The Informers (2008)

**This review contains spoilers**

So the story is broken into a series of separate storylines. Characters from different storylines have some interaction with each other every now and then, so I’ll do another “separate synopses and my thoughts after each one” breakdown. The Informers is set in various cities throughout Los Angeles in 1983.

Bruce’s Death

One night at a party, Bruce (Fernando Consagra) strolls out into the street, and is killed by a speeding driver. His “friends” attended the funeral, and afterwards, Graham (Jon Foster), a drug dealer, Martin (Austin Nichols), an egotistical bisexual rock video producer and a prostitute, Tim (Lou Taylor Pucci), and Raymond (Aaron Himelstein) are sitting outside on the patio of the hotel, where the funeral is being held. But instead of reminiscing about good times with Bruce, Martin decides to bask in the glory of Bruce’s death by mocking his memory with unflattering stories, including the true stories of Bruce sleeping with Graham’s promiscuous girlfriend, Christie (Amber Heard). Raymond is disgusted by the lack of respect for Bruce’s memory, breaks down in tears, and Graham follows him to the bathroom for comfort.

My Thoughts: The problem with the opening moments for The Informers is, NOTHING catches your attention to the point, where you’ll be interested enough to stick around for the rest of the movie. Plus, they introduce the audience to the long list of very unlikeable characters from the start. Tim is whining about a vacation to Hawaii. Graham KNOWS his girlfriend is cheating on him, but he tries to play it off like it’s not a big deal. Raymond is blubbering like a baby for a guy, who clearly hated his guts (during the party Bruce shoved him in the chest, because Raymond was following him around too much), and Martin is just a tool. And why did they put so much emphasis on Bruce’s death? After he’s smacked by the car, and after the funeral, his character is never mentioned again.

Graham knows Christie is sleeping with other guys, doesn’t like it, but he still won’t do anything about it

Christie enjoys Martin as one of her more consistent and likeable sex partners outside of Graham, and Christie is pretty open about her promiscuity. But Graham’s feelings for Christie cause some friction in the consensual and friendly love triangle.

My Thoughts: The mind-numbing stupidity in this storyline is just too much. There’s a scene, where Graham is watching this orgy involving Christie…..and he just stands there with this horrified look on his face? Eh, if Christie’s “open relationship” lifestyle is bothering you THAT much, why don’t you just leave her? I don’t get it. Graham cleans up his act, and you quickly realize Christie is in the wrong here, but it’s hard to feel any sympathy for Graham, because he’s such an inept crybaby. Oh, and on top of that, Martin calls Graham out for sleeping around with other women during the beginning, so again, why should I feel bad for Graham? In a lot of ways, he is/was just as bad as Christie.

Uncle Pete comes to visit, and he brings Mary with him

Peter (Mickey Rourke) is looking for a place to lay low, until the heat from some bad people dies down. Without giving him a choice in the matter, Peter hides out at his nephew Jack’s (Brad Renfro) house in Los Angeles. Jack is worried about Peter’s presence possibly jeopardizing his job as a doorman at Christie’s apartment complex, and Peter doesn’t help matters, because he brings a kidnapped teenager named Mary (Angela Sarafayan) with him. To make the situation worse, Peter abducts another young kid one day, so he can make more money in a kidnap and trade for cash business. But Jack makes a fatal mistake that will change his life forever, when he refuses to hand over the kid to the people, who paid Peter.

My Thoughts: Well, this is probably the best storyline in The Informers. Unlike all the other storylines, Pete and Jack’s stroryline actually has some intrigue to it. You wonder what might happen, if Peter, Jack, and Mary stick around for the bad guys to come back. You wonder if Jack will finally find the courage to stand up to Peter, and finally tell him “no.“ Enough is enough. And you kind of feel sorry for Jack, because Peter comes out of nowhere, and ruins his life. Plus, Mickey Rourke delivers one of the best performances in this film.

Bryan Metro

Bryan Metro (Mel Raido) is a hot and wildly popular rock musician, who’s currently on tour. But along the way, Bryan succumbs to his addictions to drugs, alcoholism, and a shameful habit of sleeping with underage groupies. Bryan’s trusted bandmate, friend, and manager, Roger (Rhys Ifans) tries to secure a deal for a movie, that would put Bryan in the starring role, but Bryan’s problems and a broken relationship with Nina Metro (Simone Kessell), his ex-wife and the mother of his only child, could derail any chances of a positive future.

My Thoughts: Bryan Metro is easily the most despicable character in this movie. He’s a grown man, who sleeps with young male and female teenagers, he beats women, and he’s a terrible father. Need an example of how creepy Bryan Metro is? During the meeting for the B-movie with a rep from the studio, Bryan is attracted to this teenage girl, who’s watching TV in the bedroom of his hotel room. Metro loses interest in the meeting, and he becomes infatuated with the girl, when she smiles at him, showing Metro her braces.  Yeah, kind of hard to feel sympathy for Metro, when he’s on the phone yelling at Nina for a chance to speak with his kid, because he’s such a scumbag.

Tim Price and Les Price

Living with his mother, Tim’s parents are divorced, and against his will, Tim is forced to go on a vacation to Hawaii with his father Les (Chris Isaak). Tim still has bitter feelings towards his father, and the already strained relationship becomes worse in Hawaii.

