Fright Night 3D - Movie Review

Here's another movie I was really looking forward to, but it just didn't meet my expectations. I read all the good reviews and was expecting a better movie.

I don't remember much about the original Fright Night. It's been years since I saw it. In a way, I think that might be a good thing, as I didn't spend my time watching the movie comparing it to the original. However, after watching Fright Night, I didn't feel like the remake was so well done that it was needed to be made.

The basic story pretty much is the same as what I remember about the original. Fright Night follows Charley, played by Anton Yelchin, as a high school student. Charley and his mother, played by Toni Collette, have a new neighbor. Neighbor Jerry is played by Colin Farrell. After Jerry moves in, Charley's friend, played by McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) notices that an increasing number of students are missing from school. McLovin initially tries to convince Charley that Jerry is a vampire, but Charley isn't buying it. However, once McLovin also goes missing, Charley investigates further and finds that Jerry is, in fact, a vampire. Charley isn't sure what to do, so he contacts a supposed expert on vampires, played by David Tennant in the original Peter Vincent role.

It's takes a while to set all of this up, probably a little too long, but once Charley figures out Jerry is a vampire, it pretty much launches into all action. At that point Fright Night is actually kind of entertaining. It's even funny in parts.

The performances are fine for the most part, but the real star of this is Colin Farrell. I used to not like Colin Farrell at all. I didn't think he was a very good actor and thought he was just the new 'it' guy. Recently, he's been in several, smaller movies that have shown that he actually can act and I've softened my opinion of the guy. You can tell he really enjoyed making Fright Night. He really sunk his teeth into the role. Ha! Get it! He's chewing up the scenery with his fake fangs and all. Farrell is easily the best thing about Fright Night and is what made it worth watching for me.

This was shot in 3D and I heard it was supposed to be a good use of it, but I thought the 3D sucked. The only times I could even tell it was in 3D was when something was on fire and you saw the embers flying around. Most of the time, it didn't do anything for the movie and when I'd take my glasses off, the movie didn't look any different.

Fright Night was directed by Craig Gillespie, who also directed Mr. Woodcock and Lars and the Real Girl, which are both movies I did not enjoy. I think this might have been a better movie in the hands of another director.

I say this a lot, but Fright Night isn't bad. However, outside of Colin Farrell's performance, there's not much to recommend about it. At least not as far as rushing out and seeing this in the theater. Save it for a rental and I think you'll enjoy it.