Fright Night
Review by Anthony Morris
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Fright Night
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One of the many charms of Fright Night – the "better than it should be"
tale of a vampire terrorising the unlikely locale of a suburban
development on the fringe of Las Vegas – is the way it, much like the
vampire Jerry (Colin Farrell), moves fast and subverts expectations.
For
starters, when former nerd turned cool kid (thanks to scoring a hot
girlfriend) Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) is confronted by his
former best friend (and current nerd) Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse)
with the blunt revelation that new neighbour Jerry is a vampire, it
feels like the film has skipped a couple of scenes.
Shouldn't there be first the suspicion that Jerry's a little odd, then some snooping around, then evidence?
Turns
out all that did happen, only with Ed and his (now missing) best buddy
– Ed's bringing Charley into his story, not the other way around.
And
it's the many smart touches like that, coupled with Farrell's charming
but sleazy performance (and in a world where a vampire can't come into
your house without being invited, obviously only the most attractive
vampires would survive) that make the first half of this tale of
monster hunting such a delight.
The pace slackens off a little
in the second half as the actual story kicks in, but even then former
Doctor Who David Tennant’s performance as an oily Criss Angel-style Las
Vegas magician and self-styled vampire expert keeps the energy levels
high.
There's an enjoyably old-school thrill in seeing a
vampire depicted as a straight-ahead figure of unalloyed evil, and
while there are a number of creepy suspense moments this is just as
much a monster movie where the bad guy's supernatural abilities (and
general common sense – he's an actual smart bad guy) are on display.
The original Fright Night was a solid B-movie : against a backdrop of torture porn and effects-heavy remakes, this looks a whole lot better. 4 out
of 5
Fright Night
Australian release: 8th September,
2011
Official
Site: Fright Night
Cast: Main Cast Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, Toni Collette
Director: Craig Gillespie
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