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

Release Year: 1985

Rating: 6.9/10 (20,067 voted)

Director: Tom Holland

Stars: Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse

Storyline
For young Charlie Brewster, nothing could be better than an old horror movie late at night. Two men move in next door, and for Charlie with his horror movie experience, there can be no doubt that their strange behavior is explained by the fact that they are a vampire and his undead day guardian. The only one who can help him hunt them down is a washed-up actor, Peter Vincent, who hosts Charlie's favorite TV show, Fright Night. Vincent doesn't really believe that vampires exist, but does it for the money...

Cast:
Chris Sarandon - Jerry Dandrige
William Ragsdale - Charley Brewster
Amanda Bearse - Amy Peterson
Roddy McDowall - Peter Vincent
Stephen Geoffreys - Evil Ed
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

Taglines: There are good reasons to be afraid of the dark.

Release Date: 2 August 1985

Filming Locations: Laird International Studio - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $6,118,543 (USA) (4 August 1985) (1542 Screens)

Gross: $24,922,237 (USA) (22 September 1985)

Runtime: 106 min

Trivia:
Roddy McDowall doesn't appear in the flesh until 34 minutes into the film.

Goofs:
Continuity: When the Jerry Dandridge bat-creature is attacking Peter Vincent it scratches the left side of his face. When Charlie Brewster pulls the bat off him, the scratches are gone.

Quotes:
Peter Vincent: I have just been fired because nobody wants to see vampire killers anymore, or vampires either. Apparently all they want to see are demented madmen running around in ski-masks, hacking up young virgins.

I watched it 5 times in one week

Rating: 10/10

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.

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