Fright Night is a remake of the classic 1985 film of the same name about a teenager (Yelchin; Charlie Bartlett) who suspects his neighbor Jerry (Farrell; Phone Booth, In Bruges) is a vampire.  As he investigates more he decides to find a source of information on vampires and that brings him to Vegas magician Peter Vincent (Tennant; Doctor Who).  His investigating also leaves his girlfriend (Imogen Poots) in danger of being the next victim.

OK so I pretty much universally hate re-makes.  Especially of classics like this.  Fright Night is one of those movies that 80′s horror fans live for.  A classic that managed to mock the genre and have fun with it but also make a kick ass movie within it’s confines.  Now if you read the short synopsis above you’ve already hit upon one reason this movie didn’t need to be remade.  Why is he going to a Vegas magician for information when there’s the whole internet? The movie does take place in current times.  It’s a huge plot point and it’s also a big thorn in the side of any fan of the original.  You see in the original it wasn’t a magician but a late night horror movie show host (a job that just plain ole doesn’t exist anymore unfortunately, but think Elvira or Joe Bob Briggs), and the show was called “Fright Night”, thus the title.  Here it’s the name of the magician’s show but it makes a lot less sense.

OK anyway I had to see what they’d done to this classic movie, but I was also intrigued as it was written by Marti Noxon.  Noxon was a writer/producer on much of Buffy The Vampire Slayer‘s run and was responsible for some great television.  If there was anyone who had the credentials to do this justice it was her.  And I have to say I think she and director Craig Gillespie actually got it pretty right.

Let’s start with the movie’s general tone.  Marti Noxon is often accused of being responsible for much of Buffy’s dark sixth season, and that tone is what you can expect here.  While there are a few good one liners, and practically everything Tennant does is hilarious, the movie mostly keeps a dark and more serious tone to it.  It’s playing with genre by not playing with genre and instead being pretty straight forward.  I do have to say there are some comedic attempts in here that don’t play at all, most having to do with Mintz-Plasse’s character.

The way it’s written and directed finds the audience going further down the rabbit hole along with Yelchin’s character and really being able to sympathize.  We go from a normal life to one in which suddenly there are vampires and that needs an adjustment and in this movie it’s there.  You find yourself wrapped up in his paranoia which really helps with some suspenseful scenes.

As far as performances go they’re all great.  Colin Farrell as Jerry I thought would be lame but the writing and directing is so up there that his character is actually menacing and terrifying.  There’s several occasions where he plays with other character’s insecurities and it’s just brilliant.  I mentioned it before but it has to be said again, David Tennant is incredible.  His character is a fraud and the comedic backing of the film, but also a rather serious and important role later on and he plays both admirably.  I wasn’t 100% sold on Anton Yelchin, but he did a pretty good job.

There’s some nice action pieces that play as part of the story and not just action for no reason and have real stakes and emotion tied to them.  These were done superbly by Gillespie.  Another thing is there are a couple of shots lifted right out of the original for the big fans.  There’s also some decent gore, but neither this nor the original were about the blood.

Overall this is a solidly good movie.  I know I’m just as surprised as you are.  But it’s satisfying, straightforward, and well done.  Go see it.