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Fright Night (1985) First Time Watching! Full Movie Reaction!!

🕑 Added 2025-03-09 18:55:48 +0000 UTC

Comments

TBR Schmitt

Love this and agree! Chris Sarandon was a highlight for me in this! Thank you for the recommendation! Always excited to check out more horror! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

It'll be up this week! Thursday or Friday! -Sam

Walter White

When is the cobra kai finale coming out?

Shepherd Kelley

FYI Chris Sarandon was married to Susan Sarandon

Vincent Hollow

Thinner is such an underrated and overlooked King adaptation. I put it up there with Misery.

Stephen Mccallister

As a huge fan of Married with Children, I loved seeing Amanda Bearse before she was Marcy.

Mark M

Except he called it Bram Stroker's which got a chuckle out of me:)

ED209

This movie has a special place in my heart. I discovered it at the perfect age I think (around Halloween in early high school). To me it was the perfect vampire movie. It updated (for the 80's) all the classic vampire film cliches of pre-70's cinema with a classic 80's synth score/pop music soundtrack and the then cutting edge of special effects. To my 2000's brain it was the coolest kind of retro. The film has the Hitchcockian everyman seeing something he shouldn't a la Rear Window. The young actors are good and their characters are lively and we get their personalities just fine. It was before my time but Amanda Bearse (Amy) is probably most famous for playing Marcy in Married with Children. So you might remember her from that. To me, Chris Sarandon as Jerry Dandridge is the platonic ideal of the vampire. He's got all the classic powers and weaknesses. He also has the charm and the edge. He's so delightfully evil and smug in the best way. He just revel in being a monster, but he has a sort of inner tragic/romantic part to his rotten soul. The film plays perfectly with the eroticism/forbidden fruit/non-consensual aspect of vampire stories. It was Sarandon's idea to have Jerry eat fruit. He said it was because maybe Jerry has a bit of fruit bat in him. And Roddy McDowall as Peter Vincent (named after classic horror icon Peter Cushing and Vincent Price) is just delightful. He runs the gamut of appearing feeble and strong, snooty and warm. Pitch perfect and a really fun character. McDowall was Cornelius in Planet of the Apes. You now get to see his real face. With more distance, I think the 3rd act looses momentum. We spent nearly 30 mins in the house and it would have been more impactful if Tom Holland had tightened it up a bit. However, I will never get tired of Fright Night. I saw the sequel once ages ago. I remember it being good but with a classic sequel caveat at the beginning. It does not start the way you expect it too. PS: I saw an amazing horror film recently (not vampires). Very moody, it's from 1961 and called The Innocents. You don't know the director Jack Clayton, but Freddie Francis the cinematographer had this job on The Elephant Man, Glory and Cape Fear. It's gorgeous and a story you have already seen on this channel in a more recent adaptation that I won't spoil for you. But you liked that recent version very much.

Paul Cox

Haven't seen the others, but can confirm Near Dark is very cool (and you'd be able to add one more to your Bill Paxton tally).

TBR Schmitt

Yes! We were searching the cast up really quick and realized we’d seen him on the channel before in POTA! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Oh wow! Thats incredible! That makes more sense why it aged so well then! Omg no way! That would have been such a big spoiler! Thanks for the recommendation! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Thank you! We were so confused haha thanks for the recommendations! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

I DO!! We need to find some time to just get it done because it’s been on my list for forever! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Haha he is good with the synth! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Oh interesting! Never heard that before! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Yes! Daniel was thinking it reminded him of Bram Stoker’s! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

I’ve not seen Married with Children! But she was fantastic in this! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Aww love that! Sounds like some great memories! Evil was such a character! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Hope you enjoyed it, Steve! -Sam

Yann Laliberté

LIttle trivia: since you loved Peter Vincent, like all of us Fright Night fanatics, this is the same actor that played Cornelius in Planet of the apes I suggest you don't look too much into what the actor who played Evil Ed did after that movie

