


To specifically hone on Charley’s arc in 1985’s horror comedy, he’s more of a distractible twit. No time wasted on carpenters who turn out to be unearthly demons beyond familiar capabilities ( Jonathan Stark as Billy Cole). Holland finds humor in Charley’s slower investigation of Jerry’s meal selections, where Noxon thrusts Charley, Jane, and Amy into immediate danger because Jerry is always an absurdly malicious threat. I prefer Noxon’s reinterpretation of Holland’s original script because it skips past overlong sequences of Charley being considered insane for exposing Jerry’s habits. Horror in the ’80s - like Fright Night - relies less on bulletproof narratives, whereas 2011’s Fright Night depends more on evolutions in storytelling like Jerry’s veer into predator territory. Fright Night (2011) is meaner, fiercer, and worth more impact when Jerry’s cabal crawls out of subterranean honeycomb barracks. Jerry never hesitates to obliterate Charley’s family in the remake, where 1985’s plays nicer because vampires didn’t want to upset the status quo back then. It treats Jerry like a shark who immediately sniffs the scent of blood and enjoys property damage. There’s so much of the usual as Holland torments his Charley with obvious narrative roadblocks (and chili burgers) that yield expected reveals - 2011’s Fright Night wastes no questions. Where 1985’s Fright Night exhibits playfulness, 2011’s Fright Night remake goes for the jugular.

Gillespie and screenwriter Marti Noxon speed into their vampire horrors without any gaudily veiled vampire lectures - even considering a drunk-on-Midori Vegas iteration of Peter Vincent ( David Tennant). Charley’s girlfriend Amy ( Imogen Poots) finds herself a bloodsucker’s muse way quicker, along with a more belittled and empowered Evil Ed ( Christopher Mintz-Plasse).
DAVID TENNANT VAMPIRE FUNTER MOVIE
Charley’s mother, Jane ( Toni Collette), is trying to fill another deserted suburban housing development when Charley starts accusing their neighbor of being a horror movie villain. In 2011’s Las Vegas real estate thriller, Charley Brewster ( Anton Yelchin) quickly clues into Jerry’s ( Colin Farrell) vampirism. Why depend on motherboards when countless horror creations pre-2011 exemplify why special effects should at least have a first layer of practicality under computer graphics?

That’s where 1985’s original trumps the 2000s revamp that fell victim to popularized 3D methods now bygone. I’ll forever cherish titles that dare choose practical artistry regarding sharky grins, bleeding wounds, and creature transformations. The Fright Night movies honor cornerstones of vampire cinema but differ in their executions. Vampires, right? They’re sexy, they’re sucky, and they hate the sunlight. Still, I’ll forever honor Gillespie’s on the list of remakes that outshine their masters even by a whisker. Both Holland and Gillespie helped define vampire cinema in their respective genre movements. Gillespie’s film is magnificently cast, moodily entrancing, and sharpened like a sushi chef’s knife before another dinner rush. It’s never unnecessarily gritty without purpose on the backs of the “torture porn” craze, where horror culture began rounding the corner away from immeasurable grotesqueries for the sake of sensationalism. A period I vocally endorse, no question - but if it sounds like I’m prepping what could be a controversial opinion, your radar’s adequately calibrated.Ĭraig Gillespie‘s 2011 Fright Night remake utilizes the darker, more “serious” tones favored by 2000s horror to embrace all the gothic ferociousness of vampiric lore. It’s a tale as old as Dracula between eternal lust and pointed fangs that sometimes gets lost in its ’80s haze of synthwave needle drops and “cheesier” dramatics that define an era of horror cinema. There’s an embrace of bloodsucker mythologies in addition to cheeky commentaries about how vamps are perceived in the media (using the character of Peter Vincent). Tom Holland‘s Fright Night has cemented itself as a crucial pillar in ’80s vampire canon.
