Fright Night (2011)

Evil brings death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
Psalms 34:21

Director Craig Gillespie’s remake of a popular vampire horror film is set in a suburban housing devel opment of Los Vegas. This is very appropriate in that many of the citizens of that city work at night at gambling casinos and sleep much of the day, as do vampires. The plot even of the original was an old one beloved by sci-fi and fantasy writers, teenaged Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) thinks his neighbor is up to evil—in this case is a vampire—but no one believes him. Thus he sets forth with a friend to prove that his fear and suspicion are real. There follows lots of blood and gore, with the climactic battle enhanced by the 3D and CGI effects—sparks from explosions seem to come right at you. As usual the cross is used as a defensive device, but these vampires apparently haven’t read the literature, the cross-held in our hero’s hand extended having no effect.

Even with a fine cast that includes Colin Farrell (as the vampire) and Toni Collette as the mother I found it hard to sit through this thing. Guess you have to be a fan of the vampire genre to appreciate it. It was a fun moment, however, when my companion who was a fan of the original pointed out that Chris Sarandon, who played the vampire neighbor in the 1985 original, plays an ill-fated traveler in the new version. Also David Tennant is very funny as Peter Vincent, a vampire impersonator who stars in an opulent act at his Los Vegas show palace. His collection of vampire fighting objects proves very valuable in the showdown. As you can see, I am conflicted about the film, and the genre itself.

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