Fright Night

A modern update of Tom Holland’s classic 1985 horror film, Craig Gillespie’s Fright Night recalls a simpler, better time. A time when vampires slaughtered rather than pouted at the camera; when horror films could be filled with thrills not torture porn; and when roles involving bombastic British men with a penchant for leather trousers didn’t automatically mean the female cast members were in danger of being impregnated by Russell Brand.

This fun and slick popcorn horror follows Charley (The Beaver’s Anton Yelchin), as he deals with the normal trials and tribulations of teenage life. He has a beautiful girlfriend he fears is out of his league, his nerdy best friend Christopher Mintz-Plasse is annoyed that he has been abandoned for the cool crowd, and his new neighbour Jerry (Colin Farrell) is a blood-sucking vampire picking off everyone in Charley’s sleepy Las Vegas suburb. The usual.
Farrell chews the scenery (see what I did there?) as the predatory Jerry – “Jerry? What kind of vampire name is Jerry!” – playing up his bad-boy image by prowling and posing his way through the film like a panther in heat. Yelchin also puts in a solid performance, but it’s David Tennant who gives Farrell a run for his money in the fun stakes, playing a flamboyant Las Vegas magician and vampire expert who’s unwillingly recruited to help defeat the sucker.

Gillespie has a blast blending tones and styles to create something wildly exciting. Having perfectly balanced the magical and the melancholy in the comedy drama Lars And The Real Girl, here he masterfully mixes silliness, scares and self-aware jokes to create both a punchy modern film and an impressive homage to the witty original. Cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe’s visuals are a wonderful combination of smoky shadows, gory fight scenes and gimmicky 3D touches, as crucifixes, flames and blood are hurled from the screen.
For a fun night at the flicks, Friday night’s alright for frighting.