‘Mr. Vincent. I’ve seen all of your films. And I found them… very amusing...’
The ’80s was a bit of a golden era for vampire movies. The Lost Boys, Near Dark, The Monster Squad, Vampire’s Kiss… and, of course, Fight Night. The latter film was one of the VHS boxes that terrified and exhilarated me as a kid. I’ve no idea why it’s taken me so long to watch it. Indeed, I saw the subpar 2011 remake years before sitting down to watch the source material. Coming slap bang in the middle of the ’80s, Fright Night is a glorious time capsule of a wonderful decade for cinema. It doesn’t suck…
Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) suffers the misfortune of having a vampire move in next door. Even worse, the vampire (Chris Sarandon) is incredibly handsome and charming and he has designs on Charley’s girl Amy (Amanda Bearse). After getting nowhere with the police, Charley enlists the help of his weird friend Evil Ed (Stephen Geoffreys – who spends the entire film laughing maniacally) and TV vampire killer Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall).
The debut of writer-director Tom Holland (Child’s Play), Fright Night is a twisted vampire fable that takes a well-worn genre and imbues it with a breathless enthusiasm for the vampire myth. The key here is the casting and the performances. It would appear that Holland doesn’t have much of a budget to work with (although the practical effects still hold up today) and so he relies on Ragsdale and particularly Sarandon to sell the movie. The latter was born to play a suburban vampire. Sexy, menacing and often hilarious, this is Sarandon’s movie more than anything and it is a joy to see him fit seamlessly into such an entertaining role. Elsewhere, experienced screen thesp McDowall never appears to be phoning it in, and the whole cast shares an irresistible chemistry that ensures that the occasionally ropey script never becomes too much of a distraction.
The first half of Holland’s screenplay is as good as any of the rash of ’80s vampire movies, it is only the too-long and repetitive third act that lets the film down. Once it starts to play out like an action movie, some of the magic is lost. Having said that, Fright Night is undoubtedly an unmissable movie for fans of the vampire subgenre and it’s a shambles that it has taken me so long to get around to it. A charming ’80s classic.