History Film / FrightNight

''Fright Night'' may refer to two movies:

* ''Film/FrightNight1985''.
* ''Film/FrightNight2011''.

If an internal link led you here, please correct it to point to the right page.

[[quoteright:275:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Fright_Night_DVD.JPG]]
->''"Welcome to ''Fright Night''... for real!"''

''Fright Night'' is a [[TheEighties 1985]] vampire movie directed by Tom Holland and starring Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse, and Roddy [=McDowall=].

[[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Charley Brewster]] (Ragsdale) is a teenage boy who loves watching horror movies on late-night television while making out with his girlfriend Amy (Bearse), who he pretends is helping him study. One night, he sees two men, [[ClassicalMovieVampire Jerry Dandridge]] (Sarandon) and [[TheRenfield Billy Cole]] (Jonathan Stark), carrying a coffin into the house next door, and makes the natural (to him) assumption that a vampire has moved in. Soon after, dead prostitutes start being reported, and Charley actually sees Jerry attack a woman while looking out his bedroom window. When Jerry attacks him late one night to scare him away from investigating further, Charley's suspicions are only confirmed.

Charley first seeks help from Amy and his friend "Evil" Ed Thompson (Stephen Geoffreys), who both think he's crazy, and then from Peter Vincent ([=McDowall=]), former [[BMovie B-movie]] actor turned host of the late-night horror program ''[[TitleDrop Fright Night]]''. After some goading, the four of them arrange to meet Jerry to test whether he's a vampire, though secretly, everyone except Charley is actually trying to "prove" to him that Jerry's ''not'' a vampire. However, when Peter notices Jerry's [[GlamourFailure lack of a reflection]], he quickly realizes that the boy is right. He and Charley decide to meet up to stake the vampire before he kills him and his friends.

''Fright Night'' was followed by a sequel in 1989, aptly titled ''Fright Night Part II''. William Ragsdale and Roddy [=McDowall=] reprise their roles as Charley and Peter respectively, with Julie Carmen and Traci Lind joining the cast. Set a few years after the first film, the second movie follows Charley (now attending college) and Peter as they battle the seductive vampire Regine (Carmen), who's out for revenge on both Charley and Peter for their role in Jerry's death, and decides the best way to make Charley pay is to turn him into a vampire. Now it falls to Peter and Charley's new girlfriend Alex (Lind) to save Charley from AFateWorseThanDeath.

A [[TheRemake remake]], ''Film/FrightNight2011'' starring Colin Farrell, Creator/AntonYelchin, Creator/DavidTennant and Toni Collette was released in 2011. It drops the Peter Vincent BecomingTheMask story and turns Charley into a Series/{{Buffy|TheVampireSlayer}}-type character, with Jerry resembling the evil version of Spike and Peter now a Vegas showman instead of a former actor. Tropes for the remake [[Film/FrightNight2011 go on its own page]].

Both the original and the remake have garnered positive reviews.

----
!The original 1985 film and its sequel contains the following tropes:

