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31 for 31 Part 28: Fright Night
The 1985 version of Fright Night is a classic horror comedy. The story of a teen trying to protect himself and his family against the vampire next door was a fun concept that still holds up today. The 2011 remake is one of the few examples of a remake holding up to the original.
The film stars the late Anton Yelchin as Charley, a former nerdy kid who has moved up the social ladder and has a cute girlfriend, Amy (Imogen Poots). They live in a neighborhood outside of Las Vegas, and Charley's mom (Toni Collete) laments about the dumpster in front of their new neighbor's home. Later, Charley meets his new neighbor, Jerry (Colin Ferrel), a charming construction worker who works the third shift.
Charely's former best friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) confronts him about their friend Adam's recent disappearance. It is revealed that other students have gone missing lately. Ed believes that Jerry is a vampire, but Charely dismisses the claim.
However, when Ed disappears as well, Charley discovers the truth. Jerry has been slowly feeding on neighborhood members, and Charley's family is his next target. Charley must enlist the help of a Vegas magician/vampire expert (David Tennet) to defeat Jerry and save those he loves.
Fright Night is pure brain candy. It is scary and funny in all the right places. Ferrel plays Jerry with the right amount of menace without being over the top. We also see Christopher Mintz-Plasse in his post "Mclovin" stage, but he still embraces the nerdy characters he plays so well.
The only sad spot is seeing Anton Yelchin turn out such an excellent performance. Yelchin would die tragically in 2016 when his car rolled down his driveway and crushed. He was a tremendous young talent, and one might wonder what roles he would fill today.