Happy Halloween and welcome to the wasteland!
It's time for the big day, and I wanted to leave October with a fun post this time, so we're going to talk about something less serious for once. We're going to be talking about a movie. Two of them, actually.
As anyone who reads here knows, I'm also part of a movie podcast called Cannon Cruisers and we've been going for over nine years now. We tend to cover a lot of movies we missed back in the day, or ones we had never really learned about until recently. As a consequence, we've discovered a lot of real gems over the years. Two of these I want to talk about today are Fright Night from 1985 and Fright Night Part II from 1988, a series that is more or less forgotten these days.
But it shouldn't be!
There was also a remake (and a sequel to that remake? I think?) that came around some time later in 2011, but I never saw that one and it's not really the subject of today's post. What is fascinating about the original movies is how perfectly they transplanted the old black and white morality of the classic horror films into the 1980s and managed to also celebrate all the things people liked about horror movies from the then-new era as well. Essentially, they are gems.
For those unaware, Fright Night is about Charley Brewster, a high schooler who is a fan of the late night horror movie program Fright Night, hosted by Peter Vincent (a nod to both Peter Cushing and Vincent Price, and played by the always excellent Roddy McDowall). One night, just before finally getting to score with his girlfriend Amy, he sees a pair of shady guys moving a coffin into the neighbor's house. Given all he knows about vampires, this seems suspicious. His sharp senses are rebuked by his girlfriend, who leaves in a huff, and now he has to investigate just who these strangers are. It doesn't take long for his guess to be correct: they're vampires!
What follows is a smorgasbord of 80s music and fashion, creeping dread and chills, fantastic character acting and practical effects, and a movie that understands the appeal of not just horror movies, but also classic monsters and why they work. That is because this is also a vampire movie that follows the rules (though one is skirted... awkwardly) and shows why they make the monster what it is and why it makes them work so well. This means not only does the villain have to work around the rules, and use his assistant to help get around them, but Charley also has to use those rules to outsmart a being much older and threatening to him and those he cares about. A game of cat and mouse! And boy, is it ever an intense one!
The strength of the film comes from the fact that the main characters are normal people dealing with extraordinary situations. They're all people with their own personalities and goals and played by some fantastic actors that really give them their own identity. From Charley Brewster's one man crusade against the dark and those who see him as insane, to Evil Ed's conflict between wanted to be accepted and rejecting society, to Peter Vincent's mettle finally tested against the power's of the dark, to the vampire Jerry Dandridge's quest to undo Charley and take everything from him, all of these motivations come together masterfully in a brilliant climax.
The mood and atmosphere and the blending of '80s colors and neon with the Gothic night feel of classic vampire stories is unmatched. the pacing is also perfect, no time is wasted, the escalation ramps up throughout, and the final confrontation features some of the best practical effects you will see in an era full of them. It's quite the extravaganza!
There is one weakness, and it's kind of a silly one built on a trope that has never worked very well for vampire stories. The idea of needing "faith" to use a cross to kill a vampire has never made sense, it's always been vague, and it's always felt like an easy out for writers to be lazy about tension. It's no different here. The main reason it doesn't work well in Fright Night, is because it almost never even comes into play, and the only time it does it feels like an excuse to get a character out of a scene. This is because the very second Charley knows Jerry is a vampire, he goes for the cross and every time he uses it, it, well . . . it works.
This is when they use that trick that makes these stories interesting by having Jerry figure out how to undo Charley so its a non-factor. The smart writing trick is that Jerry then uses his servant to get around the cross so he can attack him directly instead. Which is how it's supposed to work, and how it does in all the best vampire stories.
The one time the cross doesn't work it is only really one time Peter Vincent uses it out of a few times, and the reason it feels silly when it doesn't work is because he literally used a cross to sear a vampire's forehead two scenes earlier when he wasn't even sure vampires existed. Then the next time he uses it on Jerry, after he knows vampires are real and crosses work when he didn't the previous time, mind you, it doesn't work because he... doesn't have faith...? This is then used as an excuse for Vincent to run away to Charley's house to check on his mother, which is a really awkward scene and transition that would have been fixed had Vincent merely told Charley at the beginning to wait outside while he went in to check on the boy's mother which would then lead to Charley rushing in on his own to deal with Jerry. It's a better writing choice, less awkward, and gets rid of a trope that adds nothing to the story (and doesn't even really exist in the sequel either, mind you) because of the key problem with the "faith" trope: you would not be using crosses if you had no faith that they would work to begin with. After that point you get into vague "faith quotient" arguments, which are silly and muddy up the rules and story for no gain. It's just nonsense.
I bring this up because otherwise there are no actual complaints with Fright Night. One flaw that barely comes into play is only worth bringing up because it really is that minor in the grand scheme of things. The vampire works as he should, the vampire hunters work as they should, the movie is highly entertaining in a way the 1980s were great at being almost at default. It is also effortless at being funny, eerie, and atmospheric. It is as perfect a horror movie as you can get.
It's no wonder Fright Night was a megahit back in the day.
The music is also killer, too.
We've watched a lot of movies on Cannon Cruisers over the years, but this is one of the gems that deserves more mention than it gets. It epitomizes both what works in horror and why 1980s filmmaking has retained its power over the years in a way other decades haven't.
Check out our episode on the Fright Night movies here, if you haven't yet. We had a really good time watching these movies, and you will too.
All in all, they do not make them like this anymore, and if you missed it, you're really missing out. You're also missing out if you didn't see the sequel, either, and a lot of people did miss the sequel, which is rather unfortunate.
