Sunday 18 September 2011

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.

13 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review. I've been wondering if it was worth watching and it sounds like it is.

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  2. @Luckyjoe. I was hooked by it when I saw the trailer. Admittedly, trailers can give a false impression or raise your hopes too much, but not so in this case. The film more than lived up to my expectations.

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  3. I'm looking forward to this film, the original was excellent (for its time!!)

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  4. Comprehensive review with enough of a recomendation to tempt any Vampire fan. I'11 not be going out my way to see, as Vampires aren't my thing, but it does sound very enjoyable for those that do !

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  5. @Ray. I enjoyed the original when it was first released. But... just look at how technology has moved on since 1985.

    @Joe. Fair comment. Vampires are very definitely my thing even if it does appear that I am more of a zombie fan. The give away, however, is in my user name!

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  6. Thanks for reviewing this one, I was wondering if it was worthwhile.

    Adam

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  7. Nice review Vampifan, I must admit I loved the original Fright night, this remake has big shoes to fill, I have lots of fond memories regarding this movie, especially on the comedic side, the characters in the original were also well developed and cast, especially evil, charley's friend, his character was acted out very well, I look forward to seeing this movie.

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  8. @Adam. You can see that I definitely thought it was worthwhile.

    @The Extraordinarii. I too, have fond memories of the original. Chris Sarandon, who starred as Jerry Dandridge in the original film, has a small cameo role in the remake, playing a motorist who is killed by the vampire. His character is called Jay Dee, after the initials of his original character.

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  9. great review.i liked the 85 version, so i might give this one a go, my only problem is i cant stand colin Farrell

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  10. @Shintokamikaze. That's a big drawback in deciding whether to see it. I don't have any strong feelings one way or another about Farrell but he did give a good performance here, so he gets a thumbs up from me.

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  11. Totally agree, I saw this film principally for Tennant, I'm a fan of him since his Doctor Who play, and come out with a really enjoyable film.

    This was also my first (and for now last) experience with 3d film, and was a good one.

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  12. @Zerloon. Tennant played a good part and I'm a big admirer of him as well. He was excellent during his tenure as Doctor Who.

    I don't mind 3D effects in most films. Piranha 3D, for example, was just awesome! But, here, it felt meh! I just wondered if it was really necessary.

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  13. I missed this movie coming out. Will definitely put it on the to-watch list.

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