* AdultFear: Not being able to protect loved ones.
-->'''Amy:''' You ''said'' you wouldn't let him get me, Charley.
* AffablyEvil: Jerry, Regine. Jerry becomes more like FauxAffablyEvil later on.
* AmbiguouslyBi: Jerry seduces young girls ''and'' young boys, and has a very close relationship with Billy Cole.
* BadAssLongcoat
** Jerry is often seen in a villainous one.
** Peter Vincent also wears one.
* BadassNormal: Charley, Peter, Alex.
* BarrierBustingBlow: In a variant, Jerry shows off his undead muscles by effortlessly lifting open a window Charley had spent the afternoon nailing shut. This, after casually ''flicking'' the latch off its frame.
* BecomingTheMask: Peter
* BerserkButton / EmbarrassingNickname: Ed ''hates'' being called "Evil."
* BigBad
** Jerry, natch!
** In the sequel, it's his sister, Regine.
* BigDamnHeroes
* BigNo
** Jerry gets one off just before transforming into a bat.
** Charley when he discovers [[spoiler:Amy's]] been vampirized.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Both Jerry and Regine.
* BlackEyesOfEvil: Amy when Charlie finds her in Jerry's house. It's seems to be a process of the transformation as she regains her pupils after completely turning.
* BodyHorror
* {{Bookends}}: The film begins and ends with Charley and Amy necking in Charley's bedroom. The television even {{Lampshades}} it with a character yelling, "Look! We're back where we started from!"
* {{Brainwashed}}: During the nightclub sequence.
* BringIt: Jerry Dandridge to Charley Brewster and Peter Vincent inside the mansion.
* BrokenPedestal: Ed to Peter [[spoiler:after he's been turned into a vampire]].
* CallBack: In the sequel, when Peter tries wielding his crucifix against her, Regine tells him, "You need to have faith."
* ChangedMyMindKid: Peter Vincent initially refuses to help Charlie against Dandridge, but later shows up as an ally.
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve
* ComingOutStory: For Ed, it seems.
* ContemptibleCover: The somewhat goofy looking vampire on the case doesn't mesh with the fact that this is a horror film, not a spoof.
* CoolOldGuy: Peter, especially in the sequel.
* DeadpanSnarker: Peter in the first half.
* DemonHead
* DesignatedGirlFight: [[spoiler:Regine and Alex]]
* DisappearedDad
* DisposableSexWorker: Played by former ''{{Playboy}}'' Playmate Heidi Sorenson. Also, ShesGotLegs.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Ed's seduction can be viewed as a ComingOutStory (especially with Geoffrey's RealitySubtext.)
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:Evil Ed.]]
* TheEndOrIsIt : Charlie saves Amy and all is well [[spoiler: then the final shot of the movie focus on Jerry's house and we see glowing eyes looking at the pair through the window and hear Evil Ed's voice. Indicating he's still alive and the new vampire of the neighborhood. Eh, least he'll be friendlier then Jerry.]]
* EnemyRisingBehind
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:Regine in the sequel.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards
* EvilOverlooker: This film uses a variation: villain as an evil cloud.
* GameFace
* GilliganCut: Charley learns that a vampire cannot enter your home unless invited by the owners. Guess what he finds out a few seconds later in the next scene?
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: [[spoiler:Ed, in the ending, from Jerry's house.]]
* {{Gorn}}
* GrossUpCloseUp: [[spoiler:Billy Cole's death in the first one once he gets staked; Belle and Bocworth in the sequel.]]
* HappilyEverAfter
** Debatable. The good news is [[spoiler:Peter Vincent and Charley are now aware of vampires and how to stop/kill them, Amy is saved, Charley's mom is fine and the vampire and his ghoul are dead.]] But the bad news is [[spoiler:vampires still exist, no-one will believe them, and Evil is now a vampire with good reason to kill Charley or turn Amy.]] Though [[spoiler: considering neither he's no where to be found in the sequel. It's likely this was just put in there as a jump scare.]]
** [[spoiler: Ed]] could have also realized staying in the only part of America people know how to kill vampires in is being TooDumbToLive.
** In the sequel, [[spoiler: Charley was bitten, but the deaths of the vampires just cancel that out.]]
* HeroicWillpower
* HiddenDepths: Ed in particular. In some small moments, or when he's alone, and his goofy, mocking nature is gone, he's quite a pathetic, lonely geek with almost no friends, who is probably struggling with gay feelings. No wonder he's easy prey for Jerry.
* HolyBurnsEvil
* HorrorHost: Peter Vincent
* HowDoYouLikeThemApples: Jerry Dandridge likes them. A lot, actually.
* HypnotizeThePrincess: Jerry to Amy.
* HypocriticalHumor: Peter Vincent gets offended when Charlie [[spoiler: accuses him of having not used real holy water when they're testing to see if Jerry is actually a vampire]], despite the fact that ''that's exactly what he did''.
** Granted, [[spoiler: they were trying to trick Charlie into leaving Jerry alone and drop his whole vampire obsession]], but Vincent acts genuinely offended by it.
* ICannotSelfTerminate: A subversion, when Evil Ed yanks Charley's chain by claiming he's been bitten by the vampire and needs to be killed. [[spoiler:Naturally, that's exactly what happens to Ed as soon as Charley stomps off in anger]].
* IdiotBall
** At one point, Charley gets a cop over to Jerry's house on false pretenses and tells him that there is a coffin in the basement, but then [[YouHaveToBelieveMe lets slip in a near-frenzy that it contains a vampire]]. Had he instead told the officer that the coffin contained one of the recent unsolved murder victims, then the game would have been over for the antagonists. The man would have found the sleeping vampire (to his eyes, a corpse) in the coffin and arrested Billy Cole for murdering his friend, blowing the pair's cover, or alternately faced far-too-suspicious reluctance from Billy to let him down there. Either way, the rest of the film could not have occurred. Not to mention Charley ''let TheRenfield know he was on to them''. NiceJobBreakingItHero.
** Jerry himself has a moment like this when he attacks Charlie. Despite already breaking the frame on the door to his mother's room, he stops attacking Charlie and leaves when his mother wakes up, despite the fact that there's no way to interrupt him. Made especially egregious when his mother yells that she can't get out of her room. Jerry could have killed Charlie right there, but instead opts to run and make a threatening phone call.
*** [[LeaveNoWitnesses Jerry would have to off Charlie's mother]], and two corpses would bring investigators to search their neighbors - something Jerry definitely does not want. Besides, he wants to intimidate Charlie at that point, not kill him.
* IHaveYouNowMyPretty
