In case you haven’t heard, a remake of the 1985 movie, Fright Night, is in the works. Fright Night was, for me a classic vampire movie with fresh new twists and a few good starts. I first have my take on the original, then chat about bits and pieces about the remake.
Fright Night (1985) Review
-
Fright Night 1985 w Roddy McDowall and William Ragsdale
For me, 1985′s Fright Night, was the first vampire genre movie that tossed out classic myths. When Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall) put the cross in Jerry Dandrige’s (Chris Sarandon [Multiple Sarcasms, The Princess Bride*]) face and Dandrige grabbed the cross and told Vincent that he has to believe for it to work, I was floored! Up until then, a cross was the preferred method of protection.
Fright Night set the standard for me. Chris Sarandon’s portrayal of Dandrige was smooth as evil silk. While he played smooth, he exuded power. For the day, the effects were wonderfully engaging as well.
Fright Night 1985 w (L-R) Stephen Geoffreys, William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse and Chris Sarandon
The journey for Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale [Justified, What Just Happened, The Reaping]) from discovering that he had a vampire move in next-door, to having to confront him to save his girlfriend, Amy (Amanda Bearse, director and exec producer credits) from the hypnotic clutches of Dandrige all led up to one of the most frightening character transformations that to this day, still haunt my memories, and the classic vampire vanquishing of Dandrige via sunlight.
I never saw "this face" coming till she turned to face the camera!
If you recall, Amy was bitten by Dandrige and slowly started to become a vampire throughout the movie. In the end, her final transformation was point-on, and in that scene when Charley was telling her she’ll be OK, and then Amy turned to face him scared the living “sewer” out of me!
Fright Night endeared itself to my collection of classic favorites and I became an instant fan of Chris Sarandon. And though Stephen Geoffreys’ portayal of Charley’s friend Ed, who turned into ‘Evil’ Ed Thompson, was memorable… as was his death.
Fright Night Remake News
-
Back in 2009 DreamWorks Studios nabbed Marti Noxon (Mad Men, Joss Whedon‘s Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel; Private Practice, Grey’s Anatomy, Prison Break) to pen a new version of Fright Night. With that kind of experience under her belt, I’m not too worried about the remake getting worse. And the intent behind the remake was to keep the same comedy-horror tone.
Here’s the rest of the run down, from IMDb’s Fright Night listing :
Craig Gillespie (United States of Tara) is slated to direct…
Colin Farrell (Ondine, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, In Bruges) will play the vampire, Jerry Dandrige. How fracking perfect can that be?
Charley Brewster will be played by Anton Yelchin. You’ve seen Anton pley Kyle Reese in Terminator Salvation and Chekov in Star Trek.
Charley’s friend, Evil Ed, will be played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Red Mist from Kick Ass, Superbad, Role Models).
Fright Night with David Tennant as Peter Vincent
For me, the most anticipated appearance in the Fright Night remake will be that of Doctor Who’s David Tennant (TV’s Doctor Who, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, St Trinian’s 2: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold). Tennant will be playing Vampire Hunter Peter Vincent. Though in the case of this movie, it takes place in Las Vegas and Peter Vincent is a magician.
Up until that latest announcement, my scale of “Wanting To Go See” was at a 7. With the addition of David Tennant, my scale just skyrocketed to an 11 out of 10. I miss Tennant as Doctor Who, though Matt Smith is doing a wonderful job. But With the quirky Tennant playing the quirky Peter Vincent, I think the movie was just made for me.
Toni Collette cast in Fright Night remake
Other cast slated for the Fright Night remake include Toni Collette (United States of Tara, Mary and Max, Little Miss Sunshine, Evening) as Charley’s mom, Judy Brewster. Woof, mom just got hot!
- – -
With all that said and done, I have great memories of the original Fright Night and I’m not too worried about Marti Noxon’s writing though I’m not sure how Gillespie’s directing vision will work out. I hope well. The cast is developing and looking very promising. With David Tennant’s addition to the cast, I’m officially fully on-board with wanting to see this newest remake in the slew of remakes, Fright Night. I wonder who they’ll get to play Amy?
*The Princess Bride is another one of my other, all-time favorites.
-
