It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall), a B-class actor performing in the cheap TV show Fright Night, mentions that "the kids today, don't have the patience for vampires. They want to see some mad slasher running around and chopping off heads." This explains the fate of the vampire films in the 80s. Even though "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" saved them a little bit in 1996, they have outlived themselves. Throughout the history you can see a lot of vampire films. If I am not mistaken the first vampire film "Nosferatu" was made in 1922, and after that, vampires conquered cinema and became a trend in horror genre, but gradually lost their territory and replaced by some sick people with masks running around killing people. Directed by Tom Holland, "Fright Night" is a cult film in this genre. It has a runtime of 106 minutes, and promises you an action-packed horror film. "Fright Night" is also the directorial debut of Tom Holland who is mostly known for his directing career in Tv series. "Fright Night" is about a teenager who thinks his neighbor is a vampire and starts to follow him around until he gets himself into trouble.I have seen "Fright Night" and it's Sequel "Fright Night 2" several times because as I mentioned above, it is a cult film in its genre and always a pleasure to fill a rainy night with. Perception of a horror, of course, depends on a good story, location, soundtracks, effects and makeup. However, I have always believed, it also depends on the external factors like what time you are watching it or how is the weather outside. Even though you are watching the best horror film at a beach in the mid-summer day, most probably you are not going to get what the film is trying to give you. If you like to get the full picture of a horror film, you should watch it in late hours and possibly with a storm outside. External conditions are as important as the horror film itself. The last time I have seen "Fright Night" it was after midnight, and there was storm outside and I have enjoyed it like the first time. This is a film I would never get bored of. Because from the acting to the soundtracks, from makeups to costumes, "Fright Night" carries all the symptoms of 80s. Its sincerity is the film's best feature. You can find the sincerity principle in a lot of films that were made in 80s, and those films have heavily affected cinema today. This kind of films really want to give you something. They want you to share their story. Watching this kind of cult films are going to give you strong ideas about how cinema is shaped based on 80s. The same thing applies for 80s films as well, they have been shaped by earlier ages of cinema. This is an unavoidable circle and influence.Vampires are undead, they sleep during the day and hunt during the night, and if they suck your blood you also turn out to be a vampire. They don't like garlic, holy water or crosses if you hold them with faith and they don't cast a shadow in the mirror. Other than these, they are elegant creatures. They know how to dress and walk, they know how to smile and talk, they are charming and highly educated. These features make them perfect hunters because human beings are generally attracted to these virtues. Most of these distinctive marks are references from Bram Stoker's Dracula, and some of them have been developed by cinema and literature. Thanks to that brilliant novel, Vampires are born. It is important to have a general knowledge about vampires before having a look at the main vampire in the film, Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon). I am sure his assistant is not human, but he is not vampire either. Chris Sarandon has all those features I have mentioned above. His charm as an actor makes him very suitable for the job. The way he looks, talks and dresses are all matching with the original description of vampires. I have enjoyed his acting, and I am very happy to see that director respects all the classic features of the vampires and doesn't do a thing to change them. The supporting roles have a way of completing the main character. Even though William Ragsdale, as Charley, has more scenes, Sarandon leads the film.Director tries hard to make a good horror film. He partially manages to achieve this by showing the transformation of the vampires or their death, with acceptable makeup, but I believe that could have been done better. "Fright Night" is also rich with soundtracks made by Brad Fiedel. It is a classic vampire film and one of the best of its own genre. To track the progress of vampire films, Fright Night is a must watch.

'Fright Night (1985)' kicks into gear in the second half, gleefully providing those hammy 'hammer horror'-style pleasures only a campy cult movie of this style could provide. It culminates in a finale wrought with knowingly ostentatious performances and imaginatively gooey special-effects - made all the more charming by their slightly fake facade - before it flies off into the night with naught but a wink and a grin to let you know it was in on the joke all along. 6/10