* InertialImpalement: [[spoiler:A vampirized Evil Ed (in wolf form) is attacking Peter Vincent. A wooden bannister railing is broken and Peter grabs a piece of it. When Evil Ed charges he is impaled on the wooden pole, [[DyingAsYourself returns to human form and apparently dies.]]]]
* InvisibleParents: We never see Evil Ed's or Amy's parents.
* ItsPersonal
* KickTheDog
* KissOfTheVampire
* LargeHam
** Jerry and Peter.
** Also [[spoiler:Evil Ed]] "''Dinner'' is in the ''oven!'' MMM-''MMM!''" "Oh, you're so '''''cool''''', Brewster!"
* LetsSplitUpGang: Charley to Peter while they're looking for the coffin in the basement.
* LoudGulp: Peter does one after finding out [[spoiler:Evil Ed [[TheReveal has become a vampire]], thanks to Jerry.]]
* AManIsAlwaysEager: Used in the opening sequence.
* MercyKill: [[spoiler: Peter's killing Ed.]]
* MoodWhiplash
* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: The vampires' GameFace looks like this. [[spoiler:''Especially'' Amy's.]] This is {{foreshadow|ing}}ed when we hear Jerry take a bite -- just one -- from an apple. We don't see his teeth at the time, but when he tosses the apple aside, most of the middle of the apple is gone.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Peter's reaction to killing Ed.]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed
* NoOntologicalInertia: When the vampire Jerry Dandridge is destroyed, Amy returns to normal.
* NoSell: The first time Peter Vincent confronts Jerry Dandridge with a cross:
-->'''Peter Vincent:''' (brandishing a crucifix) "Back, spawn of Satan!"
-->'''Jerry Dandridge:''' (chuckles) "Oh, really?" (grabs the cross, crushes it, and throws it aside) "You have to have ''faith'' for this to work on me!"
* OffscreenTeleportation: To go along with Jerry's UnflinchingWalk. (Sharp ears can hear a subtle "whoosh".)
* OhCrap
** When Charley realizes that it's almost sunset and that Jerry will soon learn that he knows about him.
** Peter when he looks in his pocket mirror and sees that Jerry has no reflection.
* OneWingedAngel
* OnlySaneMan
* OurVampiresAreDifferent
** Averted, as the film sticks pretty close to the ClassicalMovieVampire. It even takes a note from Bram Stoker that it ain't the crucifix that harms vampires, but the ''faith'' being inspired by them. One minor deviation is that Jerry eats fruit, whereas the classic film vampire can ''only'' stomach blood. Apparently Chris Sarandon suggested that the guy has a bit of ''fruit'' bat in him as well as vampire bat, and the director figured "[[ThrowItIn Hey, why not]]?" Of course, even if Jerry can't digest apples, they are a good natural way of ''cleaning teeth''.
** However, in this film, apparently removing the stake revives the vampire.
** Also plays with OurGhoulsAreDifferent, when Peter wrongly assumes that Billy [[FalseDichotomy must be human]] because he walks around in the daylight. But that ''only'' means he's not a vampire...
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent
** No werewolves. Transforming into wolves is one of the vampire lores.
** Played straight in the sequel when a werewolf does actually show up.
* PivotalWakeup: Jerry
* PoliceAreUseless
* [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil Posters Always Spoil]]: You see that giant NightmareFace on the poster up above? [[spoiler: That's Amy's main GameFace after she gets turned.]]
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Vampires in human, wolf and bat forms.
* ReincarnationRomance
* TheRenfield: Billy Cole
* RiddleForTheAges: Just ''what'', exactly, [[spoiler: Billy Cole]] was is never explained. WordOfGod confirmed he's an undead corpse that Jerry brought back to life as his slave, which isn't out of the question in terms of old vampire lore.
* SadClown. Ed. It's obvious he's hurt and lonely (and probably carrying a torch for Charlie), but buries it in loud chuckles and laughter. Of course, this means he becomes a MonsterClown later.
* SafetyInMuggles: Subverted, hiding from Jerry in a nightclub doesn't stop him from kidnapping Charlie's girlfriend.
* ShoutOut: Peter Vincent is almost certainly named after Creator/PeterCushing and Creator/VincentPrice, stars of the HammerHorror films at their peak.
* ShowWithinAShow: Peter Vincent hosts a late-night horror show called ''Fright Night'' of which Charley is a fan.
* SkepticNoLonger: Let's just say that the next time Peter puts a crucifix in Dandridge's face, ''after'' Peter has killed a vampirized Evil Ed, it turns out ''very'' differently for Dandridge.
* StylisticSuck: Peter Vincent's late-night horror program, and his movies. In the one seen at the beginning, he holds his stake the wrong way when threatening the female vampire.
* SuperLoser: Evil Ed.
* SurvivalMantra:
-->'''Peter:''' I am Peter Vincent, the great vampire killer. I ''am'' Peter Vincent, the great vampire killer...
* TakeThat: Peter Vincent gives one in-universe to the SlasherMovie genre of the '80s:
-->'''Peter:''' "Apparently your generation doesn't want to see vampire killers anymore, nor vampires either. All they want to see slashers running around in ski masks, hacking up young virgins."
* ThisWasHisTrueForm
** [[spoiler:"Evil" Ed]] after his "death".
** The same for [[spoiler: werewolf Louie]] in the sequel.
* TokenMinority: Belle in the sequel.
* TomTheDarkLord: A powerful ancient vampire's name is Jerry.
* TookALevelInBadass
* TransformationSequence
* UnEvilLaugh: Evil Ed.
* UndeathAlwaysEnds
* VampireHunter
* VampireInvitation
* VampiresAreSexGods: In Jerry's case, both sexes.
* VampireDance
* VillainousBSOD: When Charlie successfully uses a crucifix against Jerry. Unfortunately, [[TheRenfield Billy Cole]] takes matters into his own hands.
* WeakenedByTheLight: When Charlie and Peter Vincent confront the vampire Jerry Dandridge in the cellar where his coffin is located, they destroy him by ripping the coverings off the windows and allowing the sunlight inside.
* WhiteDwarfStarlet: Peter, but he gets better.
* WhoYouGonnaCall
* TheWormThatWalks: [[spoiler:Bocworth in the sequel]].
* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Charley is ''terrible'' at acting rational. Even if he was talking about something completely normal, people probably wouldn't' believe him.

