Monday, November 12, 2012

Fright Night

Fright NightAfter the bitter disappointment that was watching the original Fright Night, the remake felt like a masterpiece.  Incredible, huh?

The Gist: A teenager figures out that his new neighbor is a vampire, who now starts toying with him before taking him out.

Hollywood is enamored with remaking old movies that are either classics (like Psycho) or have a cult following, like the original Fright Night.  It oftentimes doesn’t work, whether because the original was too good to be topped (and Psycho is only one such example) or because the original has withstood the test of time and doesn’t feel antiquated.

In the case of Fright Night, however, the original was so awfully bad that its remake earns high marks by comparison!  Uber hot Colin Farrell plays the vampire with intensity and gusto, counterweighted by uber cute Anton Yelchin, whose name recognition is quickly rising.

The visual effects and makeup are fantastic, but it’s the screenplay that makes this a good movie overall.  The story is well developed and, in spite of the subject matter, utterly believable.  In the True Blood era vampires are all the rage, but a good vampire story is still hard to tell (just look at the Twilight saga here, here, and here).

The Bottom Line: Fright Night manages to be a frightening tale that doesn’t disappoint and easily makes up for the shortcomings of its predecessor.

Grade: 7

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