Reviewed
by Lamar Kukuk
8/28/11
At
their worst, remakes are just a cheap excuse to make money: studios
are happy to tell their shareholders that they’re maximizing their assets
by making new money off an old property they own, while we all feel an
inexplicable tug to see something that reminds us of something else.
But at their best, remakes are like a good theatrical revival, a chance
for filmmakers to examine a popular story in the context of a different
era, and for good actors to try their luck at solid roles popularized by
their predecessors. When it comes to horror, it’s outrageously likely
that you’ll get the former: no genre is quite as enthusiastic to
steal your money while offering little or nothing of value in return.
But Fright Night, the popular mid-80’s vampire flick from writer/director
Tom Holland that gave Roddy McDowell the last major highlight of his distinguished
career, deserved better than an in-name-only knockoff. And, what
do you know, it gets it thanks to an exceptional Craig Gillespie-helmed
redo sparklingly updated by writer Marti Noxon, who should know a thing
or two from her days working on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Rather than filling Night’s iconic roles with “hot young talent”
that’s cheap and unknown, the filmmakers have assembled a terrific cast
that gives the story’s two meatiest roles to Colin Farrell and a beloved
genre icon mainstream American viewers will be getting their first look
at: former Doctor Who star David Tennant. Add Anton
Yelchin, as good as any young actor currently working in genre fare, in
the leading role, and you’re really on to something. It’s not that
Fright
Night has no issues (a key role is either miscast, misconceived, or
both), but once it’s built up a head of steam for one of the summer’s most
exciting climaxes, they’re easily forgiven, perhaps even by fans of the
seminal original.
Charlie
Brewster (Anton Yelchin) lives in a planned community outside of Las Vegas
with his realtor Mom Jane (Toni Collette). Time was, he was a pimple-faced
dork, but when he matured into a handsome kid, he took advantage of his
genetic blessing to throw over his old pals. But his former best
friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) blackmails him into helping investigate
strange disappearances: more and more kids aren’t turning up at school,
and he believes the Brewsters’ mysterious new neighbor Jerry (Colin Farrell)
is, well, a vampire. Charlie’s Mom and his girlfriend Amy (Imogen
Poots) are charmed by the guy with the blacked-out windows who never comes
out before sunset. After all, it’s Vegas; lots of people work all
night and sleep all day. But evidence mounts and soon the kid and
his bloodsucking neighbor are locked in a dangerous game of cat and mouse.
Charlie needs help, and where better to turn than to America’s most famous
Vampire Slayer, Las Vegas magician Peter Vincent (David Tennant)?
But after failing to convince the boozy entertainer, he’s running out of
options: politely declining to invite the neighbor in isn’t going
to keep the Brewsters safe for long.
Holland
wrote a terrific script back in 1985, and Noxon wisely sticks to Fight
Night’s three-act basics. The changes she makes are largely to
the conception of the location and characters, transporting Night
from the Amblin Era suburbs to our less certain world of neighborly isolation.
Since there’s really no such thing as a local TV Horror Movie Host like
McDowell’s version of Vincent, reimagining Tennant into a Criss Angel-style
magician with a vampire-themed act is a stroke of genius, and I liked the
little ways Amy is shifted from innocent bystander to member of Team Charlie
without sacrificing her pivotal role in the third act. The plot mechanics
by which Charlie is dating out of his league and has turned his back on
Ed and all he represents fearing the loss of his newfound social stature
are more problematic. Blame here falls on both Mintz-Plasse and the
filmmakers for failing to convince me that Charlie had actually lost anything
worth keeping: Ed’s more than a little creepy from the get-go, and
a nostalgic video Charlie watches of he and his old friends clowning around
looks like a lot of fun when you’re ten as opposed to an alternative life
we’d actually want him living now. While Amy’s friends are also a
pack of losers, she herself, as charmingly played by Poots, is a keeper,
and so it’s hard to choose against the only other likable teen in Charlie’s
world. But I did like the fact that Noxon’s script is the rare Hollywood
construction that actually understands the role personal appearance plays
in the world, as in a sharp moment when Charlie calls the cops to report
one of his neighbor’s screaming victims, and they’re only too happy to
assume that a guy who looks like Jerry is gonna make all the girls scream,
if you know what I mean…
This
is the first time I’ve seen Yelchin as a leading man, and he’s really good
at establishing that sense of a moral compass that’s often missing from
Teen Action Hero characters. And he absolutely crackles opposite
Ferrell, particularly in a wonderfully played scene where the two talk
about everything BUT vampirism on opposite sides of a door Charlie has
no intention of inviting Jerry through. Ferrell, who’s done such
an amazing job of reinventing himself as a character actor these last few
years, carves out a whole new vampire niche by playing him as both a creature
on the hunt and an alpha male, attributes one also expects to find in a
Vegas human. Collette’s inherent loopiness makes her a good choice
for stock mom characters like Jane because you’d never for a moment think
she doesn’t have a full life going on that we’re just not seeing.
And Tennant is superb: Vincent is the character that makes Fright
Night special, and while Noxon has added a few new wrinkles that make
his character a bit more contemporary (everybody always has secret history
with the characters they happen to meet in the movies now), the basic cowardly
fraud to action hero arc is can’t-miss. I really liked the way he
conveys Vincent’s pathetic life of lame hedonism in his high-rise apartment,
and then once he makes his decision to throw in with Charlie, the two of
them make a sensational heroic team. The last 20-odd minutes
are as good as any action movie’s this summer.
Fright
Night is in 3D, and while Gillespie doesn’t do nearly enough with the
dimensions of the world he’s created, he does know how to use the technology
for effect. The charred embers of dusted vampires drift in front
of our faces with as much true dimensionality as any 3D effect I’ve seen
in a while (add embers to snow on the list of go-to 3D elements).
And, for a change, he’s pleasantly willing to have a character throw something
through a window and let that object continue out beyond the screen toward
us. Yeah, yeah, it’s hokey and played and all that to actually use
3D for what it’s intended for, but we’re paying extra for the privilege,
so I’d like to get a few more things thrown at me, thank you. The
vampire effects stick to the memorably ooky design of the original Night
vampires (although the remake uses their vamp faces more sparingly).
As
we saw earlier this summer with Super 8, the
mostly-abandoned 80’s format of kids having their neighborhood invaded
by sci-fi and/or the supernatural has held up pretty well. By sticking
to the things that made its predecessor great, Fright Night gives
us a chance to check on the staying power of its plot mechanics and characters,
both of which are still looking good as vehicles for top talent to flex
their muscles. Even if you’ve never seen the original, I really recommend
it to fans of horror adventure. And I recommend checking out Holland’s
version as well. It’s a story worth remaking, and I look forward
to checking in with it again in another 20 years. |
