Fright Night

This is an old favorite and, having just seen it for the first time in 15+ years, I can see why. The practical effects and humor hold up surprisingly well and the gore is pretty feisty. Not at all scary, just loads of gross fun. Charley (William Ragsdale; Fright Night 2, The Reaping), his girlfriend Amy (Amanda Bearse; Married with Children) and his quirky friend “Evil” Ed (Stephen Geoffreys; 976-Evil, The Chair, and according to IMDB a bunch of porn) discover that his new neighbor Jerry (Chris Sarandon; The Resurrected, The Sentinel) is actually a vampire! This 80s horror classic boasts the standard teen tropes when, upon Charley’s initial discovery of his blood-drinking neighbor, he starts yelling “vampire” to everyone (his mother, the police) and, not surprisingly, no one listens to this nonsense. But thankfully his buddy Ed knows the tricks of the monstrous trade (for some reason; not unlike the Frog Brothers of The Lost Boys). Also following the standard yet somewhat pleasing tropes of the time, his mother grants invitation to her very single fanged suitor (again, followed suit by The Lost Boys). Our vampire snacks on apples for dental health, makes some idle threats to a teenager, strangles and toys with the kid when he could have just ripped his head off, and is thwarted by a pencil wound to the hand. However silly, this all leads us down a rabbit hole of more exaggerated antics when Charley canvases his room with rosaries, crosses, garlic and candles (he must have a big allowance) and then our teenaged protagonists enlist the help of television horror host Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall; Embryo, Shakma, Fright Night 2), who happens to be an actual expert when it comes to dealing with the fanged undead. And let’s not forget the needlessly long “seduction dance scene” which, given this film is pretty old, gets me wondering if it wasn’t one of the first movies with such a scene (i.e., a long dance scene whose entire purpose was to be sexy or to seduce, LOL). There was Return of the Living Dead (1985), although not deliberately “seductive” there was A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), I only mention the Lost Boys (1987) because that singer might have gotten that saxophone pregnant, perhaps the undead ballerina solo in Evil Dead 2 (1987), then of course there was Night of the Demons (1988) and Night of the Demons 2 (1994) with their blatant and numerous demonic sexy dances. The first hour of the movie offers little in the way of gore and some decent semi-scary vampire make-up, but in the final 30 minutes things get really good. I mean, it’s still silly. But this movie features a looong gory death scene that doubles as a gooey transformation scene (to a werewolf-looking form), a super disgusting melting death, a huge and ugly vampire bat, and the monstrously over-sized vampire mouth that would subsequently be used in the Fright Night (2011) remake and the From Dusk ‘til Dawn (1996) films. Director Tom Holland (Child’s Play, The Temp, Thinner) really hit this one out of the park. There are no scares, nor are there meant to be, although the monsters look menacing enough. This is entirely fun—sometimes funny, sometimes gross-out gory, but always a rewatchable joy that withstands the test of time.

Cult classic American horror film from 1985, one of those films I had heard of and meant to watch but just now got around to seeing. It was a lot of fun, I liked the cast and the overall story, it has some good practical effects, it was great seeing Roddy McDowall, and it was a blast of 80s nostalgia. Good nods to classic vampire tropes too. Fitting nicely into the “kids/teens fight evil in the suburbs, protecting a disbelieving or unaware town” subgenre, a subgenre I really like, the movie’s central character is Charley Brewster (played by William Ragsdale), a 17 year old high school student and fan of a local late night TV series called Fright Night, hosted by a former well known horror movie star named Peter Vincent (played by Roddy McDowall). One night, while with his girlfriend Amy Peterson (played by Amanda Bearse), he notices that the next-door neighbor, newly moved in, is, well, odd, and soon concludes this neighbor, Jerry Dandridge (played by Chris Sarandon) is in fact a vampire. Only no one believes Charley, not Amy, not Charley’s best friend Edward “Evil Ed” Thompson (played by Stephen Geoffreys), not his mom, not the police, no one. With women in town vanishing or turning up dead, all the signs that Jerry is a vampire, and no one to turn to…well I can’t say much more, but the film does end up involving Peter Vincent as well. I liked the movie’s progression from Charley trying to convince his friends that Jerry is a vampire, protecting himself and his mom from a threat his mom is blissfully unaware of, to a group assembled to fight Jerry (ok, that may be spoilerish). It is a fun movie, a little campy maybe at times but it is mostly pretty earnest and is a lot of fun, clearly a movie made as a love letter to classic horror films. Lots of surprisingly good practical effects, especially the climatic scene, and it was fun to see a really traditional vampire, more like the ones in the old black and white movies rather than any new revisionist, modern take. I liked especially the Peter Vincent and Evil Ed characters, the first such a classic embodiment of Vincent Price and Peter Cushing type characters, the second a classic 80s character. Just a fun horror movie.

