Ouch, Charlie

FRIGHT NIGHT (2011)

Fright Night is a remake that isn't better than the original. But I'm not one of those people who think the original is sacred anyway. Albeit, Fright Night (1985) was a a very good film about a young lad in a suburb living with his single mother who finds out his neighbour is a vampire. Chris Sarandon played the vampire which is played by Colin Farrell now. No points for guessing who did a better job. Sarandon also makes a cameo in this film which comes during the film's most exciting action set-piece. The original film was not a film that was a really good film in itself, it went on to get a new life because it had a kind of movie magic. That magic I feel cannot be recreated, even if you hire (insert your favorite director name here) to direct. Movie magic itself is not created, it happens. A great director knows there's only so much he can control to create that magic, the rest is not in his hands.

Anton Yelchin plays the role of Charlie Brewster, the young lad. His approach to the character creates a sense of relatability. Colin Farrell, even though not as good as the previous Jerry, looks menacing enough for me to take him seriously. Toni Collete could have been used better. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is horribly miscast and the jokes fall apart here. Even though it is mildly funny, the major pitfall that Fright Night stumbles into is the character of Peter Vincent. (Peter Cushing and Vincent Price are two of my favorite actors, both played vampire slayers who I personally believe CAN actually hunt and defeat vampires). The character of Peter Vincent who was played by Roddy McDowell in the original was absolutely fantastic, not to mention extremely funny. Here, it's just annoyingly played David Tennant and even more inanely written. A better writer could have helped this film a lot. The setting of this film, on the other hand, is a curious one. Las Vegas, the city which is alive at night, sounds kind of like the perfect abode of the vampires. But sadly, they don't make full use of it.

But even after all these complaints, I found myself not hating the film at all. Maybe it had something to do with it the film not aiming too high. Even though I expected a wee bit more from Craig Gillespie, who made a beautiful film called Lars and the Real Girl (2007). I am a fan of fantasy/ horror/ science fiction films, basically anything which isn't real, hence I'd rather watch this over anything else that released this weekend. Although I'm pretty sure my inclination towards the genre isn't the only thing that made me like this movie. If you're looking for a bit of the good old entertainment, this film is not a bad option.

Note: The 3D here was actually good in parts. But mostly redundant, as it always is. The light levels here also are too dark and when it's a film about the creatures of the night, you better have a good reason for using 3D.

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