Fright Night

Arriving a quarter-century-plus after the original, filmmaker Craig Gillespie's re-imagining shifts the story from Iowa to suburban Las Vegas, where a charming, enigmatic stranger named Jerry (Colin Farrell) moves in next door to the Brewsters—high school senior Charley (Anton Yelchin) and his divorced mother, Jane (Toni Collette)—who find it curious that Jerry's windows are blacked out, and he has a dumpster in his front yard. But the Brewsters are not overly concerned, even when Charley's friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) notices that fellow students are mysteriously vanishing and voices the suspicion that Jerry may be a vampire who's eyeing the Brewsters and Charlie's new girlfriend, Amy (Imogen Poots), as his next treats. When Ed disappears too, Charlie discovers that Jerry's image doesn't appear in mirrors or show up on cameras. Soon he's seeking counsel from famed-but-fraudulent stage magician Peter Vincent (David Tennant), a supposed expert in the supernatural. Film buffs may recall that the 1985 version starred Chris Sarandon (who appears here in a cameo) as the sardonic vampire. Fright Night is silly and scary, and while it fails to eclipse the original, this is still a strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include bloopers (4 min.), the “Squid Man” extended and uncut home video from the film (3 min.), the music video “No One Believes Me” by Kid Cudi, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are “The Official ‘How to Make a Funny Vampire Movie' Guide” (8 min.), deleted and extended scenes (5 min.), a “Peter Vincent: Come Swim in My Mind” character segment (2 min.), and bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an uneven remake.] (S. Granger)