Fright Night (2011) Discussion/Review

[Snick27]

Great movie. I totally loved it and will go back an see again. David Tennant was just beyond great in this, made me miss him in Doctor Who even more.

Didnt realize till now that our boy Chekov was the lead kid. He was really good.

Still wish Tennant could of said Blimey though lol

[OdoWanKenobi]

That was tons of fun. The performances were all around great, the amount of gore was just right, the action scenes actually had some intensity and originality. David Tennant stole the show, completely. I really do kinda miss him as the Doctor (not that I dislike Matt Smith.)

I'm also glad they didn't go for a cheap "shock ending." Let's just let the hero enjoy that which he has earned through his (literal) trial by fire.

So yeah, I enjoyed the crap out of it. There really doesn't seem to be any major thing I can nitpick. Is it sad that in this day and age it's refreshing to see a movie about vampires that are actually evil?

[timothy]

Snick27 wrote:

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Didnt realize till now that our boy Chekov was the lead kid. He was really good.

wow I did'nt know that was him either. who was the woman who play peter vincent's wife I know I seen her before but don't remmber.

[auntiehill]

timothy wrote:

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wow I did'nt know that was him either. who was the woman who play peter vincent's wife I know I seen her before but don't remmber.

I think that was just his girlfriend, not his wife. Her name is Sandra Vergara; she hasn't done a lot yet.

[timothy]

okay cool thanks for that. she was hot. I did'nt stay till the end of the credits was it nessery?

[marillion]

The good news? David Tennant stole every scene he was in and was the best part of the movie...

The bad news? The rest of the movie was mediocre at best.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse was completely wasted in this role. They could have given it to almost anyone. His character just comes off as a bitter dick. There was no flash of McLovin or even the Red Mist from Kick Ass.

Yelchin was ok, but just seemed too old for the part.

Colin Ferrel has "creepy" down pat, but for a role that was supposed to have some charm to it, he fell flat.

I did like how they connected the Peter Vincent character's past into the plot. Giving him some actual vampire exprience, rather than just playing the part was a good move.

[Samurai8472]

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=81303

Wasn't a good week at the box office

Opening on Thursday with $400 thousand made from 9pm screenings, the 3D horror remake Fright Night (DreamWorks), starring Anton Yelchin and Colin Farrell, did a disappointing $7.9 million over the weekend for sixth place despite having the best reviews of the four new movies.

[DarKush]

Saw it today. I liked it. I didn't think it was better than the original, as some of the reviews I read claimed, but there were some improvements over the original. I thought the female lead was hotter, the FX were better, and I liked the ending better. However the original had a charm to it that the new one didn't have. I also liked the original Jerry.

No disrespect to Colin Farrell, who did a good job. His take on the character was his own and he worked it out. I just liked the original guy better. I also liked the suspense of the original, the build up as Charlie tried to prove to everyone what Jerry really was and the vamp was always one step ahead. In the new one I guess they assumed the audience knew about the first film and just decided to cut to the chase more quickly.

Farrell had the appropriate menace and a bad boy swagger. I thought he was a good choice for a vampire and perhaps should've shown up as one in a film way before this. However he's not as scary to me as the guy in the Bill Cosby sweaters, giving subtle little 'got you' or 'I'm going to get you' smiles at Charlie as he makes him look like a crazy kid again. His full on vamp makeup didn't work for me though.

Not a lot was done with Evil Ed. I had expected him and Charlie to be closer in the film, but I wasn't too put off by the way the new film done it. I was hoping he got the cross to the face like in the original though.

Tennant was almost unrecognizable at first. It took me a moment to get into his take on Vincent. It seemed like he was channeling Russell Brand. I thought the change in occupation for his character was pretty neat and I guess more contemporary. I'm mixed on Jerry being the one who murdered his parents. Seemed like he would've had more of a reaction when he saw him the first time. Granted we don't know exactly how all that went down. I didn't think it really needed to be Jerry as the murderer. It felt too small world, as if Jerry is the only vampire out there, killing and siring.

I really liked the closing credits and that take on the Jay-Z song "99 Problems". It's unfortunate that this film tanked. I wish they had dropped it around Halloween. Maybe it would've gotten better box office.

[ManOnTheWave]

Boring and stupid. The only bits worth seeing involved David Tennant who was sadly underused. D.

[timothy]

Manonthewave wrote:

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Boring and stupid. The only bits worth seeing involved David Tennant who was sadly underused. D.

you're wrong the movie was great and collin ferrel was great as jerry the vampire. david was awesome in his first movie.
and the changes were dealable if you know what they were.

[Base_Delta_Zero]

I thought this was great. I missed the showing of Conan and ended up in this on a whim. Fun flick. Not a huge fan of the original. It's OK, but I don't own it. I liked all of the actors in this and Imogen Poots is fucking gorgeous, to boot. Last thing I saw her in was 28 Weeks Later and I almost didn't recognize her. What was she, fifteen in that? That can't be right but Christ, she doesn't seem to age.

Anyway, too bad it's not doing well. I definitely would have released it around Halloween.

Gave it an A

[Davros]

I should have seen this instead of Conan.

[Servo]

Not bad. I liked the Chris Sarandon cameo. Evil Ed wasn't as good as in the original, and let's hope Mintz-Plasse's career doesn't go the same way as Stephen Geoffreys' did after the '85 film.
Tennant was very good as Peter Vincent, but I have to say I still prefer Roddy McDowall's portrayal.

All in all, not a bad effort. Had a few laughs, the performances were all pretty solid for what it is, and it kept me entertained for 90 minutes. Not as good as the original, but most definitely worth a watch.

Oh, and Jerry needed a ghoul.

B+

[timothy]

I was really surprised how good this was in 3D. one of the better pictures of the year in in 3d next to thor.

[Servo]

stj wrote:

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The original Fright Night was one of the cinematic pioneers of the sexy vampire (along with Vamp, Frank Langella's Dracula, Interview with the Vampire and Lost Boys.) That well's been drained dry.

None of those films even comes close to pioneering the "sexy vampire" in cinema. Modernising it maybe, to a certain extent, but definitely not pioneers.

The real pioneer work was done in the 60's and 70's by European directors, who were making highly stylised films which often featured full frontal nudity and sex scenes. Even Hammer here in the UK sexualised their gothic vampire films as much as the censors would allow them to for the late 50's and 60's, even if they did go a bit camp and ridiculous with some of it in the later years.