“Who’s it gonna be tonight?” Fright Night (1985)

I recently got around to watching the 2011 remake of Fright Night, which I had been putting off for some time. The film features a fine cast of Toni Collette, Colin Farrell, and the late Anton Yelchin. It was an entertaining if unremarkable experience that had me pining for the original. So, I popped in a new 4K UHD version of the 1985 version and kicked back. Oh, what a joy!

The vampire next door

17-year-old high schooler Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) lives with his Mom Judy in the midwestern suburban town of Rancho Corvallis. What do we know about Charley? He struggles with trigonometry, alternates between spats and pledges of eternal love for his girlfriend Amy (Amanda Bearse), and is an avid consumer of Fright Night Theater.

Fright Night Theater is a classic throwback style TV show that serves up late night b-movie chillers (of questionable quality); it is curated by horror host Peter Vincent, played with just the right mix of winking humor and melodramatic flourish by the late and great Roddy McDowall. Vincent not only curates the films screened on the show but stars in many as the “great vampire killer.”

The film opens in Charley’s bedroom with Charley and Amy engaged in a hot and heavy make-out session. Soon into deciding to take their relationship to the next level, Charley spots the new neighbors, Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon) and Billy Cole (Jonathan Stark), carrying a coffin into their basement with seeming ease. Charley’s curiosity is piqued as he glimpses the first clue that something is not quite right next door.

The Dandridge home.

In the coming days and nights, Charley sees and hears strange and disturbing things: news reports of grisly murders in the area, screams in the night, and suspicious nocturnal activities from his new neighbors. He even spots Dandridge full fanged and in the act of biting down on the neck of a young woman. Charley is faced with one indisputable fact: his next-door neighbor Jerry is a vampire!

Jerry comes calling…

Sharp fangs, deaf ears

Charley tries to convince anyone who will listen—the police, Amy, his friend Ed, and his imperceptive if well-meaning mom, played mostly for laughs by Dorothy Fielding—that his neighbor is in fact a creature of the night. Alas, his efforts are all in vain. It does not help matters that Charley’s approach is that of a bull in a china shop; he barrels his way into one situation after another with a combination of hysteria and self-righteousness that can only be described as counterproductive.

Meanwhile the handsome and suave Jerry Dandridge is cool as a cucumber, ingratiating himself with Charley’s mom and securing that critical invitation to the Brewster home. Dandridge is not the pale, brooding vampire of classic horror cinema—nope, not this villain. Instead, he clearly revels in his double life as a stylish restorer of homes by day and an unapologetic predatory blood sucker at night.

Jerry, Amy, Charley, and Ed.

Dandridge is accompanied by his live-in carpenter and roommate Billy Cole, who doubles as Jerry’s protector and henchman. Billy often flashes a goofy, off-kilter smile while running inference for his master. It is an equal parts creepy and hammy performance.

Charley attempts to enlist the help of his friend Ed, who happens to be an even greater horror hound and Fright Night Theater fan. Ed humors Charley by offering up the tools of the vampire-fighting trade, including crosses, garlic, and holy water. The two have a sort of a strange, testy relationship. We learn that Ed is a socially awkward, picked-on teen that doesn’t have a lot of friends. While his shrill laugh is admittedly grating, we still feel for him as a loner trying to negotiate those challenging high school years.

“Welcome to Fright Night . . . for real.” - Jerry

It isn’t long before Jerry and Charley have their first full-fledged confrontation. I don’t want to spoil the scene but let’s just to say that Jerry (somewhat surprisingly) offers the teen an out but Charley refuses to take it.

Desperate and fearing for his life, Charley turns to the great vampire killer himself, Peter Vincent, who initially thinks the boy is mad. But in a very clever scene Vincent goes from debunker to believer with the help of a prop souvenir from one of actor’s earlier films.

“So far, everything has worked just like in the movies.” - Peter Vincent

Things ramp up dramatically from here as Jerry targets Charley and his loved ones through brute force, charm, and the power of classic vampire mesmerism. What follows are a series of set pieces at a night club and the Brewster home that culminate in an exciting monster-filled showdown at the Dandridge house. While Charley has his faults, cowardice is not one of them—he shows real pluck in his encounters with the vampire menace. Will Peter Vincent summon the courage to bring his vampire-fighting skills to bear and join Charley in his battle with the undead?

My two cents

Fright Night’s cast clearly understands the assignment as most of the performances effectively strike that horror/comedy balance. Chris Sarandon plays the haughty and cultured creature of the night to the hilt, perpetually unimpressed by his adversaries. He appears to be having a blast with the role of Jerry, often wearing a mischievous smile and sauntering around with airy self-assuredness. Jerry is frequently seen savoring a piece of fruit as he strides around his well-appointed house. This nice little touch suggests that Jerry clearly relishes both the finer and simpler things the human world has to offer. It also reminds us in more ways than one that feeding is central to his survival.

