Fright Night Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Fright Night Blu-ray Movie Review

There's nothing frightening about this release's video and audio presentations.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 8, 2011

That guy, your neighbor? Yeah, he’s a vampire, man.

The best way to describe Fright Night in five words or less would be to call it "Disturbia meets Vampire movies," and that's by no means an oversimplification. The plot follows a suspicious suburban teen spying on his new neighbor, whom said teen's single mother kinda-sorta likes, only to discover that said neighbor is a vampire (just another form of killer who, yes, keeps his victims in his house). Various chase and "high suspense" scenes follow until the main characters square off in a battle royal to determine who will live and who will die. It's disappointing -- but not all that surprising -- just how unoriginal and unimaginative this movie feels. To make matters worse, this Fright Night is, yes, a remake of that Fright Night, so not only does this one play out like a rip-off of another movie, it's also a rip-off of something that was already done before. Add in that the movie was probably made in large part because it could be filmed in 3D, and the stage is set for a potentially miserable motion picture. Fortunately, 2011's Fright Night excels beyond "miserable," but it's still a derivative, predictable, go-nowhere sort of movie that holds its own but doesn't exactly redefine the Horror/Comedy, Vampire, or remake markets. It's polished, effortlessly executed, stylish, and occasionally fun, but Fright Night is hardly a landmark of Horror filmmaking.

It's good to be a vampire.

Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) is a pretty average suburban kid. He hails from a cookie-cutter neighborhood located on the outskirts of Las Vegas, a neighborhood where the distance between houses may be measured in inches, not feet or miles. That's both a blessing and a curse; it keeps the community tight and on its toes, but if the wrong person moves in next door, there may very well be hell to pay. When locals start disappearing and school attendance markedly drops as a result, Charley's former geeky friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) investigates, leading him to believe that the disappearances might be the work of a nefarious vampire. Charley more or less blows Ed off, and who can blame him with blonde classmate Amy Peterson (Imogen Poots) hot for him? But when Ed disappears, Charley decides to take his claims a bit more seriously. An investigation leads him to believe that his new next-door neighbor Jerry (Colin Farrell) may very well be a creature of the night, a bloodsucking vampire. Charley turns to the only expert he can find on vampirism, a dark Vegas show star named Peter Vincent (David Tennant). Can Charley, possibly with Peter's help, muster up the courage to protect his mother (Toni Collette) and his girl, or will he, too, just become another forever absentee at school?

Fright Night is routinely and serviceably entertaining, a movie made of pretty standard stuff, which is just about the best thing that may be said of it, other than, perhaps, that it's also technically honed to a crisp edge that gives the illusion of a superior movie where a rather lackluster story actually exists. Fright Night does well to mix standard Horror/Vampire movie thrills and chills with some subtle situational and character humor, but the movie lacks the hard edginess of superior genre pictures like 30 Days of Night (and Fright Night pretty much mimics that movie's vampire makeup and special effects), opting instead for something a little more reserved, stylistically bland, and infinitely predictable. While the direction, acting, and the like are all up to par for a big studio production, the story itself leaves much to be desired. Though it might copy characteristics of Disturbia, Fright Night begins well enough, building up a few halfway interesting characters and situational dynamics, but the picture falls into routine chase elements soon thereafter as character development comes to a screeching halt, leaving only a few main characters who are only slightly more shapely than flat cardboard cut-outs. It's the sort of movie that looks like something better and feels like it should be superior genre fare, but the end result is just another humdrum Horror movie that's neither all that great nor all that bad.

Though their characters may be mostly one-dimensional, the cast gives the movie full-steam-ahead efforts that are maybe Fright Night's one major saving grace. Colin Farrell chews up the movie with a fun, level, no-frills sort of effort. He sinks his teeth into the character and creates a frightening and powerful, though not exactly dynamic or memorable, villain. He plays the part with a spark that's needed of a character who's more or less a "lone wolf" sort, a character who creates some vampire minions but who truly has no equal or superior in the movie. The picture is smart to dismiss the urge to paint too much of a backstory, and that he's somehow shrouded in mystery makes him a little more frightening. It's too bad that the vampire special effects look more devilishly cartoonish than they do genuinely frightening, but at least the character is sufficiently sinister. Imogen Poots' Amy is perhaps the most generic character in the movie, doing little more than playing the obligatory girlfriend/female-in-peril part. Anton Yelchin doesn't lend much spunk or spirit to his part, either, playing the hero role pretty straight, though he does manage to make his transformation from skeptical friend to frightened teen to wannabe tough guy vampire slayer believable enough. The show is stolen, however, by Christopher Mintz-Plasse, the Superbad alum who plays the "something's amiss in suburbia" character with geeky panache. He commands the movie whenever -- and however -- he appears on the screen. It's too bad he's treated more as a necessary but disposable second-tier character; the potential was there for him to become something of an Edgar Frog-style long-lasting and memorable hero, but the movie doesn't take full advantage of its best asset.

