Fright Night (3D)
06th September 2011. Location: Cinema
"Low expectations are the key to enjoyment"
This maxim served me well, tonight. I went to see Fright Night mainly out of curiosity, to see what they'd done to the '85 original. Because as I recall, the original ain't all that. It's got some charm, but you wouldn't take it that seriously as a "vampire flick".
And the same goes for the remake. It's not a film to be taken too seriously, and it revels in that. The entire cast seem to be having a great time, hamming it up (Colin Farrell and David Tennant being the standout performances) in what's essentially a homage to the 1980's horror-genre.
The film's not set in the 1980's, but other than a bit of Google here, and a flash of smartphone there, there's an awesome Back to the Future feel to the whole thing (hi-tops, skateboards and pristine housing estates). The whole film is an adventure ride, and keeps its momentum from the word go, with very little in the way of introductions before the carnage starts.
You know how in the original, there was a bit of "is he / isn't he?" around the vampire thing? No time for that in 2011. Which works entirely to the film's credit. You pretty much know who'll live and die by the closing credits, but that doesn't matter; this is about the journey, not the destination.
There's plenty of blood, a little bit of gore, humour in light-and-dark doses, and most of the vampire effects are okay. The black-eyed mode works best, as the full on morphed-face looks too animated for my tastes. That said, I think it may be in tribute to the "big mouthed" originals. Do a Google image search for Fright Night 1985 and you'll see the effects I mean.
The Good: Constantly firm-paced, lean on the exposition, and reassuringly clichéd.
The Bad: As reassuring as the cliché is, everything's tidied up very neatly at the end. Meh.
The Ugly: It'd be nice to see Christopher Mintz-Plasse be cast in a role where he's not just being Fogell/McLovin. Again. He's good at what he does, but it's wearing a little thin.
The 3D: Nice in a couple of scenes, and plenty of things flying at the camera, but largely irrelevant.
After the credits: Nothing. Once the white-on-black names start to roll, you can leave.
Considering what it is, and that it should be bloody awful, this is great fun.
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
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