The most incredible thing about Fright Night Part 2 is the amount of people who either don't know it exists or assume it was a straight to video cheapquel piggybacking off the original. The movie just went completely under the radar, which is why it's the last one in the franchise until it received a remake in 2011. You might assume it's completely throwaway.
However, this is a full fledged sequel, and actually a high quality one at that. This movie went through the gauntlet getting made (it took 3 years!) and only two members of the cast returning (which is all you need), and even had a new director (that kept going to the first one to make sure everything was right), and despite it all, Fright Night Part 2 is a really great horror movie that somehow, despite the incredible odds, stacks up to the original.
It's also a fantastic escalation, which you want in a sequel. It builds on the first movie, you get to see more of the world, the monsters, and the rules are all applied really inventively, and the characters go through it to grow even more. There is no subversion of the vampire rules: they are all used throughout the movie to take down the enemies threatening Charley's new life at college and the people he cares about. In fact, it goes even further with them.
You see, after the end of the first movie, Charley is thought of as crazy for what he experienced and is forced to see a therapist who has convinced him that he imagined all the madness of the first movie. His new girlfriend, Alex, is also a skeptic, a young woman who is going into psychology and doesn't have time for childish nonsense. At the same time Peter Vincent is dealing with new neighbors and a new host to his show that threatens him . . . in multiple ways. All the revelations and gain from the first film are threatened by the materialism of modernity.
The entire movie follows Charley's rebirth of faith as the false world he is trying to build falls apart around him so that he regains the spark he had in the first movie. His girlfriend, too, not only learns she loves him (after spending a day reading Dracula on his insistence!) and then she teams up with not only Peter Vincent but also leads the charge to rescue Charlie from being consumed from the new main villain who wants to torture him for eternity due to to the fact he killed the villain from the first movie. That's right, the movie does connect to the first beyond Charley Brewster's vampire obsession: it also connects to the enemy of that very movie. And it makes the stakes and tension higher, and boy does it build as the movie goes along.
This escalation also includes taking the vampires out using every single rule from Dracula, in a smorgasbord of horror and action that has to be seen to be believed. (They should have had this team make an actual Dracula adaption, because this is as close as it gets in film to showing respect for the book.) You won't see most of it coming.
The movie ends with Charley and Alex reconciling and Peter Vincent reclaiming his role as the real vampire hunter, shaking off the last of his lingering doubt and cowardice. Honestly, it's a great ending that works even better because no bad sequels ever came along to ruin it. It feels more complete than the ending from the original, and that was also a great ending.
About the only fault with Fright Night Part 2 is that it should be between five and ten minutes shorter, not because it's too long or has bad scenes, but because some of them just go on slightly too long. It slows the pacing compared to how whip-like fast the first one is, despite them being the same length, but that is about its only problem. It's really minor in the grand scheme of things. Otherwise it is as perfect a sequel as you can imagine.
The sequel doesn't even share the same fault of the first, because the cross not working is never really used in this movie: which is a good choice that avoids the problems that come attached with it. There is a scene where someone says the user doesn't have enough faith, but nothing comes of it and the vampire flees anyway, which could be interpreted as one of their lies (which is how it should be). However, that is the only time that happens in the entire movie. All in all, Fright Night Part 2 is about as good as the first one, which is saying a lot.
As a tale of Eternal Truths in the ever important Now of encroaching modernity, it's quite a good tale of Good Vs Evil. Sure, we're modern and safe today, but does that mean we really know it all? And if we didn't, how would we deal with that incongruity? Are we really as safe as we think we are? Do we really have everything together like we think we do? those are just a few questions even the lesser horror movie acts, which is what makes the genre so interesting. The movies also comes with some good laughs, some good chills, entertaining characters, and is just a blast to watch from start to end. What more can you ask for?
If for whatever reason you missed these gems the first go around, now is your chance to finally watch them! Part 1 is easily available in every format, including streaming, and Part 2 has finally overcome every distribution issue in the book to finally be getting a home release for the first time since an ancient DVD release way back in 2003. Hopefully when it finally gets released it will receive the acclaim it deserved the first time around, and more people will discover it. These are truly great horror movies originating from the decade known for them.
There's just something about the movies from that time that have them hold up so well. Perhaps it is the commitment to the legacy that came before them, striving for quality in a way we do not encourage today, or just the execution hitting all the right buttons, but in the end it doesn't matter. The '80s had a zest and a love for normality that we've since lost. These movies are a time capsule to another time that still hold up today. Watch them! You will definitely not regret it. Just don't get too spooked! The effects still hit hard in Current Year.
They are perfect for Halloween! That is this time of year, after all.
Also, if you want something to read instead, my story "Bad Town" is in the recent Relics Anthology among a list of other talented authors. This itself is a horror tale of a group of kids sent to the past to deal with greasers of the like they've never seen before. And then they learn in that strange place is that there's more to this whole weirdness than they originally thought! Give it a read. You'll definitely have a good time!
Before I wrap it up, I should mention the campaign for my next book, City Eater, starts next week! Signups are currently live, so check them out here! I'll be talking about it more when the campaign is running, but for now, let's just say you've seen nothing like it. What can not only eat a city but erase everything it digests? What gets left behind? What can stop it? You'll find out the answers to all of those in City Eater, funding soon!
All in all, I hope you had a good spooky season! It's been a fun one for me, and I've still got a few more fun treats to share, so I hope you're having fun too.
That is, after all, what this whole season is about! Let's crush some more evil on our way to the Light. It never gets old.
No comments:
Post a Comment