B-Movie Classics: Fright Night (1985)

Fright Night

Apparently your generation doesn’t want to see vampire killers anymore, nor vampires either. All they want to see slashers running around in ski masks, hacking up young virgins.

The Stats

The Director:  Tom Holland

The Cast:  Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse, Roddy McDowell, Stephen Geoffreys

The Release Date: 1985

The Runtime: 106 Minutes

The Plot

Teenager Charlie Brewster is just your average everyday kid with a big love for old cheesy horror movies. When new neighbor Jerry Dandridge moves in next door, Charlie starts to suspect that there is something very strange about him. After doing a little spying, he realizes that Jerry is actually a vampire. No one believes him, of course, and he’s forced to go to the one man who he thinks can help him: Peter Vincent, the host of a local TV show, “Fright Night.” Vincent refuses, trying to tell Charlie that he’s just an actor, but after getting laid off by the TV station he does the job for money. Only Charlie, Peter and the annoying side kick “Evil” Ed bite off more than they can chew.

The Lowdown

What director Tom Holland succeeds at with this film is creating a horror movie/comedy that is both amusing as well as also being legitimately scary. If you liked Scream you’ll like Fright Night. The film is self-aware. In other words, it knows it’s a horror movie… specifically a vampire movie. It uses your expectations about horror movies and turns them around you. I have to say, the first time I saw this, I was legitimately surprised by how good it was. I expected a cheesy 80s horror movie… and instead I got a cheesy 80′s horror movie that KNEW it was a cheesy 80′s horror movie. It succeeds as both horror and as comedy… which is a rare accomplishment.

The cast is very decent. Chris Sarandon plays the vampire, Jerry. He totally pulls off the mid-80′s douchebag vibe (who also happens to be a vampire.) He was also Prince Humperdink in The Princess Bride. Seriously, does this dude play anything other than shit-eating asswipes? William Ragsdale plays Charlie, the main character… nothing much here. He was competent, but not amazing. Amanda Bearse as Charlie’s girlfriend/damsel in distress was also fine, again nothing special. The most memorable thing about her is the fact that halfway through the movie you’ll realize she played Marcy on “Married With Children.” Stephen Geoffreys played the perfectly annoying “Evil” Ed. He was good in as much as he was really fucking annoying and you wanted to drive a fist through his skull. You’re kind of glad when he meets his eventual fate. (Interesting side note, that actor went on to become a gay porn actor. Seriously, look it up. It’s weird.) The star of the movie is clearly Roddy McDowell, however. He’s so perfect as this ridiculous washed up actor, that you end up really cheering for him when he mans up and actually has to go fight vampires.

Fright Night is fun as hell movie. It’s got laughs. It’s got horror. It’s got some really very decent special effects. The vampire and werewolf make-up still hold-up, I think. Just don’t dismiss this film as another cheesy 80s horror movie. Trust me, it’s better than most vampire movies out there today.

Watch this film if you like movies such as:

SCREAM

THE LOST BOYS

BLADE

B-Movie Classics: From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

From Dusk Till Dawn

The Stats

Director:  Robert Rodriguez
Writers: Quentin Tarantino & Robert Kurtzman
Actors:  George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Quentin Tarantino, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Salma Hayek, Tom Savini, Fred Williamson
Producers:  Gianni Nunnari, Meir Teper
Cinematography:  Guillermo Navarro

Release Date: 1996
Run Time:  108 Minutes
Color:  Technicolor
Aspect Ratio:  1.85:1
Language:  English, Spanish

Did they look like psychos? Is that what they looked like? They were vampires. Psychos do not explode when sunlight hits them, I don’t give a fuck how crazy they are!

The Plot

Fugitive bank robbers, Seth and Richie Gecko, kidnap an ex-preacher and his two children to get across the border into Mexico to evade capture.  Ending up at an all night biker bar, they encounter an unholy surprise.

Analysis

From start to finish, this film is pretty much pure and complete insanity from the mind of Robert Rodriguez.  Half crime thriller and half vampire splatter-fest, this film pretty much never stops the action from beginning to end.

The fist half is a suspenseful crime film.  Everything is beautifully set-up and explained.  We get character backgrounds and exposition.  Who are the Gecko brothers? Why are they on the run? Who is the Fuller family? Why are they traveling cross-country? Why has the preacher lost his faith?  Then the two sets of families cross paths and the story really begins.  The two fugitive bank robbers take a family hostage to Mexico in an effort to escape U.S. justice. Then half-way through the movie… BAM! Vampires. It never apologizes for it’s ridiculousness and it’s fucking tremendous.

There in lies its brilliance.  It sets up a great story and gives you a ton of character development and almost throws it all out the window.  Except it really doesn’t.  All of the character development that was built up before the vampire slaughter still comes into play in the climactic moments of the film.  You do care for these characters.  Thanks in no small part also to the tremendous performances of George Clooney as Seth Gecko and Harvey Keitel as Reverend Fuller.  For those who have really only ever seen Clooney as the charming, debonair type, you really need to see him as Seth Gecko… a violent bad-ass.

On top of everything else, the vampire scenes are fun. Sometimes really goofy, but oftentimes incredibly violent.  The Make-Up Effects team did an incredible job with the vampire creature effects.  Interestingly enough, this film did the “bumpy forehead” vampire look BEFORE the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” series made it popular.

The Lowdown

From Dusk Till Dawn is half crime movie, half vampire movie… but all awesome.