[RETROSEANS] My neighbor is a vampire! – review of the movie “Fright Night”

The 1980s are considered the golden age of horror. Horror film directors were extremely prolific back then. The quality of some of the productions made at that time, however, is at least debatable, especially since slashers reigned back then – a kind of breakthrough genre, but let’s agree how many times you can watch a guy with an ax stomping on the heels of teenagers? The golden era of horror does not end with the “chopped cinema” of poor quality, after all, the name has its logical origins. It was in the 1980s that the cult films were made, incl. trilogy Dead Evil Sam Raimi, something John Carpenter or Nightmare on Elm StreetWes Craven. Not all the titles that have passed into the classics of American horror cinema will be remembered by Polish viewers. One of them is Fright Night (known in Poland as Terror of the Night ), a vampire comedy horror film directed by Tom Holland, known from the first installment of Chucky’s Doll or the Tales from the Crypt series . The film seems to incur a considerable debt from the new adventure cinema, which has been growing in popularity since the mid-1970s, which makes it user-friendly not only for 18+ viewers and has more entertainment value than traditional horror films.

The vampire next door

Teenage Charley is a fan of vampires and horror movies until his neighbor becomes a real bloodsucker, whom a teenager suspects of murdering young women. Wanting to warn his immediate surroundings against a ruthless murderer, he gets himself into trouble and draws the vampire’s attention to himself. As you can guess, the boy’s interest is not good for the antagonist and he decides to silence Charley to prevent exposure. Initially, the teenager tries to escape him, but when the bloodsucker kidnaps his girlfriend, he goes with the legendary host of the horror show to the vampire’s mansion to rescue his beloved.

The rubber vampires chase the heroes to the beat of glam rock

Holland plays out the movie with classic horror themes: we have evil lurking in the immediate environment, there are friends and family who do not believe the protagonist, and finally vampires important in history, avoiding the crosses and the sun. The power of production therefore lies neither in the plot’s originality and perversity, nor in rather one-dimensional, schematic characters. What makes the film also great to watch (or especially) after many years is a large dose of black humor, action and a climate specific to the cinema of that era.

In the 1980s, the creators focused on literalism in presenting horror scenes, which was allowed by special effects quite advanced from that perspective. Though they might have frightened viewers at the time, they now evoke laughter rather than real fear. They also became a kind of hallmark of the cinema of the 1980s and many people reach for these films precisely because of their absurd nature for the contemporary viewer. The directors were especially fond of camera meetings with all kinds of monsters (you can also see it in Fright Night ) and showing up close the grotesque, rubber make-up of vampires. Fans of comic special effects should be delighted. An additional advantage for lovers of the atmosphere of the 80s will be the soundtrack – it is not as iconic as the one from the laterLost Schumacher boys , but it does not lack catchy glam rock , the rhythm of which will accompany the most important chases in the film.

Fright Night  is the perfect proposition if you want to see a movie that has gone down in the history of world horror, and at the same time you want to have fun without obligation. He may not be the most prominent representative of the golden age of horror, but he has everything a cinema lover of this era needs: nostalgic music, bizarre special effects and cardboard sets. For the followers of kitsch and all exaggeration – a bomb!

Fright Night is a must-have for fans of 80s cinema and horror movies who put plastic fangs and fake blood over the CGI monster.