Fright Night Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Fright Night features a strong 1080p Blu-ray transfer that looks great either in the bright daylight or under the cover of darkness. The image yields exceptional clarity, evident from the beginning of the movie forward. The daytime scenes truly sparkle, revealing impeccable stability, razor sharpness, and wonderful detail, including all the little bumps on Anton Yelchin's face, the blood vessels just below the surface of Imogen Poots' chest, or the finest little seams and textures on clothing. There's not a blade of grass, texture of a stone, or exterior house façade that's not in perfect order. Detail obviously lessens in nighttime scenes and in the film's darkest corners, but the crispness and stability that's so readily evident elsewhere remain. Colors are equally wonderful, paralleling the quality of the detailing. Bright scenes yield perfectly balanced hues, whether in the form of green grass, colorful clothing, or natural skin tones. Nighttime and dark scenes offer unwavering blacks and only occasionally border on crush. The digital photography is free of excess noise and banding. It's a little flat and almost too glossy and pristine; it doesn't yield the same texture and character as does a filmed motion picture, but this is the current state of digital moviemaking at its finest.

Fright Night Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Fright Night's DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack is scary good. It's a wholly enveloping experience that delivers precision atmospherics and high-energy action with equal brilliance. There's a very good heft at the low end, which is a key element in a Horror soundtrack such as this, giving it that power and body that makes the experience a little more chilling. Explosions are strong and focused, and heavy club beats heard in chapter fifteen are nicely representative of that atmosphere. The added surround channels are constantly utilized in creating a completely immersive audio environment, whether in the form of lingering thunder, the din of busy school hallways, or in support of the film's more intense music and action sequences. Music is, not surprisingly, robust, spacious, and nicely detailed through the entire range. The track is very well balanced, too; imaging is wonderful, sound placement is impeccable, and the track always seems natural, even when artificial effects and music dominate. Dialogue is never lost to surrounding elements, and it remains planted in the center channel. This is a very high quality soundtrack from Disney/DreamWorks.

Fright Night Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Fright Night doesn't contain as many extras as one might assume for a movie of a relatively high profile. The collection is headlined by an eight-minute rapid-fire piece that covers all of the basics behind the crafting of the movie.

• Peter Vincent: Come Swim in My Mind (1080p, 2:09): A short extra that assumes that Vincent and his Fright Night is real. The piece features Vincent offering a brief overview of his show.
• The Official "How to Make a Funny Vampire Movie" Guide (1080p, 8:04): Cast and crew offer a brief overview of the movie's various elements: the actors and their characters and performances, working traditional vampire story elements into the plot, the film's gore effects, creating a believable hero, making use of cool vampire weapons, the quality of the film's sound effects and score, and more.
• Deleted & Extended Scenes (1080p, 4:51): Ride to School; Neighborly; Once a Freak, Always a Freak; Midori & Kerosene; and Back at the Penthouse.
• Squid Man: Extended & Uncut (1080p, 2:56): The entire short amateur backyard film as briefly seen in the movie.
• Bloopers (1080p, 3:23).
• Music Video (1080p, 5:21): "No One Believes Me" by Kid Cudi.
• DVD Copy.

Fright Night Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fright Night is a halfway decent Horror/Comedy that emphasizes the former and subtly works in the latter. It features a couple of good performances, a few lackluster efforts, and one or two mostly superfluous characters. Special effects are hit-or-miss, but the movie sports a high value production sheen that helps to mask its shortcomings. The picture is both a remake and a movie that's far too close in subject matter to another, unrelated film. It's a bad combination and, indeed, Fright Night can't elevate itself beyond the level of a workable, watchable, but forgettable picture. Disney/DreamWorks' Blu-ray release of Fright Night lacks the more thorough selection of supplements fans will undoubtedly crave, but the video and audio qualities are, not surprisingly, up to snuff. Worth a rental.