Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Fright Night (2011)

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Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 08-20-2011, 04:33 PM:

CINEMA: Rave Westroads 14, Omaha, NE
AUDITORIUM: 6
PRESENTATION: Christie DLP (2D)
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: Who designed this godawful auditorium layout?
RATING: Two and one half stars (out of four)

You know that thread about popcorn bags vs tubs where I wondered aloud if having bags for your small and medium sizes and tubs for your largest size would help the upsell ratio? Well apparently Rave does just that. I bought a medium anyway, and it was FAR too much popcorn. Their medium is the large size at a lot of chains. I got through about half of it.

They actually had some pre-bagged popcorn in a display case. When I ordered mine ("with butter"...not "extra butter" or anything), Smiling Counter Girl took a pre-filled bag out, tossed about 2/3 of the popcorn in it back into the popcorn maker, buttered what was left, then topped the bag with new popcorn before buttering the top again.

Okay.

THE PLOT: A vampire moves in next door. Wackiness enuses.

I'm not really spoiling anything by my plot summary because they establish the bad guy identity almost immediately. He has a hidden room in his house that has lockable booths laid out exactly like an adult book store arcade to keep his victims in. Throw in an oddball teen couple, some friends to round out the necessary victims, and a supporting hero who goes from 'likely hero' to 'unlikely hero' about a zillion times and you've got...nothing terribly special.

Oh, and Toni Collette's in this, and she looks and acts more girly than anything I've seen her in previously. Which is probably enough for me.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 08-20-2011, 06:33 PM:

quote: Sam Graham
Smiling Counter Girl took a pre-filled bag out, tossed about 2/3 of the popcorn in it back into the popcorn maker, buttered what was left, then topped the bag with new popcorn before buttering the top again.

..wooo, health department critical warnings once again.. yuk!

When I first saw the trailer of this movie, it took a bit then it all came back to the same stuff that was contained in the 1985 Roddy McDowell/Chris Sarandon flick of the same name. Then it dawned on me "another remake for this summer" .. and rightfully so.

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 09-17-2011, 06:51 PM:

At first glance, Fright Night (2011) would appear to possess a pedigree for success. It was written by Buffy scribe, Marti Noxon, from a story by the writer/director of the popular Fright Night (1985), Tom Holland, but something is seriously amiss. The new film attempts to modernise the story on several fronts and, one by one, each attempt misfires.

By far the most interesting character in Fright Night is that of Evil Ed, the downtrodden geek who we can't help but empathise with even though he really does seem to be, and eventually is, touched by evil. Christopher 'McLovin' Mintz-Plasse has his work cut out for him upstaging Stephen Geoffreys' notable performance in the '85 flick and predictably struggles to do anything unique with it. Geoffreys is a lovable freak, Mclovin is a whiny loser. Our heart goes out to Geoffreys as he's staked through the heart, McLovin's death is applauded.

The updated thespian vampire killer, Peter Vincent, is bizarrely terrible despite a rousing performance from David Tennant. The role seems clearly intended for Russell Brand, but instead of casting Brand, Tennant has been cast to impersonate him. While it's admirable that Tom Holland has tried to push the Vincent character in a new direction, the fact that the new character merely mimics a pre-existing and well known personality ironically robs the role of the freshness it is striving for. This is unfortunate for Tennant because his performance is very good - his impersonation of Russell Brand is near indistinguishable from Russell Brand. Colin Farrell, on the other hand, overacts his butt off as the vampire villain and is barely worth a mention. I have no idea why Toni Collette is in this.

The enduring charm of the '85 film is its cheese factor. The acting is terrible in a fun, hammy kind of way and the story is based on a silly, fun premise. But the 80's was a unique decade notable for its penchant for cheese and its ability to get away with it. Now in the Tweenies, films have to be dark and serious and so it is that the 2011 Fright Night attempts to grow up and try to be cool rather than silly. But a silly story trying to be cool is even sillier and without the encumbent cheese, it simply doesn't work.

6 out of 10

Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 09-18-2011, 02:19 AM:

This movie just didn't work on so many levels, it was nice seeing Tennant in an American film and to see Colin Farell head lining something again. But put everything together and good movie you do not get. It wasn't "scary" or creepy at all, and I'm not fan of horror movies but I almost felt bored through out it.

It felt like the first reel had been left off and we were thrown in at the start of reel 2. Zero build up, just here you go and were off.

1.5/5 [thumbsup]

Stu, so you had nothing good to say about which is fine but you gave it an above average rating? [Confused]

Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 09-18-2011, 02:40 AM:

I gave Tennant a good rap! [Wink]

But that's a fair comment Kurt. My review was a bit of a rush effort due to limited time so let me justify my score with the following points:
1. I recognise that making a movie takes some skill and any movie that can carry me through to the end without putting me to sleep or offending my intelligence deserves at least half marks. I reserve my sub-5 scores for those that are offensively bad.
2. In addition to Tennant's (albeit wasted) performance I thought that taking the story on the road was an interesting diversion to the original story even if it wasn't greatly implemented so that was worth something. So these 2 positives push it above average for me.

Posted by Kurt Zupin (Member # 2751) on 09-19-2011, 02:50 AM:

That is a valid reason for the score and I agree on all parts. David Tennant was the really shining moment for me as well.