Fright Night (2011)
The movie sets up a delightfully wry cat-and-mouse game as the heroes search for vampire rules online, and the vampires simply change them on a whim. The breezy direction allows plenty of room for the actors, especially a hammy David Tennant (Doctor Who), to stretch out and shine. The end result is a mood that's funny and playful, like a really good late-night movie on TV.
Fright Night (2011)
To be sure, all of Jerry's windows are blacked out, but we're told that's not uncommon in Vegas, where so many people work the night shift and sleep all day. Sounds reasonable. The two houses are close together (especially considering the empty miles of desert surrounding the development), and Charley finds it easy to monitor Jerry's suspicious movements from his second-floor bedroom window. Charley's friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) notices that students are going missing from their classroom and begins to suspect Jerry may be a vampire.
This is one remake that isn't bad, by any means. It's not amazing, nor is it all that memorable, but it most certainly takes hold and doesn't let go. It's miles ahead of what passes for vampire flicks these days, and aims to rescue the genre from the sparkle-vision nightmare that has run rampant far too long. Vampires have been romanticized to the point of being neutered, and 'Fright Night' aims to bring the bite back.
Jerry comes to Charley's house the next night and complains to his mother, but Charley convinces her not to let him in. Reasoning that if there's no house, he needs no invitation to enter in order to claim his victims, Jerry ignites the natural gas in the house and blows it up. Charley, his mother, and his girlfriend, Amy Peterson, (Imogen Poots), barely escape with their lives, fleeing through the desert in their minivan. Jerry chases them with his truck, forcing them to crash. When their disabled car is then hit by another vehicle, Jerry kills the driver (played in cameo by Chris Sarandon). Jerry then attacks Charley, and is only stopped by being staked by Charley's mother (with a real estate sign stake). She then faints from a head injury sustained in the crash.
And Charley's right. The vampire in this movie (a bloodlicker named Jerry, played by real-life nighthawk Colin Farrell) is not a moral guy. Living on the outskirts of Las Vegas, he's a stripper-torturing, teenage-girl-perverting, Real Housewives of New Jersey-watching fang-banger who preys on single moms and brags to the cops that he's making the local women scream every night.
It's fitting that Charley's vampire neighbor puts a stop to his romantic night, because Jerry is a symbol of everything that's keeping Charley from sleeping with Amy. Jerry's the reason that Charley's mom keeps pounding on his locked bedroom door, demanding to know what's going on in there. (No, mom, honest! There's a rabid bat flying around the room, and I was just trying to shield Amy with my body!) Plus, Jerry's a real threat to Charley's sexuality. After he turns Charley's best friend "Evil Ed" (Stephen Geoffreys) into a vampire, the little guy offers to give Charley a hickey, right in front of Amy. If Amy suspects that Charley might be gay, that relationship more dead than Jerry is.
If teen sex is verboten in this movie, drugs are way worse, especially out there in Sin City, where everyone's a vampire, staying up all night and keeping their shades drawn during the day. Apparently, the only thing that can turn you into a vampire quicker than getting bitten is getting high. When Evil Ed first tells Charley that he's been out vampire-hunting, he admits that he's been doing drugs. Next time you see him, he's draining Vegas showgirls' veins. When two popular kids from Charley's school are sharing a joint in their car, Jerry immediately sniffs them down and turns them into walking corpses. Marijuana: It really is a gateway drug!
When Charley goes home after school, his mother (Toni Collette) introduces him to Jerry Dandrige, their new neighbor. Charley eventually remembers to meet up with Ed, who informs him that Jerry is a vampire. Charley becomes fed up with Ed and leaves. On his way home, Ed is harassed by a bully (Dave Franco). He manages to escape but is confronted by Jerry, who bites him. The next day, Charley realizes that Ed is missing and decides to go to his house to investigate.As Jerry begins to attack more people throughout the neighborhood, Charley sneaks into Jerry's house and finds out, that he keeps his victims in secret rooms. Charley manages to free one of his victims, but she burns the moment she steps into the sunlight during their escape. Charley goes to Vegas magician Peter Vincent (David Tennant), a supposed expert on vampires. Unfortunately, Vincent doesn't take him seriously, and kicks him out, leaving an angry Charley to deal with Jerry on his own.Jerry comes to Charley's house the next night and complains to his mother, but Charley convinces her not to let him in. Reasoning that if there's no house, he does not need an invitation to enter in order to claim his victims, Jerry ignites the natural gas in the house and blows it up. Charley, his mother, and his girlfriend, Amy Peterson (Imogen Poots) barely escape with their lives, fleeing through the desert in their minivan. Jerry chases them with his truck, forcing them to crash. When their disabled car is then hit by another vehicle, Jerry kills the driver (played in cameo by Chris Sarandon). Jerry then attacks Charley, and is only stopped by being staked by Charley's mother (with a real estate sign stake). She then faints from a head injury sustained in the crash. 041b061a72