Excellent high resolution and plenty of special features. Highly recommend this blu-ray as one of the best 80s vampire movies.

The new Fright Night with Colin Ferrel was very good.But thie classic one here was a bit better,as all the originals are. :)

The original "Fright Night" (1985) deserves its status as a cult/campy Halloween classic. Horror movie aficionado Charlie Brewster (William Ragsdale) knows that Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon), his new next door neighbor, is a vampire--but he can't convince anyone else of that fact. The dark and mysterious Dandridge plots to kill Charlie, and claim his girlfriend Amy (Amanda Bearse) as his next "vampire bride." Charlie seeks help from horror TV host Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall). Trouble is, Vincent is just an unemployed actor who, at first, also thinks Charlie is bonkers. Vincent eventually notices that Dandridge does not cast a reflection in a mirror, and then it's a race against the clock to save Charlie and friends. The plot is "The Boy Next Door VS. The Vampire Next Door", but it's all done with style, fun, flair, some excellent spooky/scary moments, and a cheeky self-awareness. "Fright Night" is that rare genre movie that knows how to mix horror and humor in just the right amounts. The make-up designs are excellent. The special effects are also quite good, in a "1980's nostalgia" sort of way. William Ragsdale exudes an innocent and refreshing Boy Next Door sexiness; and Chris Sarandon is perfectly cast as his vampire nemesis. But the excellent Roddy McDowell steals the show as the harried and reluctant vampire killer. McDowell respects the genre while simultaneously having fun with it.

Great old school movie!

Película clásica de culto de los 80's con su mezcla de terror y comedia. Stelbook con tres discos en bluray y bluray ultra hd. Con multiples opciones de audio y subtitulado además de mucho material extra sobre la película y su proceso creativo. El bluray incluye el audio en español latino original.

Top Horror.

What a great movie. Saw it when it first came out. Frightened the living daylights out of me at the time. Great to own the Blu-ray version eventually. Cinematography will shine on Blu-ray, it's a stunningly shot movie. One thing to note on this version for sale, it DOES NOT come with a separate DVD, all the content listed here is contained on the Blu-ray disc.

