Fright Night
Fright Night
Rating: 
Movie: Fright Night (2011)
Studio : Walt Disney/DreamWorks
Info : Click Here
Runtime : 106 min
Website : welcometofrightnight.com
Rating : R
Trailer : 
Review:
Charlie Brewster (Anton Yelchin) has his suspicions that his next door neighbor Jerry (Colin Ferrell) is not quite what he seems. Sure, he’s charming and debonair, but his nightly activities are not exactly what you’d expect from a gentleman. And Charlie soon realizes that he may be a vampire, but no one will take the young lad seriously, not his mother (Toni Collette), his popular girlfriend (Imogen Poots). The only one is his best friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), who is actually the first to suspect something isn’t right. And so Charlie enlists the help of a Las Vegas magician and vampire expert (David Tennant) to rid the world of this creature of the night before it destroys the town and his family and friends.
I really enjoyed the cult classic 27 years ago and as I sat down in the theater, I grumbled something about ruining another memory for me, but I decided to keep an open mind. And I have to say that this remake did do the original 1983 film justice actually. It was not incredibly scary or gory film. If you are expecting Jason or Freddie type antics, then this isn’t it. But then neither was the original. They are both based more on suspense and the cat and mouse game played by Charlie and Jerry, but with a dose of hearty laughter and fun thrown in to keep the fear factor down to a minimum. Besides, being distributed by Disney, even though it’s a DreamWorks film, you knew it wouldn’t be too over the top.
Marti Noxon is a name you may recognize from another vampire project, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the series), where she worked with Josh Whedon, and in this film, you can see that that experience comes through in a script that is both scary and funny. In fact, I really did feel like I was watching an episode of Buffy, sans Sarah Michelle Gellar and the Scooby gang. But since I always liked that combination, I rather enjoyed it here.
Colin Farrell, IMO, did a much better job than Chris Sarandon did in the original. Sarandon played the part a bit too stuffy, while Farrell was able to bring a much more calm, much more subtle intensity to the character. Oddly enough, the role was originally supposed to go to Heath Ledger, who died before they could get started. And so Farrell got the part. It’s not the first time that Farrell has been part of the cast after the death of Ledger. The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus was Ledger’s last film and when he died in the midst of filming, the director had the idea to replace him with several different actors at different places in the movie such as Johnny Depp and Farrell.
Young Anton Yelchin and Imogen Poots did well at their roles, although neither really stood out that much. Christopher Mintz-Plasse does a good job of providing a lot of the comic relief in the movie as the nerdish friend, which he is excellent at portraying.
The 3D was frightful in some places, although I do think that you could see the movie fine in 2D and not be too incredibly disappointed at the results.
All in all, we really did like this new version and thus give it a 4.5/5. It’s a solid afternoon or evening of fun and a bit of fright that will truly entertain. Sure, we did like some of the original better, but this one has a lot to go for it on its own and is actually a worthwhile remake.