Review: Fright Night (2011)

(Originally reviewed in 2012)

After watching Fright Night three things became apparent. 1: Imogen Poots is ridiculously hot and deserves to be amongst today’s greatest Scream Queens. 2: It’s hilarious watching Dr Who throw around F Bombs like darts. And 3: Colin Farrell has joined the elite ranks of the 27%ers. The people who, no matter what film they’re in, make the film 27% better, just for being there. Seriously I cannot stress how great Farrell is in this movie, he plays the predatory role brilliantly, keeping his voice low and his eyes showing both violence and lust. One character calls him Jaws, I say he’s Jaws with sex appeal. Farrell probably earns this film another star and a half all on his own.

As for the rest of the cast they did their roles well enough. Anton Yelchin feels a little typecast as the once geeky Charley but he plays it good, Charley may have come off as a douche for leaving his good friends for his girlfriend but Anton manages to keep you having sympathy for him. The aforementioned Imogen doesn’t do a whole lot apart from being pretty but there’s a certain something she brings to the film that not many others could. I can’t put my finger on what but I liked her. And David Tennant was quite funny as Peter Vincent, it was fun seeing him as the foul-mouthed and mean Peter after years of being the doctor, although his connection to Farrell’s Jerry and subsequent change of heart didn’t feel forced, so much as dropped in.

While the cast was good the rest of the film didn’t fare as well, sure the tongue-in-cheek humour about the rules of vampires was done well and there were some really great scenes – Jerry’s attack on the car and the club stalk (which I thought could’ve been longer) . But the main problem I have with the film was that it moved far too fast, now a fast paced story works for a TV show like The Vampire Diaries because that’s 23 hours long, this film is only 105 minutes long and it feels like 85. The problem is that we never get to know the characters – example a main character death occurs 20 minutes in and we’re suppose to care – and with everything moving so fast the slower moments are more obvious and seem longer. Another problem is that because the pace is so fast the solution to every problem just appears out of nowhere, this is especially bad at the end with Peter just so happens to have the only stake that can kill Jerry and revert his victims back to normal and he only mentions this after an important character was turned.

Overall, an above average flick, a definite rental this, if only for Farrell’s performance.

6/10