One of horror’s best cases of the curious teenage mind, Fright Night is the ultimate mash of 80s horror and hormones, compiling curiosity with sex and mystery – and by the time its credits roll, has gradually fallen into the latter. Opening with a teenage boy’s lust for sex, Charley Brewster’s excitement suddenly switches to the sight of two men carrying a coffin into their basement from next door. He loses the chance to sleep with his girlfriend Amy, who has openly and uncomfortably offered.
Brewster’s infatuation with the neighbors’ conundrums continue, and so does the off switch with his girlfriend. It isn’t until (in an abrupt circumstance) his neighbors suss him out, that it turns the tables rather unexpectedly. In steps Peter Vincent the vampire killer – at least that’s who he is on TV – who reluctantly helps Charley and his friends.
For the most part, Fright Night is a damn fun vampire flick; one that weeps of 1980s FX and charm. Tom Holland manages to revitalize the almost dead ‘vampire’ genre, fusing it with the modern era rather exceptionally. My only fuss that contributes to its overall quality is that Fright Night is a film I wish could have dived deeper into its mystery and discovery of what really is next door, because instead it is a very straightforward film.
