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Late to the Party: Fright Night (1985)

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fright night

Welcome back, spooky darlings, to another edition of Late to the Party! This week I watched Tom Holland’s 1985 classic, Fright Night.

Fright Night, I’ve realized, is essentially a modern-day suburban retelling of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. You’ve got Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) as a stand-in for Johnathan Harker. He realizes that his new neighbor, Jerry Dandrige (who has moved in to an aging mansion with enviable stained glass windows and antique architectural fixtures that seem oddly out of place in this 80s suburb, but, okay) has some rather frightening secrets.

via Scare Me on Fridays

Charley seeks the assistance of a renowned occult expert and supposed vampire slayer, Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall). But Vincent is a much more reluctant and dishonest double for Van Helsing. Though he eventually rises to the occasion, he begins his journey as a floundering entertainer and steadfast cynic.

Like Dracula, Jerry Dandrige (Chris Sarandon) has a Renfield-like “familiar” in his roommate, Billy Cole (Jonathan Stark). Billy takes out the trash, drives their jeep, and generally helps Jerry with the acquisition and disposal of victims. They’re best buds!

Charlie’s girlfriend, Amy (Amanda Bearse), plays the role of a surrogate Mina. She is seduced by Jerry and soon is transformed. Charley’s only hope is to kill Jerry, releasing Amy from his spell and saving them all in a grand heroic gesture.

via Scare Me on Fridays

One scene that stuck out to me was the dance floor seduction of Amy. The subtle primal awakening is communicated perfectly.

This poor girl has had a bit of an on-again, off-again relationship with Charley, and our first introduction to them as a couple is Carley’s low-key attempt to pressure her into having sex. When she bundles up the resolve to give it an honest try, Charley is too distracted by Jerry’s in-a-coffin arrival to realize that this is kind of a big deal for Amy. She storms off in a huff.

In subsequent scenes, Amy tries to open up to Charley to address the challenges in their relationship. She is continually frustrated as Charley becomes more obsessed with his new “my neighbor is a vampire” theory.

Enter Jerry. Seductive, sexy Jerry (or, at least he was 80s sexy). He is taken by her resemblance to an old lover and his raw vampire magnetism draws Amy in like a moth to a flame. She’s finally granted sensual attention, and damn, this girl is so ready.

via Amino

As always, I went head-over-heels for Fright Night‘s practical effects. There are some fantastic transformations punctuated by melting flesh and cracking bones. I was practically giddy, you guys.

I don’t care what anyone says, the real way to a woman’s heart is through gruesome practical effects.

via Twitter

Another scene worth highlighting is the wolf death. It’s actually heartbreaking (completely sold by Roddy McDowall’s reactions) and – again – the visuals are solid. I felt actual emotions because of this scene, which is no easy feat (trust me on this).

I’m going warn you about spoilers for the next paragraph, so if you – like past me – haven’t seen Fright Night, perhaps skip ahead?

The scene between the dying wolf and Vincent is skillfully presented. Vincent – who had run off to seek help – finally lives up to the strength of his as-seen-on-TV character. He gains confidence that he can be the knowledgeable vampire slayer that he pretends to be. But it’s a tragic discovery, since it comes on the heels of killing young “Evil” Ed. Ed, the awkward outcast, who was lured to the vampire life by Jerry’s promise: “they won’t pick on you anymore”. As Ed dies, he reaches out for comfort, foiled by the monster he has become.

via Movies Films and Flix

Overall, Fright Night really grew on me, and I’m glad I finally gave in and watched it.

For more Late to the Party, check out the full catalogue of recent discoveries!

I’ll leave you with this song because if I’m going to have it stuck in my head all day, dammit, you should too.

Featured image by Chris Fischer

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‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments

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It was a risk for Fede Alvarez to reboot Sam Raimi’s horror classic The Evil Dead in 2013, but that risk paid off and so did its spiritual sequel Evil Dead Rise in 2023. Now Deadline is reporting that the series is getting, not one, but two fresh entries.

We already knew about the Sébastien Vaniček upcoming film that delves into the Deadite universe and should be a proper sequel to the latest film, but we are broadsided that Francis Galluppi and Ghost House Pictures are doing a one-off project set in Raimi’s universe based off of an idea that Galluppi pitched to Raimi himself. That concept is being kept under wraps.

Evil Dead Rise

“Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence,” Raimi told Deadline. “He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut.”

That feature is titled The Last Stop In Yuma County which will release theatrically in the United States on May 4. It follows a traveling salesman, “stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop,” and “is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.”

Galluppi is an award-winning sci-fi/horror shorts director whose acclaimed works include High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. You can view the full edit of High Desert Hell and the teaser for Gemini below:

High Desert Hell
The Gemini Project

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‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening

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Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.

Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.

Happy Sad Confused

Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.

Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.

Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.

The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.

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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

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Jake gyllenhaal presumed innocent

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

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