Oh man, guys. GUYS. This is one of my FAVORITE MOVIES OF ALL-TIME so you're about to get quite an earful. I grew up watching this movie and it still gives me the warm fuzzies. The first time I re-watched it as an adult was like zooming right back to being 10 and watching it at my parents' old house with my brother. I have since re- watched it maybe 4 more times.Fright Night was director Tom Holland's directorial debut inspired by a thought he had about a kid who was a horror movie/TV fan becoming obsessed with the idea that his neighbor was a vampire. He fleshed it out a bit more and then went to work on casting and getting his team together. Part of what I love about the back story behind this movie is how many people weren't initially super intrigued (including Chris Sarandon, one of the leads), but once they saw just how enthusiastic Holland was and how solid the story was in his mind, they jumped on board and ended up loving the process and the finished product. He couldn't get Vincent Price to agree to star, though. The Peter Vincent character was supposed to be a mash-up of Vincent Price and Peter Cushing, but Price had stopped acting in horror movies at that point, unfortunately (though he apparently saw Fright Night and told Holland at one point that he loved it and thought Roddy McDowall did "a wonderful job").ANYWAYS, the basic plot follows a teenage Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) as he becomes convinced that his new neighbor, Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon), is a vampire. His girlfriend, Amy (Amanda Bearse), and friend Evil Ed (Stephen Geoffreys) think he's nuts, so he contacts the host of a local series entitled Fright Night, Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall), former "vampire hunter" who has been demoted to nighttime TV host for help. But soon everyone starts to realize that Charley was right all along…** SPOILERS! **This isn't so much a critique as just an all-around praise because THIS MOVIE CAN DO NO WRONG but here goes.Firstly, Jerry Dandridge is the coolest vampire ever. He's so smooth with his super smart sweaters and his perfectly coiffed hair, his calm demeanor and his dry sense of humor. Seeing him in Fright Night was a huge sexual awakening for me — I remember having a MASSIVE crush on Jerry Dandridge (still do), especially in the night club scene when he dances with Amy, or the final seduction scene with him LITERALLY shirtless on a furry rug in front of a fire. Just… be still my heart. I've never wanted to be bitten by a vampire so badly.Jerry's seduction of Amy in the club in particular is just… oof. So much chemistry. I think they made his desire for her slightly less of just a sexual drive or even a drive for vampiric feeding and more of an almost heartbroken, romantic yearning by showing the painting of his past love (girlfriend? wife?) who looked just like her. There's a few moments in the movie where we see how wistful he is, so while you don't condone him capturing Amy, you see that it's a deeper drive than simple passion.The soundtrack is just perfect, particularly the instrumental version of "Come to Me" by Brad Fiedel, "Good Man in a Bad Time" by Ian Hunter, and "Give It Up" by Evelyn "Champagne" King.The entire movie is just such a perfect combination of that classic 80's kids on an adventure that is over their heads vibe with some genuinely scary horror aspects mashed up with some pretty hilarious comedy and satire. It pays homage to horror and vampire movies without making a mockery of them. The whole movie just feels GOOD.I loved Peter Vincent as a character. He's so sad and washed up — he makes a comment about how he had been fired from his show because kids don't want to see vampire killers anymore: "apparently all they want to see are demented madmen running around in ski-masks, hacking up young virgins". He's desperate for attention — "what could be more important than my autograph?", he incredulously asks when Amy and Evil Ed show up at his apartment. He's desperate for money — he only agrees to help Charley when Amy finally offers him a $500 savings bond. He's desperate to make one last show of himself — he shows up to Dandridge's house fully equipped in his vampire hunting outfit with his kit full of crucifixes and holy water. But when he starts seeing evidence that Jerry may be a real live vampire, he panics. He runs. He tearfully refuses when Charley begs him to come back and help them. But right before Charley goes into Jerry's house to kill him, Peter shows up, ready to go — though he never gives up that air of nervousness, that hesitation. He's broken in many ways but he craves this humanity.Again, while it's meant to be a satire of sorts, it is also scary and quite gory at times. They show Billy (Jonathan Stark) melting into a puddle of green goo on the staircase in great detail. And the scene with Evil Ed transforming back from his wolfen state is… intense, emphasized even more by Peter Vincent's amazing facial expressions.I just can't get enough, really. This movie is clever, it's well-acted, it's funny, it's scary, it's consistently interesting and engaging… it is just THE BEST. If you've missed out on it for this long, do yourself a favor and GO WATCH IT TODAY. Seriously.

FRIGHT NIGHT, one of the essential vampire horror films of the '80s, succeeds in being a far better spoof of the vampire genre than Polanski's THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS. Whereas Polanski's film tried too hard to be funny, FRIGHT NIGHT lets the horror and comedy flow in equal amounts, and often the two feed off each other to produce this enjoyable and campy tribute to the vampire film. Horror film addicts (like myself) will enjoy the many references to other vampire films of the past. McDowall has a portrait of Bela Lugosi on his wall, and there are many clips of horror films playing on television sets, from THE PREMATURE BURIAL to THE SCARS OF Dracula. Even the theme of vampires not being destroyed unless the protagonist has absolute faith, explored in Dracula HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE, turns up again here.The cast all do good jobs in their roles, and happily this time the female heroine (who looks strangely like Stockard Channing in GREASE) has more to do than sit around in a flimsy negligee and scream (although, unsurprisingly, she does both during the course of the film). William Ragsdale is likable as the hero who nobody believes and whom everyone thinks is merely paranoid, a theme resurfacing these days in the world of conspiracies. Chris Sarandon is a cool and suave vampire, and acquits himself well with the role, putting across a sense of raw power and hypnotism, just like Christopher Lee did before him.Stephen Geoffreys is memorably nerve-wracked as Evil Ed, however it is Roddy McDowall who is the real star of the film, as fading star Peter Vincent (obviously reference to Peter Cushing and Vincent Price here). He looks the role perfectly, and is great as the rather timid hero who doesn't actually believe in vampires and turns white at the thought. While the plot of the film is nothing particularly new (and a lot like that of THE 'BURBS), it stays fresh and frantic enough to never delve into the clichéd territory of THE LOST BOYS.The makeup is also remarkable, with the spiky fangs and coloured contact lenses being very similar to the makeup job done in the two Italian DEMONS films. In some instances the vampires even look quite scary, which is no mean feat. There are also two excellent disintegration scenes which are worth tuning in for. The shots of a skeleton burning and melting against a wall look very strange and different, I'm not sure if these were animated or not but they certainly stand out from the other rubbery offerings we have come to expect from '80s horror films.With a wry nod to the horror genre in general (McDowall remarks that nobody wants to see vampire films anymore, instead preferring ski-masked killers murdering virgins) and a tongue definitely in cheek, FRIGHT NIGHT is a fun film which deserves the status it has as a minor classic. Well worth seeking out if you're a vampire fan. A sequel, imaginatively titled FRIGHT NIGHT 2, followed a couple of years later.