My Thoughts: Yes, Les is an obnoxious man child, who hits on women half his age, but Tim is still annoying, as the whiny and immature spoiled brat. “This sucks! I’m going to Hawaii for a vacation, and my dad is paying for everything! What a jerk!” Seriously? So yeah, The Informers major problem of having one too many unlikeable characters rears its ugly head again here, because I didn’t want to support either Tim or Les.

William and Laura’s broken marriage

Depressed, and addicted to prescription  pills, Laura Sloan (Kim Basinger) agrees to a proposal from her estranged husband and wealthy movie producer, William Sloan (Billy Bob Thornton) for William to move back into their mansion, so they can live together. William wants a second chance after having an affair with Cheryl Moore (Winona Ryder), a popular local news anchorwoman, but Laura must end her sexual relationship with Martin. Meanwhile, William has doubts after some old feelings for Cheryl resurface, and the situation becomes more tense, when William pursues Cheryl at a restaurant during a celebratory dinner with the Sloan’s children, Graham and Susan (Cameron Goodman). 

My Thoughts: ……okay. So Laura is sleeping with Martin (her son‘s best friend), and on top of that, it’s heavily implied Martin and Laura had a regular and ongoing sexual relationship during William’s affair with Cheryl. So why should I feel sympathy for Laura, as this broken and depressed woman? William is a selfish douchebag, but Laura is no saint either. And Susan could’ve  provided some much needed positive light in the murky darkness of characters for The Informers, but Goodman doesn’t receive a significant amount of screen time here.

Summary

The veterans take the cake here, because Rourke and Basinger deliver the best performances. Amber Heard is just eye candy, because during most of her appearances in this film, she’s either topless, completely naked, or having sex. Billy Bob Thornton is seemingly bored, with an unengaging and lifeless performance. And Winona Ryder is just going through the motions during her limited screen time. Brad Renfro’s Jack is probably the only guy in this entire film, who you can feel some sympathy for, but Renfro’s performance isn’t convincing,  at all (I cringed, when Jack tried to put on a tough guy face in front of his uncle Pete, and said “I’m gonna cut his fucking throat”). On a side note, I had no idea Renfro died of a heroin overdose a handful of years ago. Always thought he had some potential (he was pretty solid in Bully), and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out a reason for not seeing him in any movies recently. But after researching, I learned about his problems with drugs and alcohol.  Performance wise, the rest of the cast is not worth mentioning at all.

The Informers doesn’t give the audience any likeable characters to support or root for. Too many whining and spoiled rich kids, pedophiles, stupid people, self-absorbed junkies, and egomaniacs. And the writers ruin any semi-likeable characters. Yes, Bryan Metro is a piece of trash, but Nina is one of Martin’s clients, and she allows her young son to play with and bond with Martin?

The final scene of the movie shows Christie laying on the beach, and she’s CLEARLY dying (presumably from AIDS), because a fly lands on her cold and pale body, and she doesn’t even feel it. This scene was suppose to generate some sympathy for Christie, as Graham gives her one final kiss good-bye. But yeah, it’s kind of hard to feel sympathy for someone, who CONSTANTLY and carelessly has unprotected sex throughout the movie, and refuses to go to the doctor for help at the end.

William and Laura’s finale for their storyline was SO incredibly stupid. So Laura calls William out for trying to make another move on Cheryl. William eventually admits it during an argument, but Laura agrees to go with William to a banquet, and after that, William has to move out (again), and get out of Laura’s life forever. And get this, the main reason  for William wanting to go to the banquet is so he can see Cheryl in person again. And Laura agrees, because she wants to have a final face to face confrontation with Cheryl. But here’s the swerve! William and Laura arrive at the banquet, but Laura never gets out of the limo. She catches Cheryl with one glimpse from inside the limo, closes the door, and leaves William at the banquet by himself, as the limo drives away. Okay. Hold on a minute. Laura could’ve avoided this whole mess by simply choosing to stay at home. And William had plenty of chances to see Cheryl face to face without Laura. So why on Earth did they have to go together? I don’t get it.

Any social commentary for the consequences of unprotected sex, AIDS, and the outbreak of STDs in the gay community is overshadowed by an overload of dreary and overly dramatic storylines. And the best performances from Rourke and Basinger are undermined by two unlikable (especially Rourke’s Peter, because it’s implied he has a sexual relationship with Mary) characters. The Informers is a depressing, ugly, and miserable ensemble film with too many scumbag characters, and the stroylines culminate into a series of unfulfilling and underwhelming finales. An awful , awful film, and to think they almost added a supernatural element to this one. Brandon Routh was suppose to play a vampire in another sub-plot (the vampire was in the book, and The Informers is based on the same book with the same title), but those plans were scrapped. I don’t think it’s possible, but there’s a good chance the vampire sub-plot would’ve dug a deeper grave for The Informers.

Rating: 0/10

The Lone Ranger (2013)

**This review contains spoilers**

In 1869, district attorney John Reid (Armie Hammer) returns to his hometown of Colby, Texas via train ride. On the same train, a nasty and emotionless cannibal outlaw named Butch Cavendish (William Fichtner) is being held captive, as he awaits his execution in Colby. In the same car, Tonto (Johnny Depp) is shackled next to Butch. Eventually, Butch escapes the train with the help of his gang, and a hidden gun underneath the floorboards. Tonto escapes to go after Butch, and with John’s help, both men pursue Butch and his gang.

