Fright Night 3D

Here we are half way through September and this is my first film review of 2011. This has not been a good year at the cinema for horror films but, thankfully, that changes with the release of Fright Night 3D  - a remake of the 1985 film, Fright Night. Generally speaking, I am not a fan of remakes or reimaginings but I'll make an exception for this film as it beats the original in every department.
THE PLOT. Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) is a teenager who lives at home with his mum (Toni Collette) on a suburban estate on the outskirts of Las Vegas. His mum introduces him to their newly arrived next-door neighbour, Jerry (Colin Farrell), an attractive hunk and construction worker. One of Charley's school friends, Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse),  asks him to help discover why so many of their friends and neighbours have gone missing. Ed suspects it is because Jerry is a vampire. Charley dismisses his theory as pure fantasy but next day when Ed fails to turn up at school he sneaks into Jerry's house and discovers that Ed was right all along - Jerry IS a vampire. Jerry is holding a female victim hostage and Charley tries to rescue her. I won't say how that turns out but it provides one of the biggest scares of the movie!
Charley tries to keep his new found knowledge from his mum and girlfiend, Amy (Imogen Poots), but when Jerry comes a calling that night he begs his mum not to invite him in. I liked the fact that his mum actually believes him rather than dismissing him as being delusional. Jerry takes this very badly and blows up their house. The three humans escape in mum's car but naturally, Jerry pursues them. They survive again but mum is left hospitalised. This forces Charley to seek outside help from a TV magician called Peter Vincent (David Tennant). Peter, who is overly fond of alcohol dismisses Charley, but later in a moment of lucidity realises the teenager is indeed facing a real life vampire, and so offers his help. Jerry and his minion, Ed, attack Charley, Amy and Peter in Peter's luxury apartment. Jerry ends up capturing and biting Amy. He takes her back to his lair, where the climactic battle between good and evil takes place with Charley and Peter determined to wipe out Jerry and his minions once and for all... or die trying!
THE FILM. The film was directed by Craig Gillespie and was based on the Tom Holland film of the same name made in 1985. The screenplay for the remake was written by Marti Noxon, a name that will be familiar to any fans of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as she was one of the show's regular writers. Not surprisingly, she has a good feel for this genre and the script was well written and witty.
THE VERDICT. This is the first vampire movie I have reviewed since Twilight: Eclipse over a year ago. There was much that I liked about this film. Charley is a likable teen, as is his girlfriend, Amy, who's very good-looking. Colin Farrell plays Jerry extremely well. He oozes sex appeal and menace in equal quantities. I liked it when Charley commented on what a ridiculous name Jerry is for a vampire, but if he wants to blend in with society, why not be called Jerry? David Tennant was well cast as Peter Vincent, the very reluctant vampire slayer. We learn that his parents were killed by vampires but he is trying to blot out the memory of their deaths by drowning himself in his work but more especially, alcohol. My only real quibble with the film was the use of the 3D effects. They were sparsely used and to be honest, didn't add much to my viewing pleasure. Even so, I was thoroughly entertained by this offering with its thrills and laughs that took me back to the good old days of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, both of which I adored. I can highly recommend Fright Night 3D and I'd rate it 8 out of 10.