Fright Night Review
Written by: Orphan
I’m in a vampire-kinda mood so I wanted to write a review on this flick and as I cruised over here to do so I find that I’m the first one to do so. WHAT?! You lazy cocksmokers! This should have been handled months ago… Anycrap, this here flick is another little treat from the 80’s. It concerns a young man by the name of Charlie Brewster.
It seems that Charlie, a sweet natured high school schmuck by day, is a horror-film loving freak by night and spends most of his evenings watching the cheesy, B-Grade horror movie showcase “Fright Night”, hosted by Peter Vincent. I guess that’s why this character is so familiar…Anyway, Charlie has the traditional high school woes: he’s not very popular, his flat chested girlfriend won’t put out, and his best friend may well be a psychopathic killer all on his own.
They call the guy Evil Ed for Christ’s sake. Anyway, it had seemed like Charlie’s life would be completely uneventful until that one fateful day when Jerry Dandridge moved next door. He’s handsome, charming, and elegant, he’s everything anyone could ever want in a gay neighbor. He’s even got some dude living with him. And usually, everyone of use would be thinking that Dandridge and his live in buddy where playing hide the meat-whistle, but that’s not the case. Soon after Dandridge moves in, Charlie catches him getting in on with some chick and just when we think that the loving is gonna start BAM! Dandridge bites her!
The fucker’s a vampire and Charlie saw it with his own two eyes! Only problem is, no one believes him. Ed thinks he’s just kidding around, Charlie’s girlfriend Amy thinks he’s seen one too many movies and even Dandridge tries to discredit him. Later, Amy and Ed seek out Peter Vincent in the hopes that he might talk to Charlie and convince him that what he saw was movie induced. They get the poor bastard in over his and that’s when all hell breaks loose. I don’t want to ruin the movie more than I already have but suffice it to say that this is a classic. Great effects, a great story, interesting characters, and just the right amount of comedy.
There are some great scare scenes as well, particularly involving Evil Ed and Peter Vincent. The actors all believe in their roles, especially Chris Sarandon who plays the villan, Jerry Dandridge. You can just tell that the guy had a blast playing his role. Unfortunately, this great little flick was followed by a less than stellar sequel that only managed to capture the kick-assitude of the original in patches. Over all, this is a sadly overlooked piece of horror cinema that should be sought out and enjoyed by one and all.