Butch and his gang escape, Tonto disappears, and John reunites with his brother and Colby Ranger, Dan (James Badge Dale) and his son, Danny (Bryant  Prince) in Colby. Awkward feelings from a past relationship with Dan’s wife, Rebecca (Ruth Wilson) cause some tension between the two, and Rebecca tries to ignore and fight off advances from the local railroad tycoon, Latham Cole (Tom Wilkinson).

Vowing to bring Butch and his gang to justice, Dan puts together a team to go after Butch, and he deputizes John by giving him their father’s old Texas Ranger badge. But Dan, John, and the rest of the team are ambushed by Butch’s gang, after a trader from within the group lures them into a trap. Butch kills Dan by eating his heart, and John is left for dead with the rest of the corpses.

John is resurrected back to life with the help of a ritual from a returning Tonto, and a white spirit horse. John agrees to team up with Tonto, so he can capture Butch, his gang, and the traitor. Using Tonto’s black mask and advice, John assumes the identity of The Lone Ranger. With help from Red Harrington (Helena Bonham Carter), the madam of a brothel, John and Tonto uncover a railroad conspiracy connected to a scheme involving tons of silver on Indian land, and John learns more about Tonto’s motivations for vengeance on Butch after discovering the truth about Tonto’s deadly mistake as a child.

As expected, Johnny Depp delivers another enjoyable kooky and eccentric performance, providing the most laughs as Tonto. I guess you can say the same thing about Helena Bonham Carter’s Red, but she’s limited to sporadic appearances in this one. But yeah, more often than not, you have to expect some weirdo Tim Burton-esque character from Depp and Carter, so it’s not too surprising.

Anyway, Armie Hammer is a good foil for Depp’s rebellious and risktaking Tonto, as the stuck-up lawman, who does everything by the book. Fichtner provides the second best performance for my money. He’s genuinely evil, as the scoundrelly devil outlaw, but his character is undermined by an OBVIOUS twist (more on that later). Tom Wilkinson’s Latham Cole is kind of  dull because Cole is your typical greedy American businessman, who’s drunk with power, and of course he wants more money. And no major complaints about Ruth Wilson and Bryant Prince, and and it’s not fair to judge James Badge Dale, because his character doesn’t last long.

Butch was the right primary antagonist….until Latham Cole is revealed as the mastermind behind the silver/railroad scheme. Butch was nasty, vile, and ruthless. I mean, the guy eats body parts to prove his toughness. To make matters worse, the “twist” (if you can even call it that) was so freakin’ obvious. You could EASILY see it coming throughout the movie, and the lazy foreshadowing didn’t help anything. So instead of giving us something different, The Lone Ranger settles for the cliché “greedy, rich white businessman, who’s blinded by power, and his never ending obsession for more money” character. Yeah, I can understand the Cole character being the perfect tie-in for the backdrop of the story involving the oppression and genocide of Native Americans in the old west, but come on. Let’s not kid ourselves here. The Lone Ranger wasn’t trying to be an artsy action/drama. No, this is a popcorn flick.

And speaking of obvious twists, I was glad they didn’t throw in a “Surprise! Danny is actually John’s son!” twist. Throughout the movie, I had an uneasy feeling they were actually going to do this, because Rebecca and John had a thing for each other at one time. The Lone Ranger was loaded clichés, predictable twists, and sappy emotional moments, so they didn’t need to pile John being Danny’s real father on top of that.

Red’s prosthetic gun and leg trick loses its “wow factor” after the first time, and my god they could’ve shaved some time off of the exhausting two hours and twenty-nine minutes runtime. Just when you think The Lone Ranger might be over, it goes on and on for another thirty or forty minutes. Still, with all that said, I enjoyed The Lone Ranger. The entire film is loaded with lots of thrilling, creative, and  fun over the top action sequences. Hammer and Depp shared some great chemistry together as the hilarious odd couple, and when it’s all said and done, The Lone Ranger is an entertaining action/comedy, with some good laughs along the way. Again, trim some of the fat off the bloated  runtime, and I wouldn’t hesitate to go with a higher score.

Rating: 5/10

Fright Night (2011)

**This review contains spoilers**


Living in Las Vegas, teenager Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) chooses to leave his nerdy life behind him, and he refuses to believe or listen to “Evil” Ed Lee’s (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) accusations about Charley’s new next door neighbor being a vampire. Charley is more concerned with pleasing and paying attention to his new friends and girlfriend, Amy (Imogen Poots), so he kicked Ed, his best childhood friend, to the curb. And Ed using the mysterious disappearance of Adam (Will Denton), the third member of the childhood trio of friends, as motivation isn’t enough to persuade Charley.

