Fright Night is an intelligent remake that respects the original but uses it as a springboard to make an effective contemporary horror film. It is very attractively shot, and it uses 3D in a mostly natural way, with only a couple of unnecessary and jarringly obvious digital blood-spurts at the audience. The daftness of the tale uses popular vampire mythology (old and new) to entertaining effect without labouring the point, and there is a well-handled mix of humour and horror from beginning to end. The film is blessed with superb casting: Anton Yelchin gives Charley Brewster a grounded innocence which works better as the film progresses and he faces up to the harsh truth of what is happening; David Tennant has a ball hamming it up in the role of Peter Vincent but is saved by his usual expert timing of delivery; and Toni Collette and Imogen Poots provide strong if limited support as Charley's mother and girlfriend. The film belongs to a very in-form Colin Farrell, giving Jerry the vampire a truly dark, dangerous and ruthless demeanour that fills the screen in every scene. In terms of horror, there is little that is truly edge-of-your-seat, but overall Fright Night is well-written, beautifully-crafted and entertains throughout.
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