The Film: Fright Night
The Director: Tom Holland
The Cast: William Ragsdale, Roddy McDowell, Chris Sarandon.
Release Date: August 2, 1985.
Last time out I mentioned that The Lost Boys - despite its oily, saxophony, goodness - was not my favorite vampire film of the '80s. That title must belong to the ridiculously awesome flick that is Fright Night.
Fright Night is the story of young Charley Brewster, a teen who enjoys trying to snog the future Marcy Darcy, hanging out with a dude named Evil Ed, and watching former horror star Peter Vincent host horror flicks on a TV show called Fright Night. Charley also has some voyeuristic tendencies, and as he spies his new neighbor with a beautiful young woman one night...he begins to think said neighbor is a vampire.
The key to Fright Night - which plays a little like the teenage horror version of Rear Window - is Roddy McDowell as Vincent. He hams it up beautifully as the Peter Cushing-esque hero who doesn't really believe what's going on in the real world. Like Targets, which I mentioned earlier this month, this is a film that looks at the differences between the Gothic horror world we used to know and the changes in society during the latter part of the 20th Century. It's a fun horror flick with a lot of comedy, and I recommend it to anyone.