One night, Jane (Toni Collette), Charley’s mother, introduces Charley and Amy to Jerry (Colin Farrell), the new next door neighbor. Jerry works night construction, and after meeting Jerry face to face, Charley doesn’t notice anything suspicious, so he leaves Ed to solve the vampire mystery by himself. But after Charley leaves Ed alone at night, Jerry stalks Ed, and eventually, Jerry reveals himself as a vampire. Jerry turns Ed, and Charley is uneasy about Ed’s random disappearance. Looking for more answers, Charley goes to Ed’s house, and on Ed’s computer, Charley finds video proof of Jerry being a vampire, because Jerry doesn’t show up on Ed’s recordings.

Fearing for his life, and the safety of his mother and Amy, Charley takes the necessary precautions (carving out wooden stakes, gathering crosses, etc.) for any plans from Jerry. After escaping an attack that leaves Charley’s mother hospitalized, Charley realizes he must deal with Jerry head on. With no else to turn to, Charley visits Peter Vincent (David Tennant), a famed magician and the host of a Vegas stage show called Fright Night. Vincent flat out refuses to help Charley, after he recognizes the symbol from an ancient vampire crest in one of Charley’s pictures. But after some goading, Vincent joins forces with Charley to destroy Jerry, and rescue a kidnapped Amy during a morning stand off.

Chris Sarandon was more of a Cassonva, but Farrell’s Jerry is a cold-hearted dick. Farrell shows flashes of the witty charm we all saw in Sarandon’s Jerry, but Farrell is more menacing, vicious, and cruel. Remember how Jerry turned Amy in the original? Jerry turned Amy in the original, because he saw an opportunity to have a second chance with a woman from his past, and Amy resembled a painting of this woman. But Farrell’s Jerry just turned Amy 2011 to piss Charley off. She was just bait to lure Charley to his death, and Farrell’s Jerry wanted to stick the knife in deeper, by giving Amy a bloody kiss in front of him. Plus, unlike Sarandon’s Jerry, Farrell isn’t dressed up like he’s going to a five star restaurant or an opera concert. No, Farrell’s Jerry has a more casual wardrobe more often than not. Sarandon is still the better Jerry, but Farrell has nothing to be ashamed of, because he provides a confident and smooth performance as Jerry in the remake.

When I first watched Fright Night 2011 in theaters, it kind of pissed me off how they turned Charley into this pseudo hipster, who went out of his way to fit in with the cool kids at high school. But to be fair, after Ed turns into a vampire, Yelchin’s Charley becomes William Ragsdale’s Charley. You know, the nervous wreck, who can’t get anyone to believe in his claims of  a vampire living next door to him. Yelchin is solid as the new Charley, and I’m glad they QUICKLY turned the corner with the direction of his character, because it would’ve been annoying as hell to watch, and damn near impossible to root for a hipster brat version of Charley. As far as Charley’s mother goes, Toni Collette’s role as Jane is similar to the role of Charley’s mother in the original: she’s limited to sporadic appearances, and her character doesn’t receive a significant amount of screen time. And Collette fades out of the story, when Jane is hospitalized.

No real complaints about Imogen Poots’ Amy. Amanda Bearse’s Amy had a more humble look, and she was a humble character, who had a few feisty moments every now and then. But Poots is made out to be the hottest girl in school, so that’s a big change character wise. But Mintz-Plasse’s Ed? Ugh. Stephen Geoffreys was actually funny, as the outcast nerd. Plasse on the other hand, is just annoying and unbearable. It’s hard to feel sympathy for Ed, when Charley treats him like the deformed abomination, who would bring shame on you, if you went out in public with it, because Plasse comes off as an unsympathetic nerd. You WOULDN’T feel bad, if someone else was bullying Ed 2011 in real life. Yeah, he’s that annoying.

David Tennant’s Peter Vincent has a bigger ego than Roddy McDowall’s Peter Vincent. He’s a self-absorbed egomaniac, and like McDowall’s Peter Vincnet, Tennant is a coward for the majority of the movie, until he finds his courage for the final showdown at the end. Tennant is hilarious, his character never reaches a too unlikeable point, and coming to Charley’s aid at the end is a great moment of redemption. Oh, and Peter has a girlfriend in the remake. Sandra Vergara portrays Ginger, but her cookie-cutter character never rises above average standards, as a fiery, and bitchy Latin woman.

You’ll always have the complaints from die hard fans of the originals, but it’s impossible to avoid modernization for remakes. In Fright Night 2011, Peter Vincent is the host of a Vegas stage show at a Hard Rock hotel, and he lives on the top floor in a lavish penthouse. A big contrast from Roddy McDowall’s Peter Vincent hosting a Hammer style horror show in the original, and Roddy’s Peter living in a normal apartment. Another noticeable change is, mirrors aren’t used to detect the reflectionless blood-suckers. Jerry is caught, because he doesn’t show up on Ed’s video camera, and of course, Jerry doesn’t appear on the security monitors at the hotel. During the final battle, Charley arms himself with a crossbow, and Peter gives Charley a special metal stake, specifically designed to kill Jerry’s breed of vampire, and turn his victims back to normal. Peter also brings some heavy artillery, using a cannon/gun to fight off Jerry’s minions.  Plus, using Peter’s advice, Charley uses fire in the battle with Jerry. In the original, Charley and Jerry relied on crosses and sunlight to kill Jerry. And Peter actually has some history with Jerry in this film, because Jerry is the vampire, who murdered Peter’s parents as a child. Oh, and Farrell isn’t Jerry Dandridge in the remake. He’s just Jerry, no last name.

