Fright Night (1985)

A horror obsessed teenager discovers that his next door neighbour is a murderous vampire. He tries to convince the police, his family and friends but to no avail. He decides to take matters into his own hands.

Director:

Tom Holland

Writer:

Tom Holland

Stars:

Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse

5 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris Sarandon	...	Jerry Dandrige
William Ragsdale	...	Charley Brewster
Amanda Bearse	...	Amy Peterson
Roddy McDowall	...	Peter Vincent
Stephen Geoffreys	...	Evil Ed
Jonathan Stark	...	Billy Cole
Dorothy Fielding	...	Judy Brewster
Art Evans	...	Detective Lennox (as Art J. Evans)
Stewart Stern	...	Cook
Nick Savage	...	Bouncer #1
Ernie Holmes	...	Bouncer #2
Heidi Sorenson	...	Hooker
Irina Irvine	...	Teenage Girl
Bob Corff	...	Jonathan (as Robert Corff)
Pamela Brown	...	Miss Nina

Storyline

For young Charley Brewster, nothing could be better than an old horror movie late at night. Two men move in next door, and for Charley with his horror movie experience, there can be no doubt that their strange behavior is explained by the fact that they are a vampire and his undead day guardian. The only one who can help him hunt them down is a washed-up actor, Peter Vincent, who hosts Charley's favorite TV show, Fright Night. Vincent doesn't really believe that vampires exist, but does it for the money...

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Plot Keywords:

homosexual subtext | vampire | horror host | cult film | transformation | 

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Taglines:

If you love being scared, it'll be the night of your life.

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 August 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

La hora del espanto

Filming Locations:

Laird International Studio - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,118,543, 4 August 1985, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$24,922,237

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Vistar Films, Columbia Pictures Industries

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Because of the horrible experience he'd had making The Sentinel (1977), Chris Sarandon was apprehensive about taking a role in another horror movie. Meanwhile, writer Tom Holland decided to direct 'Fright Night' himself because he was so disgusted by the film that had been made from his last screenplay, Scream for Help (1984). Both movies were directed by Michael Winner.

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Goofs

Just after Charley has impaled Billy with a stake, he has his hand to his mouth. In the following shot, its not.

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Quotes

[Evil describes the two latest murders to Charley]
Evil Ed: Charley. You know what I heard on the police band last night?
Charley Brewster: What?
Evil Ed: That wasn't the only murder. The second in two days. And get this...
Evil Ed: [Evil smirking] Both of them had their heads chopped off.
Evil Ed: [Evil chuckling] Can you believe it?
Charley Brewster: You're sick.
[as Evil continues laughing]

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Crazy Credits

During the opening credits, the F and T in Fright Night (1985) elongate into a pair of fangs.

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Connections

Spin-off Fright Night (1988)

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Soundtracks

LET'S TALK
Written by Mark Mothersbaugh
Produced by Devo, Inc.
Performed by Devo

User Reviews

One Great one

After all this years (20) of vampire slaughtering, Blade's karate Vs vampire flicks, or even Carpenter's Rambo characters, Fright Night still offers the scent of a classic. Tom Holland's masterpiece holds by itself because of a great cast and a plot that gathers every single cliché of the genre and plays a bit with humor and a lot of effective spooks. Roddy Mc Dowall steals the movie with his over the hill terrified looser character. Even special effects are bizarre today as they're a craftsmanship result giving some scenes a bizarre concept that takes you directly into Roger Corman's "B" world. A true pleasure to watch from time to time. Happy 20 years