Okay, Denver readers. If you haven’t made it out to the Watching Hour lately (or ever), now is the time. You know who you are. As a lead up to Halloween - the best holiday - the Watching Hour is hosting 6 straight weeks of horror awesomeness. Tomorrow night, come celebrate the 25th anniversary of Fright Night by, ya know, watching it!
In Fright Night, Charley Brewster suspects that that the creepy guy who moved in next door is a vampire. As if that wasn't bad enough, nobody else believes his story. And as if that wasn’t enough, the vampire in question is out to get him!! It’s gonna be a rough night, er, fright night, er, rough night. With the help of a washed up actor played by real life washed up actor Roddy McDowell (ouch, sorry Roddy), Charley takes things into his own hands and sets out to defeat the evil menace on the block himself.
Fright Night’s man at the helm, writer/director Tom Holland, is not a household name even amongst horror fans. He’s probably best known for bringing the iconic Chucky to life as writer/director of 1988’s Child’s Play. What stokes my interest, however, is his script credit on 1983’s Psycho II, a movie that is worlds better than it has any right to be. Sure Richard Franklin's deft direction and Anthony Perkins’ bizarre presence helped, but Holland’s story idea deserves a lot of credit for turning Hitchcock’s famous vision on its head. It takes guts to mess with the Master of Suspense himself, and to come out mostly unscathed is a miracle. If Holland brings half of the creativity and energy he had in Psycho II to Fright Night, it will be a (fright) night to remember. (Sorry, I think I was sprinkled with Gene Shalit dust today... )
Fright Night is overflowing with that most endangered species of horror movie production, the practical effect. Vampires, giant bats, and exploding body parts are all served up in generous portions. You see boys and girls, believe it or not, there was a time when effects work didn’t ruin horror movies. Practical effects at their best – Rob Bottin’s work in The Thing, Rick Baker's work in An American Werewolf in London – actual added to their movie’s mystique. You can have scares and style in the same movie, something today’s genre moviemakers often forget. I’m generalizing, but you get the point.
Speaking of today’s genre moviemakers, Fright Night is yet another 80s cult classic slated for remake. Unlike some of the less inspired remake announcements, though, Fright Night has made really interesting casting choices. Front and center, Anton Yelchin has been cast as befuddled teen Charley Brewster. Though you might not know Yelchin by name yet, you probably recognize him as Chekov from J.J. Abram’s Star Trek or as Kyle Reese from McG's Terminator: Salvation. The latter movie is an especially interesting case, as Yelchin’s scrappy, resourceful Reece is easily the best, most exciting part in the otherwise disappointing, tone-deaf flick. For a relative no-namer, Yelchin blew the stars of The Dark Knight and Avatar out of the water. Even if he stays in the remake game, I hope Yelchin’s presence continues to be an indicator of quality.
We'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, come out and see the original tomorrow night!
-Ben
The Watching Hour is a weekly film series at the Starz Film Center, highlighting new and old cult, genre, or otherwise bizarro movies. Quite simply, The Watching Hour is usually the best thing to do in Denver on a Friday or Saturday night. From Giallo to schlock, Blaxploitation to Aussiesploitation, zombies to martial arts to who-knows-what, and everywhere in between. This is good ol’ rock and roll cinema spectacle. Not to be missed. (See the schedule, buy tickets, get directions, etc. here.)