Starring: Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse, Roddy McDowall, Stephen Geoffreys Directed By: Tom Holland Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC Label: Sony Pictures Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: September 07, 1999 Running Time: 106 minutes Theatrical Release Date: August 02, 1985
Product Description: When a teenager learns that his next door neighbor is a vampire no one will believe him. System Requirements:Starring: Chris Sarandon William Ragsdale Amanda Bearse Roddy McDowall Stephen Geoffreys and Jonathan Stark Copyright: 1985 Columbia/Tristar Running time of 106 minutes. Widescreen enhanced for 16X9 TVs; Pan & Scan. English Dolby Surround French language. English French subtitles. Closed captioned Theatrical trailer.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: R UPC: 043396056299 Manufacturer No: 05629
It is a gross oversight if this movie is not in your collection. Cinematic beauty? Ground breaking special effects? Acting tour de force? You will get all that and more in this epic tale of vampirism, debauchery, and haute couture. Allow yourself to sit back and be taken away on a journey of excitement and fright as you prepare to sleep with the lights on for weeks to come!
Maybe it has been some time since you have seen a truly great motion picture and you have given up on the art form. Maybe you thought of watching Fright Night but decided to do something else. Well let me tell you, nothing, NOTHING, should keep you away from this absolute masterpiece. Buy a copy for every day of the week!
Welcome to Fright Night! Stunned by the overall positivity reflected in the reviews, I decided it was finally time to see Fright Night, a glistening slice of 80's horror cheese I had yet to feast my eyes on. Fright Night is indeed an fine example of a teen horror/comedy hybrid flick, vampire themed in this case, however I feel that it's a tad over estimated as far as this kind of thing goes.
Fright Night tells the tale of Charlie Brewster, your average high school guy with a tendency to let his imagination run away with him. When a new neighbor moves in next door, Jerry Dandridge, he can't help but notice a coffin being moved into the house. When Charlie is snooping around and sees Jerry biting the neck of a young woman in the window, he is convinced that Jerry is a vampire. In a rather predictable fashion, this sets Charlie off into a frenzy of trying to convince everybody that his neighbor is a vampire, and naturally nobody believes him. In desperation, he enlists the help of television vampire killer Peter Vincent along with his girlfriend Amy and weirdo friend Evil Ed to prove once and for all that he is for real. As provoked Jerry begins claiming his friends as victims, Charlie and Peter prepare to take the vampire down for good.
One thing I will say about Fright Night is that it features a great cast. Chris Sarandon really shines as Jerry Dandridge the vampire, he really makes the character dark and menacing despite the the fact that the premise of a typical vampire is a rather redundant one. Amanda Bearse (Yes, the same one from Married with Children), also makes for a great female interest that you can actually sympathize with. However nobody manages to outshine Roddy McDowall as Peter Vincent the vampire killer, at least in terms of good taste, which brings us to Evil Ed. Stephen Geoffreys' Evil Ed character literally makes your flesh crawl with his awkwardness and genuine weirdness. He appears to be around 17 or 18 years old, yet his voice is more like that of a young boy's...The character is very energetic, lots of hysterical giggling...With his spiky 80's hair and greasy complexion, he's just truly uncomfortable to watch.
Overall Fright Night is well acted and features some nice looking special effects during the few gory moments it has. It's a decent teen horror flick, but to me that was about the extent of it. As a horror/dark comedy film I can understand what it was aiming for, the problem lies somewhere within the fact that I wasn't scared and I certainly didn't laugh. If not for a moment of brief nudity, Fright Night most likely would have had a PG-13 rating. It will prove to be great watch on a dull Friday night at home, but nothing particularly remarkable or life altering. I liked it enough to check out the sequel. Thanks for reading!
Stands the test of time; a very fun film. Not only is it the ultimate trip back to 1985, but the cast could not be any more enjoyable and Fright Night winds up being a totally original, even at times creepy -- adolescent take on vampires. Chris Sarandon ignites the screen every time he shows up and Amanda Bearse couldn't be any more charming. Shot in Panavision with Richard Edlund FX and a great new-wave soundtrack (which is worth $$$ on eBay these days), this is not a cynical, sleazy teenage POS like we see in the 2000s (e.g. Disturbia, which has a very similar plot).
Watching Fright Night I was kind of reminded of another movie from 1985 -- Back to the Future. This was a transitional time from the huge Sci-Fi/Fantasy of the late-70s & early-80s into the more lighthearted and comedic turn a lot of genres were to take for a while. The big franchise sequels and superhero / TV adaptations were years away. Owing nothing to these conventions, Fright Night is a really smart script that understands a lot of its genre's tricks and has fun with them.
Must See Movie! This is a must see movie for anyone who wants to be entertained and scared at the same time. Chris Sarandon did an excellent job as the vampire, Jerry Dandridge. Really awoke me to what a wonderful actor he is.
Another 80's Classic Great Vampire flick, with lots of "wink- wink" humor. Very well cast, very 80's, very entertaining.
Anything Goes Trivia
Last Kiss
Megaton Man
Trevor
