Review of Fright Night (1985) by Amanda P — 17 Aug 2011

After I finished reading the truly horrible script for the 2011 remake of Fright Night I found myself with a new appreciation of the original movie.

Peter Vincent is probably the most enjoyable character in this film. Roddy McDowall stole the show as the slightly cowardly TV horror host who grows a spine and rises to be the heroic vampire killer he had always pretended to be. The soundtrack is incredible. The acting is brilliant.

I have always loved Gothic Horror, particularly the old Hammer horror films such as what Peter Vincent shows on his TV show. Not only do I not see a purpose in the Fright Night remake but I feel it fails on my many levels where the original excels. The vampires of the original Fright night had the powers of Dracula, himself. They could turn into horrible little bats, or wolves, or mist. They could enthrall human wills and could show up on film as a human might. In the remake they have no such abilities and this is not so-well compensated by an excess of explosions.

The writer of the remake claims that horror movie hosts don't exist anymore. Not only is this not true but there are more horror movie hosts on TV AND Internet today than there ever were on TV in 1985. Elvira's Movie Macabre, Mystery science theater 3000, Nostalgia Critic, just to name a few... I think they made a huge mistake in changing Peter Vincent to a nearly unrecognizable stage magician in the remake. If anything the movie host is more relatable now than ever before.

Skip the remake, stick with the original. It makes more sense. It has more accessible characters. Peter Vincent actually has depth rather than the show pretense of depth with the added backstory given in the remake. Charlie is a lot nicer and a lot more sympathetic in the original. And this one had memorable and catchy songs on the soundtrack. The vampires are more frightening while at the same time more charming and strangely sympathetic while also terrifying and deadly. The humor isn't forced and there's no obnoxious product placement. The remake... has none of these qualities. This is by far the superior film. Skip the remake, kids. Stick with the original!