* OffscreenTeleportation: To go along with Jerry's UnflinchingWalk.

** Jerry himself has a moment like this when he attacks Charlie. Despite already breaking the frame on the door to his mother's room, he stops attacking Charlie and leaves when his mother wakes up, despite the fact that there's no way to interrupt him. Made especially egregious when his mother yells that she can't get out of her room. Jerry could have killed Charlie right there, but instead opts to run and make a threatening phone call. FridgeBrilliance: [[LeaveNoWitnesses Jerry would have to off the mother]], and two corpses would bring investigators to search their neighbors - something Jerry definitely dies not want. Besides, he wants to intimidate Charlie at that point, not kill him.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: There's absolutely no mistaking this for a movie made any time other than TheEighties. Especially the "Club Radio" scenes.

* SafetyInMuggles: Subverted, hiding from Jerry in a nightclub doesn't stop him from kidnapping Charlie's girlfriend.

** Also [[spoiler:Evil Ed]] "''Dinner'' is in the ''oven!'' MMM-''MMM!''" "Oh, you're so '''''cool'''', Brewster!"

** Also [[spoiler:Evil Ed]] "''Dinner'' is in the ''oven!'' MMM-''MMM!''"

** Ed could have also realized staying in the only part of America people know how to kill vampires in is being TooDumbToLive.

** Debatable. The good news is [[spoiler:Peter Vincent and Charley are now aware of vampires and how to stop/kill them, Amy is saved, Charley's mom is fine and the vampire and his ghoul are dead.]] But the bad news is [[spoiler:vampires still exist, no-one will believe them, and Evil is now a vampire with good reason to kill Charley or turn Amy.]] Though [[spoiler: considering neither he's no where to be found in the sequel. It's likely this was just put in there as a jump scare.]]

* InvisibleParents: We never see Evil Ed's parents.

** Charley when he discovers Amy's been vampirized.

* InertialImpalement: [[spoiler:A vampirized Evil Ed (in wolf form) is attacking Peter Vincent. A wooden bannister railing is broken and Peter grabs a piece of it. When Evil Ed charges he is impaled on the wooden pole, [[DyingAsYourself returns to human form and apparently dies]].]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Peter's reaction to killing Ed]].