Fans of the original should be able to pick out a few winks here. During the beginning, Plasse’s Ed tells Charley “You’re so cool Brewster” during an argument. Evil Ed in the original poked fun at Charley with this line, and it’s the closing line of dialogue in the original. As Jerry transforms into his more beastly vampire form in front of Peter at the end, he says “welcome to Fright Night….for real.” Sarandon said this exact line in the original to Roddy’s Peter, but Sarandon was more sarcastic. Farrell on the other hand was more sinister. And it’s brief, but Chris Sarandon has a cameo as a motorist here. Sarandon suffers a gruesome demise at the hands of Farrell’s Jerry, but witnessing the two Jerry’s come face to face was a cool moment for me.

Of course, Fright Night 2011 is A LOT more bloody, nasty, gory, and disgusting than the original. But the deaths, attacks, and gory scenes have a stylish flare, and you can tell director Craig Gillespie put some effort into the demises in Fright Night, because the deaths aren’t limited to a barrage of dead bodies piling on top of one another, and senseless scenes of flesh tearing violence. Fright Night 2011 is a satisfying remake, with some necessary updates, an enjoyable cast (minus Plasse), and the nostalgia winks should please fans of the original.

Rating: 7/10

Fright Night Part II (1988)

**This review contains spoilers**

Three years after the events of Fright Night, Jerry Dandridge and Billy are dead. And with the help of weekly therapy, Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) refuses to believe in the existence of vampires. Charley’s psychiatrist, Dr. Harrison (Ernie Sabella) convinces Charley Jerry Dandridge was nothing more than a “serial murderer,” “cult worshiper,” or “kidnapper,” who tried to harm Amy and Evil Ed.

Trying to move on with his life, Charley throws away all his garlic, wooden stakes, hammers, and almost every cross he owns, holding on to one for emergencies only. Enjoying his life as a college kid and his new girlfriend, Alex (Traci Lind), Charley decides to have a talk with Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall) for some closure. Peter was able to get his job back as the host of Fright Night, but a steep decline in ratings could change everything. During the visit at Peter’s apartment complex, Charley notices a series of coffins being hauled inside at night.

After a while, Charley has a bizarre nightmare about one of Peter’s new tenants being a vampire, and sinking her fangs into the shaving wound on his neck. Dr. Harrison urges Charley to forget the nightmare and the vampire woman and move on, but things change after Charley witnesses his friend, Richie (Meritt Butrick) willingly giving his blood to the vampire woman in his dreams and another vampire. With Peter’s help, Charley blows off his concert date with Alex, and he decides to crash the vampire woman’s horror themed party in Peter’s apartment complex.

At the party, Charley can’t find any bite wounds on Richie. And after seducing him with a dance, Charley lets his guard down, as the mysterious woman removes plastic vampire fangs and fake vampire contact lenses, revealing herself as an actress. Charley rushes out of the party after remembering the concert date with Alex, but Peter discovers the real truth after Charley leaves. The woman and her friends don’t appear in Peter’s mirror, and the woman is using her job as an actress to cover up her true identity as a vampire. Peter tries to run away, but the woman confronts him in the staircase, and she reveals herself as Regine Dandridge (Julie Carmen), Jerry’s sister. Regine vows to turn Charley into a vampire for revenge, but she promises to take it easy on Peter, because he’s a “coward.”

Charley and Peter try to come up with a plan to take out Regine, but they’ll have to fight through her entourage of Belle (Russell Clark), another vampire, Bozworth (Brian Thompson), a supernatural being, who survives by eating insects, and he’s Regine’s limo driver, and Louie (Jon Gries), the lone werewolf in the group. Without any warnings, Peter is blindsided, when the producer of Fright Night fires him, and hires Regine as the new host. Peter tries to kill Regine with a stake to the heart, but security foils his plans, and Peter is taken to an insane asylum afterwards.

Meanwhile, Charley is unknowingly turning into a vampire after Regine snuck into his dorm room one night, and bit him on the neck. Louie attacks Charley and Alex in the college’s library, and Charley is arrested after the scuffle. Preparing to complete the final stages of his transformation, Regine eventually recaptures Charley after bailing him out of jail, forcing Alex and Peter to team up and save Charley from Regine’s clutches.

Replacing Chris Sarandon’s Jerry wasn’t an easy task, but Julie Carmen stepped up to the challenge. In a lot of ways, Carmen’s Regine is the female counterpart for Jerry Dandridge. She’s a sexy vixen, who lures Charley into her trap, and like her brother, Regine wants to slowly torture Charley’s soul  (i.e. Jerry turning Amy and Ed into vampires) by turning him into a vampire, so he can be her servant for all eternity. She could easily rip out Charley’s throat, or murder him in another gruesome way, but no. Regine takes the slow-burn technique for revenge. Carmen is smooth and devious as Regine, and she brings an alluring presence to the Regine character that commands attention. Carmen is a suitable replacement, and she easily takes the honor for the best performance in this film.

Don’t get me wrong. Roddy McDowall and William Ragsdale are still funny and entertaining. McDowall still has his moments, as the jittery and reluctant vampire killer, and Ragsdale takes control of the noble and unlikely hero character again. BUT Peter and Charley didn’t change too much in the sequel (more on that later).

