Now, Fright Night is the story of Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin), whose life is changed forever when he discovers that his overly muscular and rather nocturnal neighbor turns out to be, you guessed it, a vampire (Colin Farell). For those you of you expecting a full on horror film scare-fest, be aware, this film has a few different elements to it that set it apart.
Pulling quite a few pages from the same playbook as 2007's Disturbia, it provides the same sort of thrills and sense of paranoia, so fans of the flick will certainly feel right at home for Fright Night. As seems to be the theme with many modern films, Fright Night is able to find a careful balance cross genres, while relying largely on horror, it also provides quite a few laughs here and there, while carrying a story of romance... or at the least a story of teen lust. Either way, the film does a good job at maintaining a balance, which keeps the film fresh at every new turn it takes.
For those of you wondering about the vampire lore present in the movie, it thankfully relies on the more traditional crosses, stakes, and garlic approach, none of the more modern silver business. The film has a certain sense of self-awareness of modern vampire mythology, which always proves to be entertaining, as it is able to toss in a few winks and nods to fans of a show that boasted a certain buff blonde cheerleader fighting the forces of darkness, as well as throw in a few jabs towards the more sparkly variety of vampires.
Performances are fairly solid all around, and the cast is enjoyable. Anton Yelchin is the perfect every-man for the role, and many will be able to resonate with the conflicts he goes through in the beginning of the film, making him an easy character to get behind and root for throughout the movie as his world falls apart around him. Colin Farell is a completely believable vampire as Jerry, slick, suave, and as sharp as his own set of fangs, he makes for a worthy opponent for the defiant Charley Brewster. David Tennant plays his zany and wacky character perfectly, and his character is entertainingly ridiculous as are the variety of characters he often plays. Imogen Poots plays the girlfriend of Charley and ultimately does the best in a somewhat stock role.
Overall there is a bit for everyone in this film, a few scares, a few laughs and even a few touching moments. Twilight has given supernatural flicks of late a rather bad reputation, but luckily of the more recent vampire films put out by Hollywood, I can thankfully say that this one doesn't suck. In the end, Fright Night is a vampire film you can really sink your teeth into.
