Fright Night 3D
FILM review by Pierre de Villiers
Starring: Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, David Tennant | 15 | 106mins
Another week, another bloody vampire movie. Fortunately, unlike the po-faced Twilight series, Fright Night doesn’t take itself too seriously, combining gore and laughs in what is one of the better remakes to come out of Hollywood.
Based on the 1985 comedy-horror cult classic with the same name, the film focuses on teenager Charley Brewster (Yelchin), whose life takes a turn for the worse when charming vampire Jerry (Farrell) moves in next door to his Las Vegas home. When the bloodsucker starts going after his friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), mother Jane (Toni Collette) and girlfriend Amy (Imogen Poots), Charley turns to TV ‘vampire expert’ Peter Vincent (Tennant) for help.
Anyone expecting Fright Night to live up to its name will be disappointed, ?with a black eyeliner-wearing Farrell about as scary as an Irish boy-band member. Like the campy original, Fright Night makes up for its lack of heart-stopping ?scares by being sexy (Farrell seducing Poots in a club with a bloody kiss is hot), over-the-top gory (squirting blood looks even better in 3D) and frequently ?funny. Yelchin and Farrell both show good comic timing but it is a foul-mouthed Tennant who gets the most belly-laughs as a cross between Van Helsing and ?Russell Brand.
Satisfying fans of the original Fright Night while winning over a new generation was never going to be easy, but, by constructing some clever action set pieces and paying homage to the 1985 version, director Gillespie does just that.
?Good for: Those who like their horror with a healthy side of humour