Not to be outdone, McDowall’s Van Helsing-inspired Peter Vincent is delightfully endearing, always dressed as if he raided Peter Cushing’s wardrobe on a Hammer film set. McDowall’s performance in this film sparks joy in my heart. He is committed to the role, down to his iconic wide-eyed and darting reactions to the collision of fiction and reality. His character represents a bygone era of classic monsters and stately gothic horror that was all the rage until horror cinema became more visceral and experimental in the 1970s. This period was then eclipsed by the slasher craze of the late 70s and early 80s. The popularity of the slashers and waning interest in gothic horror is referenced by Vincent himself in one of several meta moments in the film. In fact, this film joins the list of meta horror films such as Popcorn (1991), Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, (1994), and of course Scream (1997).

As for our teens, William Ragsdale is an entertaining, if at times frustrating, Charley. Despite bearing the marks of a problematic teenage boy who just wants some, he is also presented as an empathetic character who clearly cares about Jerry’s victims and the need to put an end to the supernatural carnage. His eventual friendship with Peter Vincent is played convincingly and brings a lot of heart to this quirky film. Stephen Geoffreys is well cast in the role of Ed. This is a character that could have easily been played as a one-dimensional eccentric sidekick; instead, Geoffreys infuses the role with real pathos. If I had to nitpick casting choices it would be that I did not find Amanda Bearse convincing as a teen. Bearse, who was actually 27 at the time, is probably best known for playing the Bundys’ nosy neighbor Marcy on the TV series Married . . . with Children (1987-1997). She is an odd choice here, and her performance in this film is rather tepid.

The film boasts excellent production design, practical special effects, and monster make up. Jerry’s home checks all the marks of an effectively spooky Victorian gothic setting. The house is enveloped in swirling fog at night, while the interiors are lined with dark wood and feature ornate Victorian furniture. But the true design standout is a beautiful circular stained-glass window that sits above a landing at the top of stairs. It is showcased prominently during part of the film’s climax as it frames a ferocious and menacing Dandrige. It’s a striking visual detail reminiscent of Bernard Robinson’s signature production design in many of Hammer’s classic gothic horror films.

The monsters (yes there are more than one) are wonderfully conceived: there are vampires with unnaturally long and thin fingers and nails, burning red or gold eyes, and impossibly wide mouths with long, jagged and uneven teeth; there are also a few shapeshifting creatures of varying shapes and sizes. This film is, at its heart, a monster flick and the makeup artists understood that well. But in a decade that did not hold back on splattery horror, this movie feels somewhat restrained aside from a few well-placed bits of of gorey goodness.

The very 1980s synth-heavy score is just right, suggesting both the allure and threat of vampirism. This film has a true theme song to take us into the closing credits. I love a good movie theme song, which is far less common these days. This catchy 80s pop tune is performed by The J. Geils Band (remember them?) and has been stuck in my head for the last week—just ask my wife and daughter.

I am impressed with the quality of the film Holland and his creative team squeezed out of a relatively low budget that was south of $10 million. The filmmakers also managed to pull off a rather successful horror/comedy, which can be a tricky thing.

Did you know?

Several super low budget b movies can be spotted playing on the TV in Charley’s bedroom, including Octaman (1971), the super cheap and not-so-subtle take on Creature from the Black Lagoon.

We love Roddy McDowall here are at Concentric Cinema. He has quite a few genre credentials including playing Cornelius in the first three Planet of the Apes films (1968-1971), Benjamin Franklin in The Legend of Hell House (1973), and Sam Conrad on a memorable episode of the original Twilight Zone, “People are Alike All Over” (1960). He also voiced (uncredited) the robot V.I.N.CENT in The Black Hole (1979), and reprised his role of Peter Vincent in Fright Night Part 2 (1988).

The name Peter Vincent was chosen as tribute to icons of classic horror, Peter Cushing and Vincent Price.

Chris Sarandon also has some genre cred, appearing in Child’s Play (1988) and voicing Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Sarandon also has a memorable supporting role in Dog Day Afternoon (1975), which we just might be covering in next year’s Cinematic Semicentennial Series.

How did I watch?
UHD 4K/blu-ray Sony Pictures

Cast (abridged)
Chris Sarandon – Jerry Dandridge
William Ragsdale – Charley Brewster
Amanda Bearse – Amy Peterson
Stephen Geoffreys – Evil Ed
Roddy McDowall – Peter Vincent
Jonathan Stark – Billy Cole
Dorothy Fielding – Judy Brewster
Art J. Evans – Detective Lennox

Credits (abridged)
Director – Tom Holland
Writer – Tom Holland
Music – Brad Fiedel
Production Designer – John DeCuir Jr.
Director of Visual Effects – Richard Edlund
Cinematographer – Jan Kiesser
Producer – Herb Jaffe
Production Company - Visitar Films
Distributor – Columbia Pictures

Running Time: 1h 46m

MMPA Rating: R

Recommendations Based on Fright Night

The Lost Boys (1987)
The Monster Squad (1987)

Supplemental

Check out this piece from American Cinematographer to learn more about how the creators achieved such excellent special effects sequences on a lower budget. Read this piece after watching the film to avoid spoilers.

Up Next— We visit a holiday classic sure to put in you in the spirit of the season!