Review of Fright Night (1985) by Allan C — 10 Jun 2016

Funhouse type of horror film about teenager William Ragsdale realizing his new neighbor is a vampire. His friends, Amanda Bearse and Stephen Geoffreys as Evil Ed, don't believe him but humor him by enlisting the help of monster movie TV show host to help him kill the vampire, a terrific Roddy McDowall playing a Peter Cushings-like actor who's fallen on hard time.

The slick vampire is played by Chris Sarandon, who will forever be the evil prince in "The Princess Bride." The film was written and directed by Tom Holland, who I will forever be impressed by writing a smart sequel to a film that never should have had a sequel with his script for "Psycho 2.

" Holland brings a pitch perfect tone to the film that is at once funny and playful, but also suspenseful and scary in all the right places. "Fright Night" is a smart and funny horror film that will please both casual and hardcore horror fans, though it's still not quite what I'd consider a classic.