Fright Night (2011)

If you have seen the original Fright Night, which was very well received back in 1985, you might look upon this modern remake differently, I hadn't seen it prior to watching this new version so I didn't go in to it with any preconceptions.

Anton Yelchin (Chekov in the Star Trek reboot & soon to be seen in Odd Thomas) plays Charley Brewster, a teenager who is a bit of a nerd and has recently been accepted into a group of "cool" kids. Ed played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse used to be good friends with Charley, but they have drifted apart as Charley has been distancing himself from his former geekery.

Weird stuff begins to happen in their neighbourhood, the boys' schoolmates start disappearing, and someone has moved into the previously vacant house next door to Charley and his mother, there are plenty of signs of someone taking residence, but no one in the street has met the mysterious neighbour.

Ed is convinced that a vampire is hunting down the kids in the neighbourhood and killing them off, which Charley initially laughs off, but he starts to take this theory more seriously when Ed goes missing.

David Tennant as Peter Vincent

Fearing the worst, Charley and his girlfriend attempt to enlist the help of Peter Vincent played by David Tennant, who has a magic show in nearby Las Vegas in which he theatrically dispatches sexy lady vampires. And as it turns out, Charley's problems are closer to home than he first realised....

After the trend for gross out "torture porn" horror movies such as the Saw series, I'm glad to see a return to what I would call "shock horror" (see also The Woman In Black) with plenty of moments that make you jump out of your seat, that's not to say there isn't a fair amount of blood flying around, but not so much that it makes you feel physically ill.

Anton Yelchin is very good, even though he acts like a bit of a dick to Ed (who in fairness is sometimes a bit obnoxious himself), you end up rooting for him. I didn't have a strong opinion either way about Colin Farrell before watching the film, but he was very charming, and suitably creepy as Jerry Dandridge, the neighbour from hell.

For me, the stand out performance was that of David Tennant as potty mouthed Peter Vincent, for those of you acquainted with his portayal of Giacomo Cassanova, it's not a million miles away from that, and he certainly gets the best of the one liners.

There's a good deal of humour in the film, which in my opinion, makes it all the more enjoyable, a real modern day gothic treat.

AFI 100 Movies #87 Frankenstein (1931)

James Whale's version of Frankenstein was released by Universal Pictures in 1931 prior to the strict adherence to the censorship guidelines set out by the Hays code. And maybe that's one of the reasons why this film has endured the last 80 years, with the director able to bring his vision of this classic tale to celluloid life, unfettered by the censors (at least not until later...).

The film has more in common with the stage adaptation by Peggy Webling than Mary Shelley's original novel, and the film has a theatrical feel to it with many of the key scenes taking place on lavish stage sets.

There is a lot to like about this film, the central performances by Colin Clive as 'Henry' Frankenstein and Boris Karloff as the creature are great. Mae Clarke as Elizabeth is a tad on the hammy side and Frederick Kerr as Henry's father plays the part of a pompous old duffer to a tee.

Boris Karloff steals the show as the creature, which even today is a recognisable horror icon, as a viewer you feel sympathy for this sad creation who is so badly mistreated by those who made him (particularly 'Fritz', Frankenstein's servant, who meets a nasty and not entirely undeserved end).

I must confess at the point where Fritz is breaking in to the lab to steal the brain needed to complete the creature, I did have a flashback to the late great Marty Feldman as Igor in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein!

As the tale progresses, the creature escapes his tormentors and goes out in to the world beyond. He befriends a small child with tragic repercussions in a scene which for decades had been censored after its original release and not reinstated until 1986.

As the end of the film nears, Frankenstein and the creature slug it out next to the edge of a cliff before the creature, carrying an unconscious Frankenstein, is pursued in to a wooden windmill by a flaming torch wielding mob which leads to a sticky and fairly obvious end for the poor fellow.

Overall an enjoyable tale.