When one thinks of the “best film of the year,” a remake hardly comes to mind. These films seem to be the flavor of the decade and just won’t go away. They are usually cheap knock offs of the original made with more production values and less writing talent than the original. Occasionally though, a remake does come along that is well-made and may even be better than the original. Fright Night falls into the latter category. The film is so much fun that you’ll find yourself forgetting that it is a remake.
This new Fright Night follows the story from the original with a few minor tweaks. Charley (Anton Yelchin) is a regular teenager living in a Nevada suburb. He’s a bit geeky and is in love with the coolest girl in school, Amy (Imogen Poots). His former best friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) tries to get him to help in the investigation of their missing classmates. Ed thinks that a vampire is stalking their neighborhood and claiming the missing. Charley, as the voice of reason, doesn’t believe him. Ed believes that Charley’s new neighbor Jerry (Colin Farrell) is the vampire. At first Charley thinks Ed is crazy, but Jerry’s behavior convinces him and a magician/vampire hunter named Peter Vincent (David Tennant) otherwise. This is when Charley decides to declare war on his neighbor.
Fright Night is a coming of age story in the truest sense. Charley starts out a bit immature and innocent. He grows a little bit each time he faces Jerry and survives. The scene in which he fails to save a woman from Jerry’s house after watching him try to eat her, is when Charley finally gets a push out of childhood and into adulthood. Charley’s suburb is completely isolated in the Nevada desert, and Charley is completely isolated by knowing the truth. Through this isolation, it becomes clear that Charley is the only one capable of saving his friends and family.
It is so refreshing to see a vampire film that makes the vampire out to be what it is: a monster. With the flood of Twilight films and many others like it, we have forgotten what vampires are all about Fright Night shines in its portrayal of the monster. This film doesn’t make the vampire a misunderstood victim; there is no secret vampire society, no vamp clubs, and certainly no sparkling. The vampire in this film is evil, scary, and will stop at nothing to kill Charley and everyone in his neighborhood. He is a fiend and an animal.
This is a horror film, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The filmmakers were not afraid to have fun with the story and play with the comedy of the horror. Ed and Charley add a good amount of comedy to the film, but Jerry the Vampire can be just as funny as he is terrifying. This is what places it among the best films of the decade: it is fun and isn’t afraid to be. There are so few horror films out these days that allow themselves to make the audience laugh before making them cry.
The casting for this film was perfect. Anton Yelchin is one of the best actors of our time. He knows exactly how to play a teenager and has just the right amount of sarcasm in his voice, which helps make the character believable. David Tennant is the second most enjoyable role in the film. He steals every single scene he is in. It doesn’t matter what is going on in the scene, our eyes are attached to whatever Tennant is doing. He brings such life to Peter Vincent that we stop seeing Tennant and believe that this is a real person. The best performance in the film has to go to Colin Farrell. His performance as Jerry was a complete surprise. Farrell is a gifted actor, but not the best choice for a vampire. His performance is dynamic on screen and makes one wonder why he was ever doubted to begin with. Farrell should be looked at as the next face of the vampire community. He is the best screen vampire since Duncan Regehr in The Monster Squad.
Fright Night is easily the best film of the year and the best vampire film since The Lost Boys. It shows what a vampire story should be about: slayers killing monsters. The film doesn’t feel like a remake, it stands completely on its own, and therefore it is unnecessary to compare it to the original. This is not an easy task for a remake to do as many of them fail and are forgotten about in a year or two. Fright Night, on the other hand, will be around for years to come. In our new world of teeny-bopper vamps and girls with an eternal crush on Edward, it is nice to know that Charley is out there ready to give him the stake.
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