Classic Shotzz: Fright Night (1985)

Fright Night Trailer

Fright Night imdb link (cast list etc)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089175/

If the 1980’s are remembered for one thing, and one thing only, it’s got to be the wicked synthesised soundtracks that most of it’s horror films had. Fright Night is yet another example of the synth-infused-but-totally-awesome-for-it’s-time movie soundtracks that I and indeed thousands (if not millions) of us grew up listening to. Oh, yeah, the movie was good too.

Please note: The following review will contain spoilers – reader beware!

Charley Brewster is just your average high school student. Sure, he’s a massive fan of late night horror films, so much so that his every waking moment seems to be dedicated to acquiring and watching more horror movies, but that couldn’t possibly lead to an unhealthy obsession with the new next door neighbour could it?

Enter Jerry Dandrige, the new neighbour. He suave, sophisticated, and for some reason everyone seems to love him. Everyone except Charley anyway. Charley is convinced that he saw Jerry murder an extremely good looking overnight house guest (yeah yeah…), and then had his ‘man-servant’ get rid of the body. Naturally, Charley is the only person who witnessed the murder, and nobody (including his girlfriend Amy and his best friend ‘Evil’ Ed) believes him.

So where do you go when nobody believes in your Vampiric problems? Well, Charley’s first stop is his favourite television vampire hunter, Peter Vincent. Peter Vincent is not a real ‘Fearless Vampire Hunter’ as Charley assumes, just an actor and a washed up one at that. He is about to lose his nightly television show, his dressing room and all his props (not to mention his credibility). When Charley approaches him and asks for his help in dealing with a real vampire, he throws him out of his apartment, telling Charley that vampires do not exist.

In the meantime, Charley’s mother has invited Jerry Dandrige into their house for a drink. Oddly enough, it’s Bloody Mary night, because Dandrige’s vampire seems to be able to eat/drink human food (he’s seen later eating an apple). Also, he seems to be a fan of turtleneck jumpers. Just not really the coolest vampire ever, but for some reason everyone finds him irresistible. This ‘everyone’ now includes the police, Charley’s mother and Amy his girlfriend. Yes, Dandrige is also a creepy teenage-girl-pursuing type. But I digress.

Dandrige breaks back into Charley’s house after their drinks evening, and confronts him, telling him to stop spying on him or there will be dire consequences. Charley responds by stabbing him through the hand with a pencil, revealing Dandrige’s true nature (fangs, claws, yellow contact lenses), then flies off out into the night. Charley figures the next time Dandrige catches him will be his last night alive, so he grabs Amy and Ed and they run for it (for some reason) into the city. Ed gets separated from the other two, and gets transformed by Dandrige into some sort of Vampire/Werewolf/Ghoul thing, then goes to finish off Peter Vincent. Vincent thrusts a cross into his face, giving Ed a massive cross shaped facial burn, and through this realises that Charley was right about Vampires being real after all.

Charley and Amy end up being chased into a awesomely eighties dance club, where Amy is first seduced and then snatched away by Dandrige and taken back to his house. Charley is left alone, and his only hope for help is once again Peter Vincent. They put together a brilliant array of vampire destroying equipment and set off to save the damsel.

That’s basically the breakdown for the entire film. I have once again been quite vague, but you should know by now that that’s my way. A few more of the brilliant things about this film are as follows:

* Dandrige as a vampire – all bat wings, ugly and what-not
* Amy, suddenly acquiring long hair (apparently, eighties short hair is not cool for a vampire’s chosen bride)
* Dandrige’s henchman – be he human, vampire, ghoul or some other unknown entity, he does melt into green slime at the end.
* The mirror dance at the club, where we see Amy in the reflection, but not Dandrige.
* Amy’s expanding vampire mouth

There are loads more, but you really need to see it before the remake comes out this year. Then see the remake, because David Tennant and Colin Farrell are in it.

So, in summary: Fright Night 01 is a great 80’s horror flick, the special effects are pretty awesome for the 80’s, the storyline works, the soundtrack is just synth-infused enough to make it good, the acting was quite good and it remains one of my favourite teen-horror flicks from that time period.

Awarded: 3 Shotzz out of 5 – nicely done!