Supporting cast ranges from decent enough to forgettable. Traci Lind is a respectable replacement for Amanda Bearse ’s Amy. Alex looks like your typical hot blonde, but Amy is a humble and  nerdy (not too nerdy, though) character. Jon Gries’ Louie is hilarious. He’s this obnoxious tool, who constantly tries to fit into Regine’s entourage as the only werewolf, and Gries’ funniest scenes are with Alex, as Louie tries to steal Charley’s girlfriend. Brian Thompson is genuinely creepy as Bozworth, but I will never forgive Thompson for taking the part as Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat Annihilation. Russell Clark has an eccentric look as Belle, but that’s about it. Belle is a mute, and during my first viewing of Fright Night II years ago,  I couldn’t tell if Belle was a he or a she. Meritt Butrick’s Richie is a douchebag, and Ernie Sabella’s Dr. Harrison is pretty boring, until Harrison reveals himself as a vampire. It was a good, surprising shock. Too bad Sabella doesn’t last long after his first and only transformation.

Of course, it’s hard to follow in the footsteps of a great original like Fright Night, but Part II deserves some credit for a few attention to detail changes.

1. Regine having an entourage- This was a HUGE change to cover up some holes in logic. Unlike Jerry, Regine has more than one person protecting her, so it’s not so easy to kill her. Charley and Peter have  to fight through Belle, Bozworth, Louie, and Richie after Regine and Belle turn Richie into a vampire.

2. Regine doesn’t show the same levels of arrogance her brother showed in the original- Regine turns Charley into a vampire early on, so when Charley sneaks into the apartment complex to kill her, Regine commands Charley to drop the stake. Regine had Charley in the palm of her hands until the end, and Charley couldn’t do anything about it. Jerry had plenty of chances to turn him, but he decided to toy around with Charley instead, and it ended up costing him his life at the end.

3. Charley places communion wafers in the shape of a cross inside inside Regine’s coffin- If you remember the ending in the original, Jerry was able to hide out in his coffin for a little while, as Charley and Peter tried to kill him. But Charley learned from his mistakes, so during the final confrontation with Regine, Charley used the wafers, before Regine (in her bat form) could go inside, and wait out the attack until sunset.

Unfortunately, I can’t forget about the major gaps in logic for Part II.

1. Vampires don’t exist? Seriously???- Yeah, this approach didn’t work for me. Also, it doesn’t help when you open the movie with clips from the original showing Jerry as a vampire and a vampire bat. Sure, Charley and Peter eventually realize vampires are real (again), but trying to seriously convince the audience vampires don’t exist? Just…no.

2. Uh, Regine is Jerry’s sister, right?- I’ve seen this movie a handful of times over the years, so stop me if I’m missing something. But Regine only reveals her identity as Jerry’s sister ONCE. She tells Peter after the party, and guess what? Peter never tells Charley, ever. Regine is going after Charley and Peter, because she wants revenge for her brother’s death. That’s her sole motivation. It’s a huge plot point, and they just ignore it after the one and only time Regine mentions her ties to Jerry, because Charley doesn‘t know Regine is Jerry‘s sister. So instead of the story of a sister plotting revenge, we get “Peter and Charley have to stop and kill another vampire” as the main story. Ugh.

3. Why is Peter a coward again?- Peter found his courage at the end of Fright Night, but for the majority of Part II, he’s the jumpy and scared wimp again? Yeah, Peter finds his courage in a bar after someone unintentionally reminds him of who he really is, but McDowall’s resurgence doesn’t happen until the final stages of the movie.

4. Charley is….just the same guy- His hair looks different, and there’s nothing wrong with Ragsdale’s performance, but Charley is just the same guy we all saw in the original. And it’s painful to watch Charley of all people go through the “vampires aren’t real!” phase for a good chunk of the movie.

Tommy Lee Wallace is the director for this one. Wallace tries to capture the essence of Holland’s work behind the camera in the original, and he succeeds for the most part. Fright Night II has a spooky eeriness to it (two great examples would be the scene, where Alex is attacked by a transforming Dr. Harrison at the train tracks, and the scene, where Belle attacks his first victim at the college during nighttime), and Wallace pays homage to the original, when Regine lures Charley into the erotic dance. It’s a wink to the dance between Jerry and Amy at the night club, and using music from the first film was a great touch.

Wallace brings more violence, blood, and gore to Part II, but it’s nothing too extreme. In fact, the only scenes where you can notice the changes are Belle’s attack on the college student, and Bozowrth’s death, when Charley uses Belle’s claws to cut open his stomach, and a bunch of bugs come pouring out.

Fright Night Part II isn’t as bad as most horror sequels, but on the other hand, it’s nothing to brag about. The gaps in logic and Belle’s slow motion roller skating attacks (for some odd reason, Belle has to wear and use roller skates during a few of his attacks, and Wallace shows the roller skating attacks in slow motion. Cool trick, when you see it for the first time, but after that? Not so much.) are annoying, but again, Fright Night Part II isn‘t a bad film.

