Sunday, August 11, 2013

Fright Night (2011)

Why do people insist on remaking movies that don't need to be remade?  Inevitably all it means is that we get a hollow shell of the original stripped of it's charm. Ah, but maybe these kids today enjoy the new fangled movies and don't want to watch some old 1980s horror film.  Well you should, kids... you should.

Charlie is dating Amy, a pretty girl out of his league, and has started hanging out with the popular crowd after ditching his geeky friends.  So when his old friend Ed tells him that Jerry (the new neighbor) is a vampire, Charlie is understandably skeptical.

Jerry paints his windows black and never comes out in the daytime.  But that's no big deal since they live near Las Vegas and a lot of people work nights and sleep during the day.  Recently a bunch of people have come up missing, but since Las Vegas is a transient town, that's not of concern either.  Ed rather astutely tells Charlie that is why their neighborhood is a perfect place for a vampire.

The next day Ed is missing. Charlie decides to keep an eye on Jerry and quickly starts to believe he really is a vampire.  So Charlie decides to go see Peter Vincent, a Las Vegas magician who fashions himself as a vampire hunter and has a collection of artifacts related to the supernatural. Conning his way into an interview by posing as a reporter, Charlie asks for help which leads Vincent to have him escorted out for being nuts.  Meanwhile Jerry decides to take matters into his own hands to rid his life of Charlie.

So overall, it's alright, but it doesn't have any charm. Also I question making the setting in a bright sunny desert as that takes away from the feel of it.






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