UND DAS, wo Vampirfilme überhaupt nicht meins sind. Wie kann dies sein, fragt ihr euch jetzt. Nun ja, dieser Vampir- Klopper ist eben anders, gaaanz anders als all die anderen, die man so kennt. Und genau deshalb: Hatte ich, verspürte ich zu Halloween den vampirischen Drang nach blutigen Hälsen, haha. " Amy, du wirst es mir nicht glauben......aber da sind Zwei Kerle im Garten.......und tragen einen Sarg,...glaube ich....".- " Sicher. " DIE RABENSCHWARZE NACHT ging mir seit dem ersten Anschauen vor mehr als Zwanzig Jahren nie mehr aus dem Kopf, ich liebe diesen Film so sehr. Mehr auf Spaß denn auf Inhalt setzt er, der Film, - und bietet dadurch häufig nur die ironische Kommentierung altbekannter Genre- Muster. Eben die Hommage an Vergangenes und kein Kino des Fortschritts. Für mich ist das, was dieser Film bietet, vollstens unterhaltsam und das immer wieder. " Hat mich gefreut, Charlie. Wir sehen uns. Garantiert. " Sooo gruselig, so lustig auch, ja. ***************************************************************************************** Die Story: Charlie Brewster ist ein normaler Teenager. Seine Liebe zu seiner Mutter und seiner Freundin Amy sowie die Liebe zu Horrorfilmen scheinen ihm ein sorgloses Leben zu bereiten. Doch als er eines Tages im Nachbarhaus einen Vampir entdeckt........., will ihm keiner glauben........... ***************************************************************************************** Mein unglaublich verliebtes Fazit: " Mr. Vincent, Sie müssen mir glauben! " Was Roddy McDowall, Chris Sarandon( sowieso ein hmm Leckerchen :-) ), William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse, Stephen Geoffrey, Jonathan Stark, Art Evans und Dorothy Fielding- sicher der jüngeren Generation nicht so bekannt-, hier mit schaurig grandioser Leistung in DIE RABENSCHWARZE NACHT aus dem Jahr `85 ( Kinostart 6.2.86 ) abliefern, ist genial. " Nun, gehen wir`s an. " Auszeichnungen: Im Jahr `86 gewann dieser tolle Film Drei Saturn Awards für: Bester Horrorfilm- Bestes Drehbuch- Bester Nebendarsteller ( Roddy McDowell )!! DIE RABENSCHWARZE NACHT....nicht nur die Discoszene verlieh mir Gänsehaut rauf und runter, Chris Sarandon hat es eben unheimlich gut drauf. " Charlie, du hast deinen Freunden schon genug Schwierigkeiten gemacht. Oder sollen sie noch mehr Schwierigkeiten bekommen? " DIE RABENSCHWARZE NACHT enthält wunderbare Verwandlungen( größtenteils noch handgemacht ) , und einen Vampir, der auf Verführung und Charme setzt. Und ganz wichtig: Dieser Film nimmt sich selbst nicht so ernst wie viele andere Vampirfilme.........und die Tricks sind denen heutiger Filme meist gewaltig überlegen. So sieht`s aus. Lauflänge: 1.42.12 Minuten ( mit Abspann ) ! Zusätzliche Film- Jnfos: Kinotrailer (Englisch), Künstlerprofile! Nicht viel, doch der Vampir und Mensch freut sich. " Er hatte kein Spiegelbild.........".

Ne vous laissez pas décourager par le titre français ( Vampire vous avez dit vampire). Oubliez aussi le remake naze de 2011 avec Colin Farrell ( dont je ne suis pas super fan, Colin c'est parce qu'il est aussi expressif que du poisson pané ?) Vive la version originale des années 80. Merci pour cette édition blu ray allemande avec une image plutôt satisfaisante, le son est vraiment en VFF, en anglais aussi avec sous titres, nickel. Génial, mieux que des versions dvd un peu pourries. C'est un film culte de vampire de cette époque ( avec à mon sens "Génération perdue" pas mal aussi). Alors oui c'est un peu daté mais le film pratique l'autodérison ( personnage de "Peter Vincent", contraction des acteurs Peter Cushing et Vincent Price), les images et cadrages sont astucieux, les effets spéciaux plutôt sympas ( la transformation "à rebours" de Ed, le copain du héros Charlie). Il faut le prendre au second degré. A l'époque au ciné j'avais adoré, j'avais même réussi à récupérer l'affiche si particulière ( et souvent imitée par la suite) auprès du projectionniste de chez moi ! et oui je suis un quadra gâteux ! . Par contre vous pouvez éviter la suite bien dispensable produite et tournée au rabais par rapport à l'opus 1 . Enjoy NB perso : le boitier est arrivé fendu mais disque intact