There’s a noticeable decline in overall quality, but Fright Night set the bar high, and I usually give certain sequels a pass, when it comes to ridiculously high expectations. Plus, we had Julie Carmen filling in for Sarandon, and she didn’t disappoint as the main villain. And Fright Night Part II has some enjoyable hokey 80’s horror comedy humor. Not as funny as the original, but I don’t have any legit complaints about the comedy side of this film.

They’ve already started shooting a remake/sequel for Fright Night (2011), and when it hits home video, I’m HOPING they’ll finally release the original Fright Night Part II on DVD. It’s been out of print for years, and I’m not stupid enough to go on Amazon or Ebay and pay $70 or over $100 for a copy on DVD. On top of that, I’ve heard so many horror stories (complaints about the terrible VHS quality picture) from reading other reviews online from people, who actually own the out of print DVD copy of Fright Night Part II. I’ve seen numerous copies of Fright Night Part II, and yeah, the picture quality is horrendous, so there’s no way I’m throwing down that type of cash to buy a “rare” DVD.

Hopefully, they’ll follow in the footsteps of Silent Night, Deadly Night. When they released the Silent Night remake last year, they re-released the combo pack DVD with the original and Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 to help promote the remake. And on top of that, Part 2 and the combo pack containing Part 2 were out of print for years. Keeping my fingers crossed for a new Fright Night 2 DVD, because I’ve been dying to see Charley and Regine’s dance scene on a bigger screen for years.


                    


Rating: 6/10

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Outside of random movie talk, TV show talk, pro wrestling, and daily life activities, I don't usually have too many interesting things to talk about. So don't expect anything mind-blowing from me. lol. And yes, my Twitter name is inspired by my favorite scream queen  the great Linnea Quigley!

Mitch MacReady   

Fright Night (1985)

**This review contains spoilers**

Horror movie buff Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) suspects something fishy, when he sees a coffin carried into the basement of his new next door neighbor's house. Charley becomes more suspicious after a series of gruesome murders are reported in the area, one of them being a prostitute, who visited the next door neighbor. Ignoring his girlfriend, Amy Peterson (Amanda Bearse), Charley starts sleuthing into the mystery of the mysterious and reclusive man next door.

Determined to uncover the truth, Charley ignores a warning from his new neighbor’s caretaker, Billy (Johnathan Stark), turning to his best friend, Ed Thompson, or “Evil Ed” (Stephen Geoffreys) for help. Ed, another passionate horror aficionado, gives Charley some advice (with the promise of eight dollars) on how to stop vampires, after Charley witnesses the man next door using his fangs to bite into the neck of a woman one night.

But Charley meets his new neighbor during a surprise visit, after he receives a crucial invitation from Charley’s mother, Judy (Dorothy Fielding). Jerry Dandridge (Chris Sarandon) introduces himself as a harmless friend next door, but Charley isn’t fooled by the act.

With everyone around him refusing to believe Jerry is actually a vampire, Charley turns to the star and host of his favorite TV show. Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall) stars in Fright Night, as a legendary vampire killer, and he’s out of work after Fright Night is cancelled. Charley tries to convince Peter of Jerry being a vampire, but Peter refuses to listen, until Amy offers Peter a five hundred dollar savings to bond to expose Jerry as a real vampire by using holy water.

Jerry passes the holy water test, because Peter pulled a fast one by using ordinary tap water. But Peter is terrified, when Jerry doesn’t appear in his mirror with the reflection of others. After a while, Jerry convinces Ed to become a vampire, turning him in an alleyway at night. And as Jerry and Amy seek refuge in a local night club, Jerry seduces Amy, taking her hostage at his house. Amy resembles a lost love from Jerry’s past, so Jerry decides to turn Amy into a vampire at his house, with the hopes of  Amy becoming his companion. Charley must persuade a reluctant and cowardly Peter to return to Jerry’s house, fight off Billy, destroy Jerry once and for all, and rescue Amy.

Is Jerry Dandridge on your list of great movie characters? Because he’s more than deserving of a spot.  Sarandon oozes charisma, as the witty and smooth Casanova, who will do anything to make Charley’s life a living hell. Jerry isn’t some growling lunatic, who runs around ripping out throats, tearing out necks with his fangs or hands, and he doesn’t go on senseless killing sprees. No. Jerry is a cunning and menacing vampire, who outsmarts his adversaries. Dandridge knows how to hit you, where it hurts. Turning Amy and Evil are two prime examples, and you can throw in the surprise visit to Charley's mom, and Jerry threatening to kill Charley’s mom. Big contrast from what we see in the overwhelming majority of vampire flicks (i.e. vicious and deranged bloodthirsty cannibals) now a days.

William Ragsdale has his moments as the determined and jumpy hero, who will do anything to save the day, but he’s overshadowed by Sarandon and Roddy McDowall’s Peter Vincent. McDowall provides some good laughs, as this pompous and cowardly televison actor, who‘s down on his luck. Amanda Bearse is known for her memorable battles with Al Bundy as Marcy. For the most part, Amy is your typical high school girlfriend, but Bearse is more deceptive  and mean (with some help from makeup), when Amy becomes a vampire. Can’t say too much about Johnathan Stark. He’s believable in the enforcer/bodyguard role, and that’s about it. And who could forget about Stephen Geoffreys’ Evil Ed (“You’re so cool, Brewster!”)? For my money, Ed is the funniest character in Fright Night. Geoffreys plays the quirky and goofy teenage outcast role to perfection, and if you ever look at CM Punk’s current profile photo on his Twitter page, you’ll see the pic of a vampiric Ed after Peter Vincent shoved a cross into his forehead.

