Fright Night (1985)

Director:

Tom Holland

Writer:

Tom Holland (written by)

Release Date:

2 August 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

There are some very good reasons to be afraid...of the dark.

Plot:

When a teenager learns that his next door neighbour is a vampire, no one will believe him.

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Undead | Death | Actor | Teenager

Awards:

5 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Chris Sarandon	...	Jerry Dandrige
William Ragsdale	...	Charley Brewster
Amanda Bearse	...	Amy Peterson
Roddy McDowall	...	Peter Vincent
Stephen Geoffreys	...	'Evil' Ed Thompson
Jonathan Stark	...	Billy Cole
Dorothy Fielding	...	Judy Brewster
Art Evans	...	Detective Lennox (as Art J. Evans)
Stewart Stern	...	Cook
Nick Savage	...	Bouncer #1
Ernie Holmes	...	Bouncer #2
Heidi Sorenson	...	Hooker
Irina Irvine	...	Teenage Girl
Bob Corff	...	Jonathan (as Robert Corff)
Pamela Brown	...	Miss Nina

Also Known As:

A Hora do Espanto (Brazil) [pt]
A Noite do Espanto (Portugal) [pt]
Ammazzavampiri (Italy) [it]
Die rabenschwarze Nacht (West Germany) [de]
Fright Night - Die rabenschwarze Nacht (West Germany) [de]
Kauhun yö (Finland) [fi]
La noche del espanto (Venezuela) [es]
Noche de miedo (Spain) [es]
Nyhta tromou (Greece) [el]
Skräcknatten (Sweden) [sv]
Vampire, vous avez dit vampire? (France) [fr]

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (cut) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:16 | Norway:15 (DVD rating) | Netherlands:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Australia:M | France:-12 | Italy:VM14 | Norway:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Laid Studios, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

William Ragsdale injured his foot running down a staircase during the last shot filmed on 24 December 1984, just three weeks into principal photography. Ragsdale's action scenes were postponed until he was healed sufficiently to perform them and the director filmed other scenes to stay on schedule.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In the opening scene on the television, when Peter Vincent announces his name and goes to impale the vampire with a wooden stake and mallet, his stake is backwards as he rushes in.

Quotes:

Charley Brewster: Look, Detective Lennox, Jerry Dandridge is vampire!
Detective Lennox: Yeah, sure, and I'm Dirty Harry!

Movie Connections:

References Orgy of the Dead (1965)

Soundtrack:

ARMIES OF THE NIGHT

I watched it 5 times in one week

I would consider myself a film fan with somewhat intellectual preferences and I have a passion for European art house pretentious stuff, so when Fright Night was recommended to me I dismissed it in a snobby "80s special effects vampire horror movie? A title that rhymes? No, thank you!" kind of way.

HOWEVER, I have a feeling it may be the single best film I have ever seen, of any genre or time period. It has a witty script, fabulous special effects and some of the best acting I have seen, particularly Evil Ed later on in the film. There are moments of suspense, hilarity, tenderness (for example with Peter Vincent and the dying wolf) and believable every day life. This film didn't actually scare me but it did make me laugh very very hard.

A special mention must be made of Chris Sarandon as I think his performance really stood out. Evil is not as easy to portray in stories as people think, but Sarandon does the most believable evilness I think I have ever seen, coupled irresistibly with the sexiest seduction scene ever (is it wrong that I wanted him to win in the end because he was so gorgeous?). If vampires really did exist, I think they would be exactly like Jerry Dandridge, except maybe without the same scary 80s vampire mask and claws.

My advice is SEE THIS FILM, and don't have any preconceptions about it.