* NoSell: The first time Peter Vincent confronts Jerry Dandrige with a cross:

-->'''Jerry Dandrige:''' (chuckles) "Oh, really?" (grabs the cross, crushes it, and throws it aside) "You have to have ''faith'' for this to work on me!"

* SkepticNoLonger: Let's just say that the next time Peter puts a crucifix in Dandrige's face, ''after'' Peter has killed a vampirized Evil Ed, it turns out ''very'' differently for Dandrige.

* AffablyEvil: Jerry, Regine.
** Jerry becomes more like FauxAffablyEvil later on.
* BadAssLongcoat: Jerry is often seen in a villainous one.
** Peter Vincent, also wears one.

* BigBad: Jerry, natch!

* BigNo: Jerry gets one off just before transforming into a bat.
** Also Charley, when he discovers Amy's been vampirized.

* DisposableSexWorker: Played by former ''{{Playboy}}'' Playmate Heidi Sorenson.
** ShesGotLegs

* HappilyEverAfter: Debatable. The good news is [[spoiler:Peter Vincent and Charley are now aware of vampires and how to stop/kill them, Amy is saved, Charley's mom is fine and the vampire and his ghoul are dead.]] But the bad news is [[spoiler:vampires still exist, no-one will believe them, and Evil is now a vampire with good reason to kill Charley or turn Amy.]] Though [[spoiler: considering neither he's no where to be found in the sequel. It's likely this was just put in there as a jump scare.]]

* IdiotBall: At one point, Charley gets a cop over to Jerry's house on false pretenses and tells him that there is a coffin in the basement, but then [[YouHaveToBelieveMe lets slip in a near-frenzy that it contains a vampire]]. Had he instead told the officer that the coffin contained one of the recent unsolved murder victims, then the game would have been over for the antagonists. The man would have found the sleeping vampire (to his eyes, a corpse) in the coffin and arrested Billy Cole for murdering his friend, blowing the pair's cover, or alternately faced far-too-suspicious reluctance from Billy to let him down there. Either way, the rest of the film could not have occurred. Not to mention Charley ''let TheRenfield know he was on to them''. NiceJobBreakingItHero.
** Jerry himself has a moment like this when he attacks Charlie. Despite already breaking the frame on the door to his mother's room, he stops attacking Charlie and leaves when his mother wakes up, despite the fact that there's no way to interrupt him. Made especially egregious when his mother yells that she can't get out of her room. Jerry could have killed Charlie right there, but instead opts to run and make a threatening phone call.
*** FridgeBrilliance: [[LeaveNoWitnesses Jerry would have to off the mother]], and two corpses would bring investigators to search their neighbors - something Jerry definitely dies not want. Besides, he wants to intimidate Charlie at that point, not kill him.

* LargeHam: Jerry, Peter.

* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: The vampires' GameFace looks like this. [[spoiler:''Especially'' Amy's.]]
** This is {{foreshadow|ing}}ed when we hear Jerry take a bite -- just one -- from an apple. We don't see his teeth at the time, but when he tosses the apple aside, most of the middle of the apple is gone.

** SkepticNoLonger: Let's just say that the next time Peter puts a crucifix in Dandrige's face, ''after'' Peter has killed a vampirized Evil Ed, it turns out ''very'' differently for Dandrige.

* OhCrap: When Charley realizes that it's almost sunset and that Jerry will soon learn that he knows about him.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Averted, as the film sticks pretty close to the ClassicalMovieVampire. It even takes a note from Bram Stoker that it ain't the crucifix that harms vampires, but the ''faith'' being inspired by them. One minor deviation is that Jerry eats fruit, whereas the classic film vampire can ''only'' stomach blood. Apparently Chris Sarandon suggested that the guy has a bit of ''fruit'' bat in him as well as vampire bat, and the director figured "[[ThrowItIn Hey, why not]]?" Of course, even if Jerry can't digest apples, they are a good natural way of ''cleaning teeth''.

* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: No werewolves. Transforming into wolves is one of the vampire lores.

* RiddleForTheAges: Just ''what'', exactly, [[spoiler: Billy Cole]] was is never explained.
** WordOfGod confirmed he's an undead corpse that Jerry brought back to life as his slave, which isn't out of the question in terms of old vampire lore.

* ThisWasHisTrueForm: [[spoiler:"Evil" Ed]] after his "death".

* HiddenDepths

** Which is a lot [[HilariousInHindsight more funner]] when you watch this as a modern viewer since its quite the reversal with vampires being more of a mainstay then slasher films.

* {{Bookends}}: The film begins and ends with Charley and Amy necking. The television even {{Lampshades}} it with a character yelling, "Look! We're back where we started from!"