It's Dracula-versus-the-teens time when Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) and his grirlfriend (Amanda Bearse) suspect that his new neighbor Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon) descends from Count Vlad's line . He calls in the host , Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall) , of "Fright Night show" , the local late night , horror-flick series , to help de-ghoul the neighborhood . But they have a problem when the vampire discovers their schemes and nobody believes them anyway . There are some very good reasons to be afraid...of the dark!. If you love being scared, it'll be the night of your life !.
A farrago of cartoonish exaggeration including razor-sharps talons, mouthfuls of fangs and eyes like like burning coals , knowing humour and 80s camp , it it should start to work, and yet , strangely , it does , thanks to the assured handling of writer/director Holland and three performances in particular : William Ragsdale as the resourceful student Charly , Roddy MacDowall as the timid vampire killer and while Chris Sarandon is properly seductive as the bloodsucker. It displays intriguing homoerotic overtones and giving a blatant equation of desire and hunger . The dark cinematography by cameraman Jan Kiesser and music by Brad Fiedel help , covering an ambitious range from piano-murdering , suspense-raisers , through disco fodder and the special effects are worth a look , as well . Thanks to this movie, writer Tom Holland gained more notoriety, however, as a director . His directorial debut was this popular 1980s Vampire film, "Fright Night" (1985) which, at the time, was said to have been responsible for redefining the sub-genre, influencing later films like "The Lost Boys" (1987) and "Near Dark" (1987). The film was a box office hit and garnered three Saturn Awards and one Dario Argento Award. Fright Night (1985) has since gathered a cult following amongst horror fans.
The motion picture was competently directed by Tom Holland . He is an American director and screenwriter of horror and thriller films. Tom often casts Chris Sarandon, William Forsythe and his son Josh Holland. Also frequently has himself and/or Stephen King in cameos. His early writing projects include "Class 1984" (1982) and the Robert Bloch- inspired "Psycho II" (1983), the latter starring Anthony Perkins as the menacing psychopath, Norman Bates. For his next project, "Child's play" (1988), Tom again cast Chris Sarandon , this film was a Number One box-office hit in America and a worldwide success, despite controversy over its thematic content. Tom then went onto direct two films based upon adaptations of Stephen King's novels: "Langoliers" (1995) and "Thinner" (1996). He also took a cameo role in the Stephen King miniseries "Apocalypse" (1994). Tom's other projects have included "Hulk" episode 'Another Path', "Steven Spielberg's Amazing Tales" (1985), three episodes of "Crypt tales" (1989), and the prestigious "Masters of Horror" (2005) anthology. In 2009 Tom took a starring role in "Hatchet II" 2010) alongside Kane Hodder and Tony Todd.
Followed by a sequel , "Fright Night 2" (1988) by Tommy Lee Wallace with William Ragsdale, Roddy MacDowall , Traci Lin , Julie Carmen . This sequel to the 1985 release deals with the harassed guy from the original movie learns slowly that the vampire's sister and her entourage have come to roost around his college. A few innovations there are , notably Julie Carmen's spectacular usurpation of Roddy McDowall's show go for nothing , but Tommy Lee Wallace's direction lacks flair play and intelligence that Tom Holland brought to "Fright Night" . Not quite as good as the first part , but acceptable.
A farrago of cartoonish exaggeration including razor-sharps talons, mouthfuls of fangs and eyes like like burning coals , knowing humour and 80s camp , it it should start to work, and yet , strangely , it does , thanks to the assured handling of writer/director Holland and three performances in particular : William Ragsdale as the resourceful student Charly , Roddy MacDowall as the timid vampire killer and while Chris Sarandon is properly seductive as the bloodsucker. It displays intriguing homoerotic overtones and giving a blatant equation of desire and hunger . The dark cinematography by cameraman Jan Kiesser and music by Brad Fiedel help , covering an ambitious range from piano-murdering , suspense-raisers , through disco fodder and the special effects are worth a look , as well . Thanks to this movie, writer Tom Holland gained more notoriety, however, as a director . His directorial debut was this popular 1980s Vampire film, "Fright Night" (1985) which, at the time, was said to have been responsible for redefining the sub-genre, influencing later films like "The Lost Boys" (1987) and "Near Dark" (1987). The film was a box office hit and garnered three Saturn Awards and one Dario Argento Award. Fright Night (1985) has since gathered a cult following amongst horror fans.
The motion picture was competently directed by Tom Holland . He is an American director and screenwriter of horror and thriller films. Tom often casts Chris Sarandon, William Forsythe and his son Josh Holland. Also frequently has himself and/or Stephen King in cameos. His early writing projects include "Class 1984" (1982) and the Robert Bloch- inspired "Psycho II" (1983), the latter starring Anthony Perkins as the menacing psychopath, Norman Bates. For his next project, "Child's play" (1988), Tom again cast Chris Sarandon , this film was a Number One box-office hit in America and a worldwide success, despite controversy over its thematic content. Tom then went onto direct two films based upon adaptations of Stephen King's novels: "Langoliers" (1995) and "Thinner" (1996). He also took a cameo role in the Stephen King miniseries "Apocalypse" (1994). Tom's other projects have included "Hulk" episode 'Another Path', "Steven Spielberg's Amazing Tales" (1985), three episodes of "Crypt tales" (1989), and the prestigious "Masters of Horror" (2005) anthology. In 2009 Tom took a starring role in "Hatchet II" 2010) alongside Kane Hodder and Tony Todd.
Followed by a sequel , "Fright Night 2" (1988) by Tommy Lee Wallace with William Ragsdale, Roddy MacDowall , Traci Lin , Julie Carmen . This sequel to the 1985 release deals with the harassed guy from the original movie learns slowly that the vampire's sister and her entourage have come to roost around his college. A few innovations there are , notably Julie Carmen's spectacular usurpation of Roddy McDowall's show go for nothing , but Tommy Lee Wallace's direction lacks flair play and intelligence that Tom Holland brought to "Fright Night" . Not quite as good as the first part , but acceptable.