Welcome to Frrrright Night…(For Real)
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
We're all in for a most frightening night!
And now, for my favorite horror film of all time, Fright Night! I love this film, and probably for personal reasons more than the quality of the film itself. I think it says something about a person that they can tell you a favorite horror film and its A) over twenty years old, and B) not gory. But, I’ll say as I’ve always said…trust in Hitchcock. Why would I say that about this movie? Read on, but if you’re here reading this, then you probably already know.
Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) is your average teenage boy. He has a middling love of horror films, and watches them on the local late night horror movie show, Fright Night, hosted by old vampire killer actor Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall). He has a more than middling lust for his girlfriend Amy (No shit here…Married With Children’s Marcy, Amanda Bearse), but can’t quite seem to get to third, or even second base. His single mother (Dorothy Fielding) is a bit flighty, but caring for her son’s welfare. He’s even got a friend who’s so weird that he makes Charley seem normal in comparison, Evil Ed(Stephen Geoffreys). One night in the middle of a makeout session with Amy, Charley happens to look out the window, already proving he’s not normal. I know I wasn’t pausing to take in the scenery when I was his age. Out his window, Charley sees his new neighbors moving something that looks disturbingly like an ornate coffin.
Well, it doesn’t just look like a coffin…it’s a real fucking coffin. You know, for a vampire to sleep in? Said vampire is played to charasmatic perfection here by Chris Sarandon. He’s even got a houseboy…sorry, live-in carpenter/thrall named Billy Cole (Jonathon Stark) who guards the place in the daytime. After Charley directs what is obviously a hooker over to Jerry Dandridge’s house nextdoor, and she turns up dead, Charley begins his Rear Window investigation in earnest. And, yes, that’s the major Hitchcockian influence here, with some scenes being lifted entirely in this loving homage to the master. Once Charley starts running around screaming “VAMPIRE!”, no one will believe him, so he tries to enlist local horrorshow host Peter Vincent, who doesn’t believe him either. Meanwhile, Jerry is charming the pants off anyone Charley can go to for help! It is only after Peter’s convinced that we get down to some awesome vampire hunting!
When I was a young lad of a decade’s worth of years, my mother purchased a book at a drugstore to shut me up one day. That book was the novelization of Fright Night, which I read cover to cover repeatedly until the damn thing fell apart. One day, after a birthday party, she picks me up and says we’re going to the movies to see Fright Night. This was opening night for the movie, and apparently the local college had gotten wind of it, because the show was sold out, and the freaks were out that night. And whooping and hollering and clapping, and generally making this one of my favorite moviegoing experiences ever.
For all the good in Fright Night, the movie is a bit dated, with Charley wearing his big vest, and a showdown in a nightclub with 80s music that really has to be seen to be believed. For me, though, there’s two big scenes in the movie that I absolutely adore, and always will. When Jerry corners Evil Ed roughly halfway through the movie, it seems important to Jerry that Ed come willingly. So, he convinces him. What does he say to him? “They won’t pick on you anymore…or beat you up.” It still strikes the right chord with me, even now, almost 25 years later. The other scene is a seduction scene between Amy and Jerry, that Chris Sarandon imbues with a sadness, presumably at having survived so much longer than the women he’s loved.
See, it’s not what I’d call a throwaway horror film. From the Hitchcock touches (silouhettes moving around in front of curtained windows), to Peter Vincent convincing the Wizard of Oz to give him some courage, to the amazing climax, this movie is my favorite horror film for a reason. The music by Brad Fidel is awesome! Roddy McDowall IS the best vampire killer of all time (Take that Buffy Summers!). The special and makeup effects aren’t dated in the least, and when you get right down to it, who doesn’t want to see justice served? Even when the villain is just too damn cool?
So, welcome to Fright Night….for real.
Posted on August 9th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
This is way better than a brick & mortar esabtilshment.