Fright Night Reviews (2011)

• Add

There are a lot of ways in which the endless wave of teen-targeted vampire dramas disappoint, even disregarding the sparkling, but the one that perhaps sticks out the most is the awkward desexualization of the breed of monster in question. Even before Bram Stoker laid his hands on Dracula, the erotic overtones of the genre were well-established: the midnight stalking, the exchange of bodily fluids, the desire of louche creatures to plunder Christian virginity. In that sense, a remake of Fright Night could perhaps be welcomed as a corrective to the current trend, the original film echoing Dracula in its battle between a teen vampire hunter and his archnemesis over the blossoming sexuality of a young woman. What might be surprising is that, even taken without comparison to the bloodless current crop of vampire films, this new telling of Fright Night stands on its own as one of the more clever and entertaining entries into horror comedy genre to appear in quite some time.

The film’s success probably starts with the screenplay by Marti Noxon, herself a longtime veteran of the Buffy The Vampire Slayer television series, which itself engaged in its characters' sexuality in unpredictable and generally bold ways. Fright Night marks her first solo screenplay credit, and having written a few years’ worth of high school-focused television scripts, it’s little surprise that she can spin a credible story for her crew of young actors, even before the vampire plot kicks into high gear. Although Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse all suspiciously resemble 21-year-old high school seniors, the travails of teen education come through sharply. Charley Brewster (Yelchin) and his former best friend Ed (Mintz-Plasse) have grown apart; Ed retains his fascination with Magic: The Gathering and backyard foam swordplay, as well as investigating who may or may not be a vampire in their little Las Vegas suburb, while Charley dwells more on girls and hanging out with the future frat boys of their campus. It’s a plot that’s discarded relatively quickly, but it feels genuine nonetheless.

It’s not a vampire film without a vampire, though, and it’s hard to think of a recent role that seems to be more tailor-made for an actor’s strengths than that of Jerry for Colin Farrell. Farrell, by his own admission, came to stardom as a young man and reacted poorly, coming across as somewhat humorless, or even bored, in films like Alexander and Miami Vice. He seems to have turned a corner after In Bruges, though: he channelled his inner douchebag earlier this year in Horrible Bosses to great effect, and he hits other notes here while remaining just a wonderful asshole; there are a lot of opportunities to play Jerry as either too straight or too camp, but Farrell threads the needle with a mixture of sleazy sexuality and a sly sense of humor, serving up neck-chomps and taunting Charley with a smile. Farrell’s Jerry is one of those villains that you hate but who also makes you grin when he comes on screen, like some kind of vampiric Hans Gruber.

If you saw the original Fright Night, then you know mostly what to expect; Jerry is, of course, Charley’s next-door neighbor, with an aversion to sunlight and a curious inability to enter homes uninvited, or appear in mirrors, etc. Charley soon learns the truth as his neighbors and classmates start disappearing, but only after Jerry develops a bit of a thing for Charley’s mother (Toni Collette) and girlfriend (Poots). Conflict is, alas, inevitable, and Charley, not knowing what to do, turns to schlock television host Peter Vincent (David Tennant) for advice. Vincent’s mostly a fraud when it comes to vampire hunting; in a lazier script, the character would be a vehicle for backstory and exposition, but as in the first film, Noxon avoids the easy out and has him act as clueless as Charley is. (Well, almost.)

In a shocking twist, establishing the characters as real people allows Noxon to effectively mine the strains of humor that are inherent in the idea of a vampire stalking suburbia. It’s a decent mix of Shaun Of The Dead-style over-the-top violence, reaction shots, and punchlines that generally wind up working, and even when the film attempts to be serious, it still delivers a knowing wink or two. Jerry’s speech to Charley about the sexuality of his mother (“she’s definitely putting it out there”) and his girlfriend (“she’s ripe; I bet there’s a line of guys just waiting to pluck that”), for instance, is both superbly creepy and hilariously blunt.

The performances are almost uniformly great. Yelchin still seems to be waiting for that one perfect role to put him over the top as a big-time lead actor, but he comes across as intensely likable nonetheless. Director Craig Gillespie no doubt deserves a lot of credit for the performances, and he has a wonderful way of mixing tension with humor without relying on the old “scary moment, punchline, scary moment, punchline” formula of so many horror comedies. It’s a shame that he comes across as slightly less capable when it comes time to direct an action scene; there’s a lengthy long take in a car in the middle of the film that feels noticeably fake, especially if you’ve ever seen Children Of Men. He’s also let down a few times by cheap-looking CGI, as in a fight scene between Charley and a vampire that flips over and around him with ridiculous athleticism. This is a movie that indulges in goofiness, usually with winning results, but occasionally falling flat in the process. The 3D effects are also precisely as pointless as you might expect them to be.

None of that is enough to restrain Fright Night from being surprisingly grin-inducing, though. Is it a necessary remake? Well, no, but then, outside of the occasional True Grit, what is? Fright Night easily manages to justify its own existence by being genuinely entertaining and even (yeah, I’ll say it) improving on its predecessor. That’s thanks to a sharp script and a cast that is in on the joke in just the precise amount that you want them to be; if only all remakes were this well-written and well-acted, maybe the word wouldn’t be such a dirty one to movie fans.