Fright Night
1985 / Tom Holland / AMC / Chris Sarandon
Quick Thoughts
This dude would instead spy on his neighbor rather than lose his virginity…
Lady fingers.
Why does he believe the Actor will actually know anything about Vampires?
Creepy age differences here.
This one gets a lot of praise from those who were teens in the 80s. The film is glossy and can be most easily compared to The Lost Boys from the same era. There are aspects of Fright Night that I would usually adore, but somewhere along the line, it misses its beat.
Charley Brewster is your all-American teen, who makes out with his girlfriend and watches too many horror movies. His two favorite hobbies are interrupted one night when a suspicious man and his coffin move in next door. Charley falls down a rabbit hole of vampire conspiracy and soon recruits his friends and vampire-hunting idol to come to his aid.
This dude sees two men carry a coffin and knows that one's a vampire within like 10 minutes of the movie starting. Once his evidence is bolstered his friends plead for the famous Peter Vincent to come to his rescue… Why would this teenager still believe that everything on TV is real? Like he's not crazy, one is a vampire, but he's not so smart either.
The practical effects are what put this film on the map, and those appear more so in the last 15 minutes than in the rest of the film. I really enjoyed the wax time-lapse effects, those scenes look so rad. If the 80's teeny-bopper films spark nostalgia for you, then Fright Night is worth the watch. I look forward to covering the remake later this month!
What's the scarier 80s teen vampire movie?
The Lost Boys
Fright Night