Fright Night (The Original)

Fright Night (1985)

Runtime: 106 minutes

Directed by: Tom Holland

Starring: Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse, Stephen Geoffreys, Roddy McDowall

From: Columbia

This is better than the remake, needless to say. I wax poetic about it below:

While it's only available for those that are Amazon Prime members, they recently uploaded a true rarity: an HD WIDESCREEN print of Fright Night Part 2. Due to nebulous rights issues, they did not make too many DVD's of the film almost 15 years ago before it was pulled, and even then the picture was bad and it was fullscreen. Until then people had to watch it on YouTube or track down bootlegs. Before I see the sequel I have to watch and review this first.

The plot is pretty simple: horror fan teen Charley Brewster discovers that a vampire and its assistant moves in next door into the creepy old house, and as he's a goof he boldly tells everyone of this, which goes as expected. Neither his girlfriend (whom he has a rocky up and down relationship with) nor his even nerdier friend EVIL ED believe him. Perhaps Brewster has always been a little screwy as he thinks asking horror film star turned horror TV host Peter Vincent for help.

To me, the movie is a blast. There's plenty of horror but there's also some romance and a few laughs along the way. The character of Charley is fine but it's the rest of the cast that is more memorable. Amanda Bearse is a delight as the poor girlfriend. Chris Sarandon is great as the villain; he fits both the suave nature of the vampire that captivates the women and the terrifying menace that is pretty frightening. It is made clear that this creature has supernatural powers and in particular is abnormally strong. Roddy McDowall is charming as Peter Vincent, who has to change from an actor who played characters that slayed monsters to a real life version of that. But personally Evil Ed was the true highlight. From his appearance to what he said, his clothing to the performance by Stephen Geoffreys, all of it was incredible. Truth be told, part of the high rating is solely due to that character.

The movie is 80's in the best ways: the plot, the tremendous practical special effects, and both the score & the soundtrack. Personally, I'll always favor something that has new songs from the likes of April Wine, the J. Geils Band and Autograph, but to me the music is pretty dope as I much rather listen to older tunes than the garbage that is popular now. In 2011 I watched the remake on the big screen; I thought it was “meh” and I imagine I'll feel the same way once I revisit that. I can say that the original is a must-see for 1980's horror fans.