Review of Fright Night (1985) by Nathan H — 16 Jul 2010

Just decided to re-watch "Fright Night" after 15 years or so...maybe longer? And while it won't necessarily hold up for the Millennial/ADD Generation, I still think that it's a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon with a lingering wine-induced headache.

"Fright Night," though, is fun to watch/re-watch because it is part of the last great wave of horror B-movies from the mid-'80s. Yes, filmmakers will always continue making tongue-in-cheek B-movies, but right now, the budgets are way too big and the special effects way too advanced. "Fright Night" utilizes the same prosthetics and latex and rubber makeup that we see in "Gremlins" and "An American Werewolf in London" and "Evil Dead," the sort of monster effects that are laughable and visceral all at once. Yes, it's fake, but damn it, they're trying! And we see the actors struggling to make it all look real, and we know that they're touching the rubber monsters, or that they're covered in real green slime (unlike the CGI monsters/gore that we see today).

Yes, "Fright Night" is guilty of the 1980s obsession with fire-in-the-background-and-bad-pop-music-playing lovemaking scenes, and yes, there are moments when the camera lingers on a particular expression (or monster) for far too long, as if they want to make sure they milk the sets and effects for all that they're worth. If this was made today, same script, it would be about fifteen minutes shorter.

But hell, Saturday afternoons are for B-movies, and while "Fright Night" might not be "Gremlins" or "Lost Boys," it's still a good time.