Fright Night (2011 Remix)

I gotta say I was not a big fan of this movie. I really didn’t know where this movie was coming from not having seen the original 1985 version and I didn’t know at all where it was going. With a cast of reputable kiddish actors lead by Anton Yelchin, I expected a bit more from this film. Souring the mood with a debilitating approach to lighting, this movie came at me from all the wrong places.

This is the story of a young man, Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin). No longer the bullied in his high school, he has become the passive bully. He ignores his former friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and finds solace only in his airhead toolish friends and girlfriend, Amy (Imogen Poots. What a horrid name.) With Ed and their friend Adam (Will Denton, not all that important.) these three crusaders would L.A.R.P. and Dungeon Master themselves to death. They loved the

Colin Farrell was pretty dope.

occult and all these fantasy. And then one day, a vampire moves into town and starts killing.

I have to say I enjoyed the first scene of the film. Straight from a thriller horror movie, a boy is chased and killed along with his family by what appears to be a home invader. That was pretty intense and old schoolish. Always the suggestion and hinting at the supernatural. Then you find out it’s Adam. Feel a bit bad, move on. Ed ropes in Charley and is abandoned by the middle of the film. That’s the one part of the movie I felt they should have stayed on. Straying from the course and focusing more on the damsel in distress made the movie unoriginal. (or… followed the original 1985 version…) I loved Chris Mintz-Plasse in this movie. I hated him and everything else about Superbad. Go

Here's where the acting came from. And there's where the lighting went.

figure. But it was the friendship between these two and the fact that one needed the other just as much was what really struck a chord for me in this movie. And that only mattered for about 20 minutes. Screw that.

Then let’s get into how (okay it does relate to the original, but…) this movie resonates with Mom’s Got a Date with a Vampire. That was some good Disney joint back in the day. That dad from The Nanny, he was killin that shizz. And now, beef up and hottify the vampire to the point of ridiculousness. Enter Colin Farrell as Jerry, the next door vampire. His sexual appeal (not to me necessarily…) and his sarcastic charm made him a perfect fit for this film. Seducing Charley’s mom (Toni Collette) was a different story.Trying to convince the world of a vampire that will kill you if you don’t play by its weaknesses was a great aspect to this film. (Just like in Orphan. Watch it and you’ll understand.)

...On pushing it that he did well in this movie...

…But going to see your childhood hero and finding him to be a fraud is not. This leads me to say that the second half (and only part of the first half) of this movie was disappointing. I need to talk about this because this chews at me. David Tennant may be a fantastic Doctor on Dr. Who. But I really hope anyone who saw this film for him realizes that he was terrible in this movie. He is typecast forever as a quirky, know-it-all character… like Dr. Who. I don’t watch Dr. Who. And, taking David Tennant’s acting in this film, it was lackluster. Below par. I’m sad to say that when I had heard rumors he was going to play The Riddler in the new Batman movie that I can’t wait to miss. Too bad, so sad. Truly.

I don't think you can defend yourself, little Miss Poots.

So Anton Yelchin goes to find Peter Vincent (Dr. Who) in order to get an expert’s help with his vampire problem. He’s a sham and swears and drinks all the time. He can’t help save the damsel and needs some convincing in order for the final showdown. And I won’t ruin the ending, but movie writers or whoever decides this has to stop assuming that you can call something a vampire and then say its not and call it some succubus subhuman ground creature. Not true. It’s not a vampire is it? And yet it follows all the same laws of defeating a vampire? Make up your minds…

Bring it on, Anton.

All-in-all, the only bright lights in this dark vampire world were Anton Yelchin(sort of) and Chris Mintz-Plasse. If they had focused on their friendship and not unnecessarily focused on Imogen Pootz, the dud. (this girl has been in 28 Weeks Later, the failed sequel, and Jane Eyre. Bet she wasn’t good in either…) I don’t understand the high school mood they were going for, and a lot of the lines and cinematography fell flat for me. A little more of a dynamic, over the top approach to this horror comedy may have brough out that comedy, because it was lost on me. 4 out of 10.

One Missed Call: The Orig

By Asian horror film standards, this movie would be considered subpar. But by American standards, it had to be remade. Then again, by Japanese standards, movies like this with a semi-unbelievable plot need lots and lots of sequels. And that’s exactly what happened with this film about the consequences of not picking up your cell phone.

This movie is ingenious in its suppositions and at the same time ridiculous with its plot devices. Some unknown evil force is killing off a group of friends who have each other’s numbers in their cell phones? As a good friend, I would automatically delete all numbers off of my phone if I got the “One Missed Call” on my cell. It’s like those old chain e-mails that’ll give you bad luck if you don’t forward them to a certain amount of people. Only this one will kill you.

So the basic story doesn’t really concern specific characters, because the names and faces blur and die so frequently that one just blends into another.

Pretty freaky, right?

But by movie’s end, everything is explained and the deaths end. Although the ending may freak you out a bit (I literally thought they were shoving baby Nemo in each other’s mouths…) but it’s left up to the interpretation of the viewer, an acceptable ending for a horror movie. Although the movie explanation is something you really couldn’t expect, it screams of direct connections of Ringu and Ju-On. Perfect.

Those are some freaked out Asians...

The one thing that bothered me about this film? The One Missed Call aspect. If you don’t pick up your phone, you get a missed call and possibly voicemail. If you pick up your phone, you won’t hear how you die. It’s that simple. So PICK UP YOUR DAMN PHONE. You can say, “Haha sucka, I won’t be dying to your silly ringtone.” The ringtone by the way, freaky. And apparently now it is a staple in modern horror/pop culture as the tones you hear in haunted houses and such. That is utterly fantastic.

This just pales in comparison. Sad.

From what I remember of the remake, they explain a bit better, but the horror pales in comparison to the original. This is a common occurance in Asian horror flick remakes, and I’ve gotten used to the stereotype. Although one day, in my many fantasies of directing my own horror movie, I hope to make one that the Asian community will remake themselves. I’ll give this semi-scary film about killer technology (cliche at this point, I’d wager) a 6.6 out of 10.