Film Review: Fright Night (2011)
Before Fright Night (2011) started showing at theatres in Australia, I went to a pre-screening of this dreadful remake.
Before going to the preview screening of the Fright Night remake, I decided to see the original from 1985. A personal ritual of mine before seeing a remake of an earlier classic. Most importantly to make sure it honours the original storyline and characters. Because a remake should always act as a tribute, not as an attempt to one-up the original.
After seeing the old Fright Night I was really looking forward to see the remake. Especially when Craig Gillespie (Mr Woodcock) directed it and Marti Noxon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) wrote the screenplay. And not forgetting, Anton Yelchin (Star Trek), David Tennant (Doctor Who), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad) and Colin Farrell (Horrible Bosses), to mention a few, playing the main characters.
My favourite characters in the remake were “Evil” Ed Lee (Mintz-Plasse) and Peter Vincent (David Tennant). They really made the film shine with their amazing character interpretation and acting. I also enjoyed that Jerry Dandrige (Farrell) is still a vampire with an unorthodox appetite for apples. Indeed a respectful hat tip towards the original.
Unfortunately the new Fright Night is yet another failed remake — in my eyes. Maybe my expectations were too high or that it deviated too much from the original film’s storyline — it seemed so haphazardly pieced together. However, I liked some aspects of the remake, I just can’t help but cringe a bit when admitting that.
Also the original was just a horror film, while the remake is advertised as a horror comedy. Unfortunately the humour seems awkward, misplaced and very low-brow.
Brewster had turned into a jerk who had become too cool for his nerdy best friend “Evil” Ed. Neither did he seem to mind his new “cool” friends bullying “Evil” Ed. Also his girlfriend, Amy, had gone from being the cute nerdy girl to one of the sexy but shallow cool girls. In the original, Brewster, Amy and “Evil” were all nerdy and very likeable characters which had important roles in the story. Unfortunately Brewster and Amy had become self-obsessed jerks and meaningless while “Evil” Ed was the only still likeable and interesting character.
And don’t get me started on Vincent (Tennant), which seemed like a lousy impersonation of an out of control and drunk Russell Brand. Very funny, I have to admit while cringing a bit, but just really tacky and over-done. Dandrige was not true to the sly original thanks to Colin Farrell’s rather awkward and lazy acting. Almost as if he didn’t really care about his character. Instead Dandrige had become this sleazy and creepy sexual predator.
The characters in the remake felt so random that the only essence taken from the original was the their names — sans personality.
I’m really trying to imagine how I would view the remake if I hadn’t seen the original from 1985 first, but then I start noticing even more aspects I did not like about the 2011 remake of Fright Night. Like not understanding why a vampire would drink beer and eat apples. And why no one seemed to notice that families were vanishing. However, it will make you jump in your chair a few times and it will for sure give you a few laughs. And the 3D effects are well done and worth seeing if you are into CGI. Just don’t expect it to be an amazing vampire film. And if you’ve seen the original Fright Night from 1985, make sure to lower your expectations, because only then you might enjoy it more than me.
More info about Fright Night: https://www.facebook.com/FrightNightAUNZ
