Movies I Can't Wait to See: the new Fright Night

The original gang of the original Fright Night

In the 80s, I had the good fortune to be the right age at the right time for the home video explosion. VCRs (video cassette recorders, if you didn't know) were finally affordable to the masses. Mine had a wired remote! And video rental stores popped up all over the damned place. My favorite was called West Coast Video, because they had a seemingly endless supply of cheesy, bad--but so good--horror movies. And my old, VCR with the wired remote? It was cheap enough--oddly enough, a Samsung, which today produces my awesome new cell phone--that the MacroVision copy protection could be thwarted with some simple RCA patch cables! My pirated VHS cassette collection was legend--wait for it--dary!

And it is now landfill. But back in the day, I had everything. And one of the ones that got the most play was Fright Night (1985). This was one of those "genre savvy" movies, where the characters have an inkling that they are in a horror movie scenario. But of course, none of the adults believe them. Also, the movie was chock full of wink-and-a-nod pop culture references, and a definite vein of humor to it. Add to that stellar performances by the actors (William Ragsdale of Herman's Head, Amanda Bearse of Married. . .with Children, the gorgeous Chris Sarandon, ex of Susan, Stephen Geoffreys of gay porn, and the also gay, but fabulous Roddy McDowell), and you have what should be a masterpiece of cinema. A timeless mixture of genres for the ages. But it isn't.

The original Fright Night was one of my favorite movies for many years. But I put it down for 10 or 15 years, and revisited it. Annnnnd. . . you know what? It doesn't hold up. The 80s music and fashions just wreck the picture. There are still things about I like. But it must be viewed as a period piece. In fact, maybe if you go into it with the notion: "Back in the 80s, Charlie Brewster faught the sexy, suave vampire, Jerry Dandridge, with the assistance of cheeseball horror movie host, Peter Vincent," then maybe it would be okay. So, a remake of one of my (former) favorite movies is not a stake to the heart after all. And this preview? Rocks. And Colin Ferrell? Fangtastic. And (squeeeeee!) it's set in my backyard in Las Vegas? AWESOME!!!