I’ve always loved Fright Night (1985) ever since seeing the iconic poster on video shelves gave me the heebie jeebies as a kid. I have a distinct memory of seeing a scene of it on TV when I was young and generally petrified of any horror movie – when Charlie Brewster (William Ragsdale) attempts to convince a cop that his new next door neighbour across the street is a vampire – and it creeping me out (along with the way that Australian TV would narrate with voice over and text in the late 1980s that a movie was for “adults only”). When I finally watched it many years later, I discovered that Fright Night was a perfect gateway horror movie for someone who was always afraid of them. The Columbia Pictures logo and same effects team (led by Richard Edlund) also ties it in my mind to the original Ghostbusters. Directed and written by Tom Holland, it’s a clear attempt to buck against the prevailing slasher trend of that era by investing old school horror hokiness with updated (for the time) gory and ghoulish special effects. With the character of Peter Vincent (Roddy Mcdowall), a horror movie actor relegated to hosting late night horror movies on TV like Vampira or Elvira, his name a homage to Peter Cushing and Vincent Price, there’s a love of Hammer Horror and Roger Corman productions here, which is served by the film’s sense of humour. With the Hitchcockian set up of Charlie witnessing the nocturnal habits of neighbour Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon), the film escalates the suspense by having Jerry reveal himself to be a vampire to Charlie and establish the inevitable night time showdown where Charlie has to kill or be killed. The character of Jerry Dandrige, along with his obedient servant Billy Cole (Jonathan Stark), is represented as a smooth, charming Richard Gere type yuppie bachelor. Rewatching Fright Night recently for Halloween, I was even more appreciative of what both Chris Sarandon and Roddy McDowall give to the film. Sarandon has a wry charm that makes the humour work while also retaining an underlying threatening seriousness that makes the suspense stick. And McDowall can be self-effacing and funny easily, but his open emotional quality gives certain scenes a much needed depth (the staking of Evil Ed as a wolf is such an amazing sequence with how McDowall acts opposite the special effects). Fantastic theme and synth laden score by Brad Fiedel and the soundtrack is packed with new wave jams, particularly in the energetic, fun sequence where Jerry dances with Charlie’s girlfriend Amy (Amanda Bearse) at a trademark neon-lit eighties night club. Stephen Geoffreys as Charlie’s friend has a nervous, unstable energy that seems almost unhinged. Stylish, creepy, funny and suspenseful, Fright Night is the original and the best. Recommended.
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