Fright Night (2011)

Before anybody asks, No, I have not seen the original Tom Holland movie, Fright Night from 1985, so from a remake standpoint, I have no idea how it holds up compared to the original. However, what I will say is that I was taken aback by how much I actually found myself enjoying this movie. When I saw it with a buddy of mine at the dollar theater, I was expecting to sit there, laugh at the unintentionally funny moments and make fun of it the entire time. Sort of host my own riff trax session. When I actually saw the movie, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was actually a good movie. The trailers made it look like it took itself seriously for the most part, when in reality, it did anything but. It was still scary mind you, and the vampire in it was bound by the traditional vampire rules (can't enter a home unless invited by host, can't walk in daylight or he'll burn up), but it also poked fun at itself quite a bit. It was almost Wes Craven-like in how it both satirized and followed your typical cliches. It was like the film makers knew that the premise of the movie alone sounded a little ridiculous, and decided to have fun with it rather than try to get the audience to take it seriously.
What I also liked was the vampire himself, Jerry played by Colin Farrell. I was never a huge fan of Colin Farrell, but I thought he did a great job playing the vampire in this movie. He had that aura of mystery and dark swagger in him that you would think to find in a modern day vampire, while also being very charming. As somebody who is a fan of classical vampires, I can say that this is the first one in a long time to actually get it right when it came to portraying vampires. The other star that was very good was Anton Yelchin, who plays the kid that Jerry is neighbors with. You probably remember him better as Chekov, the teenage russian crew member of the Enterprise from the most recent Star Trek movie. He's your typical protagonist who tries his best despite the fact that he is in WAY over his head, and he knows it too. He isn't your typical stupid horror movie protagonist who you keep yelling at to "Not go in there" and he goes right in there, he's actually pretty smart and keeps his wits about him. This was a movie where you could tell people just had a blast making it. Good characters, good story, good acting. What more can I say? I will definitely buy this movie when it hits stores, I might even say that it's one of my favorite horror films, just based on what I was expecting, and what I ended up getting when I saw this movie.
The 3D was also surprisingly good. I'm not the biggest fan of 3D, but I thought it was well used in this movie. And that is also coming from a guy who saw it in a dollar theater. Think about that.
Now while I have said that I never saw the original Fright Night from '85, I will say that there are those who said they thought that remaking the cult classic was a little unnecessary at first, but then saw it and loved it. What more do you need? It was dark, it was funny, it worked perfectly.
Final Grade: A-
Yours truly,
MP