Wonderful! Clever! Funny! Original! Yes, these are just some of the words I can't apply to "Fright Night", a very lame attempt to fuse horror and comedy together, that has all the suspense and chills of 'The Flintstones Meet Rockula And Frankenstone', and humour silly enough to impress Elvira.
It doesn't help that the film contains all the standard vampire clichés - wooden stakes, crosses, the seductive power of vampires, etc. You're almost led to believe these are being satirised, yet at other times they are taken seriously when it's time to dispatch the undead. I've never been entirely successful at taking vampires seriously, and throwing the clichés at me is more likely to elicit a groan than a gasp. To be fair on 'Fright Night', I would imagine that a lot of its fans saw it when they were kids, which no doubt left a strong imprint that paints it in shades of rose. Trying to watch it once you're beyond the age when McDonalds is considered gourmet food is only going to have less impact. I can certainly list off personal favorites that fall into this category. Ironically, I did watch 'Fright Night' as a kid, but somehow, whatever effect it had on me didn't stay along for the ride two decades later.
I will give a thumbs up though to the special effects. Good creative practical wizardry beats cgi any day, and 'Fright Night' delivers the best 1985 had to offer. I also enjoyed seeing Amanda Bearse in something other than 'Married...With Children', giving a wonderfully 'earnest' performance. Indeed, all the acting was competent enough, although Stephen Geoffreys' 'Ed' made me realise Dustin Diamond's 'Screech' *isn't* as irritating as you can get. Chris Sarandon is no Christopher Lee, but he does know how to combine 'evil dead' and seductiveness effectively.
Overall, while I certainly wouldn't call 'Fright Night' a dead loss, it fails to sufficiently amuse or frighten. However, the production values are excellent for the time.
It doesn't help that the film contains all the standard vampire clichés - wooden stakes, crosses, the seductive power of vampires, etc. You're almost led to believe these are being satirised, yet at other times they are taken seriously when it's time to dispatch the undead. I've never been entirely successful at taking vampires seriously, and throwing the clichés at me is more likely to elicit a groan than a gasp. To be fair on 'Fright Night', I would imagine that a lot of its fans saw it when they were kids, which no doubt left a strong imprint that paints it in shades of rose. Trying to watch it once you're beyond the age when McDonalds is considered gourmet food is only going to have less impact. I can certainly list off personal favorites that fall into this category. Ironically, I did watch 'Fright Night' as a kid, but somehow, whatever effect it had on me didn't stay along for the ride two decades later.
I will give a thumbs up though to the special effects. Good creative practical wizardry beats cgi any day, and 'Fright Night' delivers the best 1985 had to offer. I also enjoyed seeing Amanda Bearse in something other than 'Married...With Children', giving a wonderfully 'earnest' performance. Indeed, all the acting was competent enough, although Stephen Geoffreys' 'Ed' made me realise Dustin Diamond's 'Screech' *isn't* as irritating as you can get. Chris Sarandon is no Christopher Lee, but he does know how to combine 'evil dead' and seductiveness effectively.
Overall, while I certainly wouldn't call 'Fright Night' a dead loss, it fails to sufficiently amuse or frighten. However, the production values are excellent for the time.