In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Friday 31 January 2020

Fright Night (1985)

An 80s vampire flick that many genre fans feel is a cult classic... You can probably already guess where this is going: I'm in the opposite camp, identifying with the folks that feel it's overrated and mostly not very good.
It's about seventeen-year-old Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale), who believes that his new neighbour (Chris Sarandon) is a blood-sucking creature of the night, but Charley's friends and family doubt his suspicions.
The comedy's weak and the characters limp. Roddy McDowall's late night TV horror host, the genre-referencing Peter Vincent, had emotive potential, but the script failed him, too. Where the film triumphs is in its special effects, courtesy of the team from Ghostbusters (1984). Unfortunately, you'll have to sit though a lot of crap to get to their best contribution, which is the finale.

2½ sundown chimes out of 5

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