Fright Night
Directed by Craig GillespieA remake of the 1985 original, teenager Charley Brewster (Yelchin) guesses that his new neighbor Jerry Dandrige (Farrell) is a vampire responsible for a string of recent deaths. When no one he knows believes him, he enlists Peter Vincent (Tennant), a self proclaimed vampire killer and Las Vegas magician, to help him take down Jerry.
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Fright Night Ratings & Reviews
- ShaydeknightDecember 17, 2025A smart, well-produced remake that respects classic vampire lore and benefits enormously from strong casting, even if it never quite transcends "solid genre entertainment". Craig Gillespie's Fright Night succeeds primarily by understanding what not to modernize. Rather than reinventing the vampire from the 1985 classic, it leans into a largely traditional rule set, including invitation thresholds, sunlight, crosses, missing reflections, and other characteristics, allowing tension to emerge from familiar mechanics executed competently. The film is not especially frightening, but it is consistently watchable, with several well-staged suspense moments that do their job without overreaching. Anton Yelchin carries the film with an earnest, grounded performance. His Charlie Brewster feels plausibly adolescent: reactive rather than heroic, scared but stubborn. Yelchin's natural energy keeps the character sympathetic even when the script strains credibility. In retrospect, his presence adds a bittersweet note, he had a knack for anchoring genre material with sincerity, whether here or in his other roles. He was a promising young actor and it's a shame he is no longer with us. Colin Farrell's Jerry Dandridge is a notable strength and a smart departure from the original. Where Chris Sarandon played seduction and aristocratic menace, Farrell opts for restraint and physicality. His Jerry is casual, predatory, and almost bored, less a gothic monster than a seasoned apex predator who has learned that subtlety is more efficient than theatrics. Farrell's confidence sells the idea that this creature has survived for centuries, even when the script occasionally undercuts that premise. It is a performance built on implication rather than exposition, and it works. David Tennant is, unsurprisingly, excellent. As a successor to Roddy McDowall's character, Tennant more than earns his place. His Peter Vincent is flamboyant without becoming a caricature, functioning as both comic relief and narrative bridge between old-school vampire myth and modern cynicism. In hindsight, the role feels like an early sketch of the charm-and-chaos balance he would later refine in Good Omens (Side note: If you haven't, read the book. Watch season one of the series. Ignore season two, it was awful and incredibly disappointing). Toni Collette does what she always does: she elevates the material without drawing attention to the fact that she is doing so. In a role that could have been pure window dressing, she brings credibility, restraint, and emotional continuity. Her presence stabilizes the human side of the story and quietly reinforces the reality the supernatural elements depend on. Technically, the film is polished. Production values are strong, the pacing rarely drags, and the choice of Las Vegas as a setting is inspired, both thematically and logically. The city's transience, artificiality, and nocturnal economy dovetail neatly with vampire mythology, lending the plot a grounding that many remakes lack. The Chris Sarandon cameo is a tasteful nod rather than a gimmick. Where the film falters is in its writing, specifically in moments where character motivation and internal logic are asserted rather than earned. These issues are not fatal, but they do momentarily pull the viewer out of the story, particularly for anyone inclined to interrogate vampire metaphysics a step beyond what the script anticipates. The film asks you not to tug too hard at those threads. Admittedly, I'm really starting to dislike films where I can clearly see a two-minute conversation would solve just about everything. Taken as a whole, Fright Night is a respectable remake: competent, energetic, and occasionally sharp. It does not redefine the genre, but it understands it well enough to deliver a solid evening's entertainment.
- Patrick WaiOctober 7, 2025Fun movie to watch - in many ways better than the original. But unlike the 80s version, the remake is not a comedy.
- Oʂɯαʅԃσ RσყҽƚƚAugust 23, 2025A successful horror comedy knows when to scare you and when to ease your fears with humor, and Gillespie effectively blends shocks and laughs
- 5amurai5amsonSeptember 27, 2025Love the cast. A fun take on a classic monster.
- ricomckeeAugust 17, 2025Fun that is not in the sun! No oscars, no deep meaning, just a fun vampire movie that is sexy, gory, fun, and a bit angsty. It doesn’t take anything from the original but would stand easily on its own. Collin eats this role up in more ways than one. He is tempting to everyone and plays the part without camp. Tenet on the other hand is camp personified in his role but it works well. Toni Colette is fabulous as she is in everything she does. The movie is fun and is a good update when we now know not to investigate things that go bump in the night and can slay a vampire. A little sexy, a little fright, a little story, a little gore makes Fright Night worth a watch.
- Jacob O’NealMarch 21, 2025I went to see this in the theater with my dad in 2011 for a few reasons. He took me to see the original movie in the 80’s. The cast was impressive. It was written by “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” writer Marti Noxon and directed by Craig Gillespie who made “Lars And The Real Girl”. Boy was I disappointed. This is one of those remakes I can’t separate from the original. I tried. In fact, I just watched it again and I was nothing but angry. Let me explain why. Charlie, our hapless hero, played by the late Anton Yelchin, is a high school student who has the misfortune of having a vampire move in next door. In the original, William Ragsdale was a horror obsessed kid and it’s done in a way where he may just have an overactive imagination. No one believes him. His best friend, Evil Ed, and girlfriend, Amy didn’t believe him. He had to enlist the help of Peter Vincent, a horror movie host and former star of many Hammer like vampire movies. But the remake betrays all of that. Ed is now just Ed and has less personality. Charlie isn’t the believer he was in the original. Peter Vincent is now a David Blaine style Vegas magician. It takes so much of the motivation away. They had to assign new motivations to the characters and they failed all around. The movie took all the fun of director Tom Holland’s original film and threw it out the window for attempted scares and action sequences. The cast was great and they tried. Colin Farrell, Toni Collette and Imogen Poots were all good as well as Yelchin and Tennent (fresh from his run on Doctor Who). I don’t blame Craig Gillespie for this. I blame writer Marti Noxon, who took over showrunner duties from Joss Whedon on Buffy in season 6 for the possibly worst two seasons. But I think, more than anyone, Disney is to blame. This was released through their Touchstone banner and we all know how everything they touch turns to crap in the last twenty years. This movie is crap. It’s void laughs and character development. The only reason to watch it is the cast. Period. You can avoid this movie and be happier for it.
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Fright Night Trivia
Fright Night was released on August 18, 2011.
Fright Night was directed by Craig Gillespie.
Fright Night has a runtime of 1h 46m.
Fright Night was produced by Michael De Luca, Alison R. Rosenzweig.
A remake of the 1985 original, teenager Charley Brewster (Yelchin) guesses that his new neighbor Jerry Dandrige (Farrell) is a vampire responsible for a string of recent deaths. When no one he knows believes him, he enlists Peter Vincent (Tennant), a self proclaimed vampire killer and Las Vegas magician, to help him take down Jerry.
The key characters in Fright Night are Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin), Jerry Dandrige (Colin Farrell), Jane Brewster (Toni Collette).
Fright Night is rated R.
Fright Night is a Horror, Comedy, Action film.
Fright Night has an audience rating of 5.9 out of 10.
Fright Night had a budget of $30M.
Fright Night has made $41M at the box office.