Fright Night

Vamping it up in Vegas

Obviously this is the season for horror movies, as yet another Fright Night arrives with its complement of scary shocks and grisly deaths. Credits open to thunderous noise and thumping music setting the course for the shivery thrills to follow. We realise things are not looking too good in bland suburban Las Vegas, as we're plunged into a deathly house invasion by a monstrous thing we don't see clearly.

Actually this is one of the most effective scenes in this tongue-in-cheek reworking of Tom Holland's 80s shocker which rather predicted things to come. Today we're used to True Blood, Twilight, and similar yarns of vampires integrated in modern society. Back in the 80s vampires were mainly Gothic aristocrats living in remote castles and obeying Bram Stoker's traditional rules of behaviour.

In the new version, pupils are disappearing from high school at an alarming rate. Geekish student Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), who’s much into vampire lore, becomes totally convinced the mysterious man living next door to his friend Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) and his mother Jane (Toni Collette) is one of the malignant undead.

This maligned neighbour with the unprepossessing name Jerry (Colin Farrell) isn't bad looking, vaguely like a revived Elvis with suspect beetling eyebrows. Compared to Count Dracula he's a bit of a let-down, yet not for long. Young Ed soon learns to his cost that tackling modern vampires with crucifixes and such old time remedies isn't good news. Amusement comes from the contemporary vampire not following traditional conduct rules.

Charley enlists the aid of Peter Vincent (David Tennant) - the name being derived from Peter Cushing and Vincent Price stars of vintage horror films. Vincent, a boozy egotistical Las Vegas showman, purports to have arcane knowledge of vampires, but seems loath to help Charley, and his luscious girlfriend (Imogen Poots). Poor Charley simply can't convince the police or others of the danger lurking in the house next door. At last Vincent is forced to come on board, leading to the Grand Guignol final act of cheerfully out-of-control mayhem.  

Anton Yelchin (The Beaver) has to move from disbeliever to zealous 'Van Helsing' style vampire hunter. He manages this rather well, making a suitable opponent for Colin Farrell (Horrible Bosses) in his chilling portrayal of murderous intent without conscience. David Tennant (Dr. Who - TV) plunges into his extroverted role with wild abandon, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Kick-Ass) does his usual thing effectively, while Toni Collette (United States of Tara - TV) is fine as the skeptical mother.

The script verges on foolish at times, perhaps not the intention of writer Marti Noxon of Buffy fame, yet rather watering down some of the actors' dramatic efforts.  Admittedly it's hard to be Robert de Niro with a set of fangs in your neck.

There are genuine shocks hammered out by the director Craig Gillespie who gave us the quirky Lars and the Real Girl. While he mostly keeps the thrills happening, he misses in a couple of dull patches. Because we see so much of vampires on screens both large and small, they're losing mystique with over-familiarity; lacking the dark dignity and frisson of the old days. Now they even sprout extra sets of teeth thanks to CGI, with 3D enhancing the startling special effects.

Bottom line: there are enough visual jolts to keep you awake, and droll humour adds to the entertainment value. While not my favourite vampire movie, Fright Night certainly has its moments, including one particularly gruesome shock.  It also makes ironic use of earlier legends and superstitions. Fright Night does what the title suggests, and should appeal to followers of the True Blood series.

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