Die hards of the franchise will choose Child’s Play (and well, they might have a point, because he directed the best Chucky film), but Fright Night is Tom Holland’s best film as director. Holland, who also wrote the screenplay for this film, keeps the gore and blood to a minimum. It’s just enough to pull a reaction out of you, but the bloody stuff doesn’t reach extreme gross-out levels here. Holland knows when and how to set the moods between subtle and sexy, while weaving in some spooky and chilling nighttime scenes along the way.  Fright Night is the crowning achievement in Holland’s career. Unfortunately, he had to be the guy to direct Thinner, and Fatal Beauty was a horrendous action/comedy (the dialogue and jokes are terrible, but Holland still directed that piece of trash).

Fright Night provides the perfect mix of humor and ghostly horror, while addressing the major and important details in vampire mythology (the usual stuff with garlic, sunlight, holy water, crosses, having faith behind the crosses, so they can be effective, and not being allowed inside as a visitor without an invitation). Good cast, memorable characters, superb directing, and a great soundtrack. Fright Night is a true gem from 80’s horror, and it’s one of the best horror comedies ever made.

Rating: 10/10

Stake Land (2011)

**This review contains spoilers**

Unaware of the vampire plague sweeping through the United States, a teenager named Martin (Connor Paolo) and his family work on fixing their only car one night. But a vampire attacker slaughters Martin’s mother, father, and infant sibling. Alone and looking for help, Martin is saved by a loner and ruthless vampire hunter named Mister (Nick Damici). With Mister’s help, Martin gets his first vampire kill by driving a stake through the heart of the vampire, who murdered his family.

Using vampire fangs (vampire fangs can also be used to buy food and other goods, because anyone, who possesses vampire fangs receives the utmost respect) as fare to pass through the blockades in the ravaged and lawless United States, Mister and Martin journey north in hopes of finding the rumored safe haven free of vampires. Along the way, Mister rescues a Sister (Kelly McGillis) from two thugs, and Mister agrees to let The Sister tag along for the trip up north.

But Martin, Mister, and The Sister run into some trouble, when they’re taken hostage by Jebedia Loven (Michael Cerveris), the leader of The Brotherhood, a vicious Christian extremist group that controls most of the post-vampire world in the United States, and The Brotherhood controls the airwaves by pushing their religious propaganda to listeners. Wanting revenge for the death of his sixteen year old son (Mister killed Loven’s son, who happened to be one of the men, who raped and attacked The Sister), Loven decides to leave Mister in the darkness to fight for his life against four vampires, while taking Martin and The Sister as his hostages.

Eventually, Martin and The Sister escape Loven and The Brotherhood. After surviving Loven’s trap, Martin finds Mister first and The Sister makes the trio whole again during a reunion in a new town. After an attack from The Brotherhood, Mister regroups with a new gameplan, allowing a young pregnant woman named Belle (Danielle Harris) and an ex-Marine named Willie (Sean Nelson) to join the team. Mister continues to train Martin against vampire attacks, while teaching him life lessons, but Loven is out for revenge, and will stop at nothing to kill Mister and everyone under his command.

Mister is a hard-ass and a man’s man. Damici’s performance as the rugged hunter is spot on, and he was able to show some believable vulnerability during Mister’s more softer moments (training and mentoring Martin, carrying Belle through the woods, because she was exhausted from too much walking, etc.). Paolo’s Martin is the type of character you want to root for (more on that later). He’s a shy and scared kid, who’s forced to adapt and survive in a hellish situation, and because of his extended screen time (Martin is the main character), I give the nod to Paolo for the second best performance in this film. BUT my runner up would be Harris. Although, her character doesn’t appear until the later stages of the film, and when she finally pops up, Belle doesn’t last long. And Cerveris is decent enough as the primary antagonist, doing the best he could with the “delusional, and self-righteous cult leader” character.

Real character depth and a heartfelt story separate Stake Land from other modern-day low budget horror flicks, that feature tons of blood and nasty gore. Martin is easily the best example of this. Martin is put through hell. He witnesses his entire family die brutal and agonizing deaths, and he’s forced to grow up and become a man FAST, or else he won’t last long in the post-vampire plagued US. Mister refuses to let his softer side get in the way, or cloud any issues 98% of the time, but Martin finds some solace in Belle….until Loven returns as a vampire to attack her. And Martin, refusing to let Belle suffer from Loven’s bites, kills her. Martin’s heart is ripped out and stomped on throughout the movie. And you finally get to see the rewarding moment of triumph for Martin’s pain and suffering at the end, when Martin, using Mister’s training, runs out into the night, and kills a vampire on his own without any help from Mister.

Director Jim Mickle pulls everything together by providing the perfect hopeless and dreary atmosphere, and if you’re a fan of vampire flicks, Stake Land is worth the time. Stake Land is a bloody and gruesome post-apocalyptic vampire film, that features a poignant coming of age story. Another surprise for me this year, because after looking at the movie poster, I was expecting another dull and forgettable gorefest. 

Rating: 8/10