Fright Night Movie Review (1985)

Welcome to FRIGHT NIGHT!!! Most of you who’ve landed on this link know what we’re about to get into, if not, have a sit down and get uncomfortable. Before we dig in let’s talk some personal background on this film. Back in the 80’s the bulk of us kids were allowed to watch Horror movies by everyone including the school districts. During the Halloween season of 1985 I was sent home with a slip requesting permission to watch two Horror Movies for the Halloween celebration at school – the movies on deck to watch were Poltergeist and Fright Night. My mom signed the slip, stuffed it in my backpack and I was good to go! At the time I didn’t know anything about either of these movies, they were both new and hadn’t been shown on TV yet, so I was in for a treat. I don’t recall much about Poltergeist from the watch at school, the only thing I remember is several children crying and yelling. I do remember not really liking it, it just didn’t do anything for me, it still doesn’t. However, Fright Night was a big hit for me, I remember being immersed in the story and really loving all the characters, specifically the old guy in the film. It was quirky, campy and a bit kooky which was up my alley, it was also about Vampires which was my thing – by this time I was already knee deep in Hammer Dracula films, the Universal Dracula’s with Bela Lugosi and I’d already watched Salem’s Lot! At ten years of age, I’d seen the best of the Vamp films the world had to offer. I still feel this way, outside of a few choice movies, the best Vampire movies were done by 1985.

Fright Night is based on a 17-year-old kid named Charlie who’s a big Horror fan and he watches the local Horror Host, Peter Vincent every night as he hosts his own movies on his Horror show, Fright Night. One night while necking with his girlfriend Amy, Charlie notices the new neighbor in the window with a half-naked girl and then he sees fangs pop out and Charlie flips out. From here on things heat up, Charlie tells his girlfriend Amy, his best friend “Evil Ed” and Charlie even goes as far to seek out Peter Vincent from the Fright Night show. Peter thinks he’s a psycho and runs from him hastily and ignores him all together. It seems nobody is buying Charlie’s story, but he stays persistent, and he continuously watches the neighbors, and he notices them carrying out what looks like a body in a bag and then he calls the Police. Meanwhile Amy and Evil have offered to pay Peter Vincent to come over to the neighbors to prove to Charlie that the neighbor, Jerry isn’t a Vampire. Upon arrival Peter makes his grandiose entrance as if he were on the set of one of his films, he’s got his Vampire kit and all the works with him. None of Peter’s gimmicks prove that Jerry is a Vampire so while they’re all bidding their farewells Peter turns and pulls out his mirror and he sees that Jerry cast no reflection in the mirror. Peter, frightened drops the mirror and doesn’t realize that it’s been broken, and it leaves a piece behind. Peter leaves with haste and makes his way to his car and leaves in a hurry because he knows that Jerry is indeed a Vampire, he just couldn’t prove it. And this is the moment that you fully understand that Peter while a famous Horror actor is indeed a terrified scaredy cat. HA! While they were all at Jerry’s house, Amy catches Jerry’s eye and he recognizes her from long ago and he knows he must have her… So, as Charlie, Amy and Evil are walking home Evil decides to take a short cut they beg him not to, but he does anyway, a few moments later Evil screams and they go running after him only to find he’s played a terrible trick on them. As they walk away Evil continues to make his way through the back alleys and then he feels a presence and he starts to run until he realizes that he’s ran himself into a dead end and then Jerry enters the alley. Jerry offers his hand and tells Evil that he’ll never have to be afraid again if he’d only just take his hand and so he does and you hear a loud scream. Meanwhile Amy and Charlie are making their way home when they see that Jerry is stalking them, so they run into a night club only to be separated, with Amy being seduced by Jerry and whisked away. While all this is happening on the other side of the town Evil goes to Peter’s house and begs him to let him in that there’s a vampire out there trying to get him. When Peter lets him in Evil reveals that he’s been bitten, and he flashes his fangs and goes after him. Peter then takes a cross and puts it on Evil’s forehead burning him and sending him screaming wildly. A few moments later Charlie shows up begging Peter for his help and Peter’s frantically trying to get his belongings together to leave town and tells Charlie no, I’m terrified and I’m leaving. So, Charlie decides to go it alone. As he’s about to walk up to the door Peter shows up with all his gear and in his typical Horror clothing ready to do battle with the undead… If you’ve seen the movie, you know what’s in store, if not go and have a watch. I’m giving no spoilers here.

Next to Salem’s Lot, Fright Night is my favorite Vampire film and it’s pretty close to one of my favorite Horror films of all time. It’s a perfect example of just how campy and a Horror film can be. Most folks will lean on Jerry Dandridge’s character as the main character of the film, or Charlie as the young hero who refuses to let a bloodsucker live next door to him or maybe even perhaps a few folks will claim Evil Ed as the be all end all as his character uttered the most popular line of the film – YOU’RE SO COOL BREWSTER! To me, the most important character of the film is Peter Vincent, who’s lovingly portrayed by the legendary Roddy McDowall. This movie is dead in the water without him, he brings the cheekiness and the quirkiness to an insane level with his movements, dialect and his mannerisms. I hung on every word he spoke in the film, and it ignited a sincere love affair with his movies that I still carry around with me today. I’ve made Peter Vincent into a real-life character in my mind, I loved the character that much. I take every chance I can to celebrate and talk about him as he were a long-lost family member and in a lot of ways he is. He sort of reminds me of my grandpa, always well dressed and carried himself in a manner like they would back in the late 40’s early 50’s. My wife has this thing where she likes to name everything – plants, cars, trees and other random stuff around the house. When I got a new car earlier this year, she was anxious to come up with the name for it or for me to name it. And in true ME fashion I named the car, Peter Vincent – it’s crimson red, so I felt it fitting. Making it even more fun is the fact that there was enough room on the tag to have the words FRYT NYT put on it. You should’ve seen the young ladies face at the tag office. HA! So, if you see or hear a loud Dodge Challenger hauling ass down the road and the tag reads FRYTNYT it’s me and Peter Vincent, the fearless Vampire Killer!!!

While Fright Night didn't light up the box office, it's became a Cult Classic, there was a part 2 that carried on the story-line of Peter and Charlie, it's not quite as good, but it's still a must watch. Fright Night was also remade a few years back, the remake tends to butcher the original here and there and Peter's character isn't very good, but as a whole, the remake is still fun. And then there's a few B/C movies called Fright Night, Fright Night 2 and so forth, some have similar story-lines but they're not worth more than one watch. The point I'm trying to get across is that the original movie has spun quite a web of tributes, there's even a 2 part documentary film on both the first 2 movies, it's a great watch too. Fright Night is worth all the pageantry, it should be celebrated, watched and talked about often. I strongly recommend streaming, purchasing or whatever it is you do to watch movies these days, you won't be sorry.. All hail, Peter Vincent, the FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLER!