As a lot of you may know, I am infatuated with the horror genre! Although, I find that a lot of horror films only get seen and make money these days if they are remakes, never-ending franchises, or filled with a cast of talentless hacks who often wind up on the cover of Us Weekly. It seems like it’s all about making a commercial product, rather than making inventive, scary, and creative films.
So I thought I would start a blog every week on my recommendations of horror films that deserve to be seen. Feel free to comment on your own suggestions!
Everybody has their favorite kind of monster films they like to watch. There are werewolf, ghost, and zombie fans. I, myself have always been partial to the vampire genre. My favorite vampire film of all time would have to be the 1985 cult classic Fright Night.
The movie is about a 17 year old teenager named Charlie who ends up in a whole lot of trouble when he discovers his handsome next door neighbour, Jerry Dandridge (played by the yummy Chris Sarandon) is in fact a vampire, by peeping into his window late one night. Unfortunately for Charlie, Jerry knows Charlie knows his secret and makes it clear to him that he will dead by the next sundown.
When Charlie can’t even get his best friend and girlfriend to believe him, he turns to Peter Vincent, (Roddy Mcdowell) a cheesy TV host who was known as “The Great Vampire Killer” to help him kill Jerry. When Peter and Charlie’s friends pretend to help Charlie, they soon discover that Charlie was telling the truth all along, and they all truly experience the most FRIGHTFUL NIGHT of their lives.
Fright Night is a film that changed the way vampires were depicted in the eighties. Most vampire films focused on Dracula and Nosferatu, and Fright Night took a modern twist and was full of comedic material, which later spawned cult classics like Vamp, and The Lost Boys.
It was the movie where I had developed my first celebrity crush. (Yes, I was in diapers and in love with Chris Sarandon.) It was also a movie full of great 80’s music, truly amazing special effects for its time, (Before CGI took over), and it was a movie made in a time when “torture porn” didn’t exist.
If you liked this year’s “Rear-Window-esque” thriller, Disturbia, then you will definitely enjoy this R rated vamp fest based on the same concept with a “fang-static” twist. There are actually rumors floating around that this movie is going to be remade. (GASP!) I personally will only be happy with the remake if they cast George Clooney as Jerry Dandridge. :P Who would you like to see play the charming and deadly antagonist?
