Viewed in
2012
Formats
DVD
Premise
In the remake of the 1985 title, Anton Yelchin stars as a high schooler who finds out his neighbor, Colin Farrell, is a vampire.
Liked
Strong cast and entertaining performances.
Thoughts
I've never seen the original, nor do I plan to. But this version was quite fun.
What sold it was the performances. Much like how he surprised me in Horrible Bosses, Farrell effortlessly brought the funny, this time with a very sly take. He's has been carving out a nice comedic resume, especially if you go back and recall him in the overlooked In Bruges. If big Hollywood needed a movie with a gimmick (without a script), they should team up Will Ferrell with Colin Farrell, directed by the Farrelly brothers.
Yelchin was charming as the lead, who needed to be teenager-y yet resolute when it mattered. He was flanked by pros Toni Collette and always entertaining David Tennant. As a Whovian, Tennant's casting was my main reason to watch. McLovin was also very funny as Yelchin's best friend. I don't know if the same thing happened in the original, but his character arc was very amusing. The least accomplished of the cast, Imogen Poots, was beautiful but also delivered the spunk.
The story was silly with plot holes and bad movie physics abound, but the film makers knew that, and found the perfect balance such that the film didn't take itself too seriously without being farcical. People wanting to be frightened are looking in the wrong place here. I found myself smirking or laughing out loud multiple times thanks to some poking fun of vampire/horror genre and energetic moviemaking. Lastly, it probably relied on computer graphics a bit too much at the end, but whatevers.
Fright Night was silly fun, thanks to game performances, stylish execution, and some surprisingly decent writing.
