taken from Dracula. Examples of this are that the vampire, Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon), falls in love with the young woman who is dating the hero. Amy Peterson (Amanda Bearse) is the young lady and our hero is Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale). We also have the old rules for this creature in that they have to be invited in, they don’t cast reflections and they’re afraid of crosses, only if your faith is true. I do like bringing this to the suburban setting as it makes it scarier that something like this could happen.
Something else I never noticed until this time was the gay undertones the film has. Now I know that Jerry falls in love with Amy. He also invites a couple of prostitutes to feed on, but there is this odd relationship he has with Billy Cole (Jonathan Stark). They never explicitly do anything, there are just interesting looks and interactions they have. I do like that Billy is the vampire familiar in the vein of Renfield. He has supernatural abilities while still being mostly human. Going along with this as well, I also know that Jerry is a vampire and probably has been alive a very long time, but he is attracted to someone who is underage and still in high school. It feels weird. I can overlook this though due to him being a monster.
I want to then go more into the setting, which I’ve already said was good. I’ll be honest, I was confused by the size of this town though. It was weird that when Charley was walking home Amy that they go into a seedy part of town with a nightclub. I also find it odd that Charley, who watches and loves horror movies, doesn’t know the rules about their powers and limitations. I like the show he watches not only because the name of it is also the name of movie itself, but this is a show that has a late night horror host showing genre movies. It is hosted by Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall) which the name is a play on Peter Cushing and Vincent Price.
Next should be going into the acting performances. Sarandon is great as the vampire. He is suave and very seductive, which his look helps convey. Amy and Judy Brewster (Dorothy Fielding), who is Charley’s mother, have attraction him instantly. It makes sense as vampires have this ability. Ragsdale is good as the boyfriend, except I don’t like that he doesn’t know the rules of a vampire even though he’s a horror fan. He does give off a little bit of a creepy vibe toward his girlfriend when she says no in the opening sequence, which as an adult made me feel uncomfortable. Bearse is attractive and I feel bad for her. She really likes Charley, but he seems to have other things on his mind. McDowall was solid as the horror film host. I do like his change of character and internal struggle he deals with. Geoffreys is annoying but there’s something endearing about it. He does have the more iconic lines in the film and makes me laugh. He’s our horror expert, so I feel kinship there. He is good as vampire as well. Stark, Fielding, Art Evans and the rest of the cast were solid to round this out for what was needed.
All that is left then is filmmaking. First, I’ll start with the effects. They were good as my starting point. I’m not always the biggest fan of the vampires turning into monstrous looking creatures. I prefer to see them with just their fangs. The seams of the effects were seen there. I did like that they could shapeshift into wolves, bats and mist, which goes back to Dracula. They hide these effects which was strategic to not look cheesy. That will take me into the cinematography is good. This helps in the framing to hide things. I also love setting this in the suburb. How Jerry’s house looks during the climax takes on that gothic feel which I appreciate. This also runs 105 minutes, but it is paced well. It doesn’t take long to get into it and then tension builds as no one believes Charly. The soundtrack was also good. It has a great 80’s vibe to it and it helps build tension.
In conclusion, this is an 80s classic. I think the story is a retelling of Dracula by converting it to the suburbs, much like Salem’s Lot did as well. I think it is great to have a teenager who is a horror film fan thinking that a vampire moves in, only to have it be true. There’s tension built in that no one believes him. It does have interesting undertones of pedophilia and same-gender attraction. This is well-made with the cinematography and the framing. The effects are good with just slight issues there with the look of the vampires. No where near close to ruining this. This is one of the better vampire films from this era and I’d recommend it if you haven’t seen it in a while for sure.
My Rating: 8.5 out of 10