Yann Laliberté

Great taste

Prof. Writhms

Sam, I'll have to disagree with you on your comment about there being some CGI. This was 1985. There were no sophisticated CGI effects back then. If you see the movie "Tron", that was the best they had in CGI back then. "Fright Night" was all practical effects. The part you were talking about was most likely stop-motion animation and/or puppetry. Loved your comment about Amy's vampire form being a "Joker" vampire with that huge toothy mouth. LOL They actually gave that part away in the trailer. Those Idiots~ 🤔 Another great horror movie with awesome practical effects is "The Gate" (1987). Please put that on your list! ✌️

Philip Davetas

Billy was not a vampire. He was a familiar (ghoul) where he can walk around the daylight and curated over the master master during the day. * There's only one sequel and it's great. There was one remake with a sequel to that. You want some vampire movies? FORSAKEN, THE DESCENT (arguably a vampire flick), THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER, NEAR motheruxking DARK, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, INNOCENT BLOOD, DAY BREAKERS to name a few

Future Boy

This was such great fun to rewatch with you. 80s horror never fails for reactions! Tom Holland wrote and directed this. He had a nice little run in the 80s. He wrote Fright Night, Child's Play, The Langoliers and Thinner (both Stephen King adaptations). But his masterpiece was Psycho 2, which I know has been on your radar for a long time, and I remember Sam said she wanted to watch it soon on the last live stream. You will LOVE Psycho 2. I can't wait for the day it shows up on your schedule!

Philip Davetas

He certainly loves that synth indeed.

Vincent Hollow

Brad Fiedel, who did the music, was also the composer for the first two Terminator films. The man loves his synths.

Philip Davetas

Apparently, there's a term for a certain cliche. I don't know where I heard it. Double Toasted or Gourley and Rust. Where the police won't help and it's left for the protagonist to solve the problems. I guess it's called a "noper."

Matt O'Keefe

This movie is basically just the Dracula story. Look at Bram Stoker's Dracula. Amy played Winona Ryder's Mina. There are other similarities.

Vwlss Nvwls

My favorite vampire movies are "Near Dark" and "Nosferatu" (the silent 1920s Nosferatu)

Vwlss Nvwls

This was a very typical formula for an eighties teen movie, whether a horror or comedy. They all had basically the same ridiculous characters, music, home lives, etc. But it was always so much fun watching these types of movies, because there was nothing really serious. Although, this one actually had some serious stakes mixed amongst all the typical stupid fun.

Jason Mangen

One of my favorites. The remake has a different feel with the same story line but I equally liked it. Amy was Marcy from Married with Children.

Paul Cox

Herzog's version has been on my watchlist for forever. Hope to finally get to it soon. There's no credible reason for denying myself more Isabelle Adjani in my life lol.

Vwlss Nvwls

This is such a great, often forgotten gem. I remember seeing the trailers when it was in the theater, but my friend and I did not see it until it was on video. The weekend we rented it, we watched it three times. I have watched in a few dozen more times since. I love the actor who played Evil also. He was in a few teenage comedies in the 80s that I had fun watching. He was an interesting actor that really went no where.

Birdie Num Num

got an Oscar nom for Dog Day Afternoon. 4 of his films on the channel, go figure. Tom Holland directed both Chilld's Play and Fright Night.

Birdie Num Num

Hope you watch the original 1922 Nosferatu first(Cinebinge did). And the 1979 version(which is the best one imo)

Steve Mercier

Loooooove this movie..."You're so cool, Brewster!" It's campy, and silly, and oh so very 80s, but I love it. Good shit. Going to watch it right now.

Vincent Hollow

YASSS you guys have got to dive into Robert Eggers' films. The Witch. The Lighthouse. The Northman. Nosferatu. He also has a 13th Century werewolf movie, Werwulf, supposedly planned for next near and I am beyond excited for it!

TBR Schmitt

LMAO! -Sam

PIG

At long last :) There's some favortism involved here. I got this once when I was in 5th grade as a rental from the public libarary and I don't think my mom had any idea how violent it was. I watched it over and over and had her re-checked out every week. The pacing and story movement is excellent and just fun. Plus it had boobs. That's a big deal in the 80s for a 5th grade boy.

TBR Schmitt

Oh thank you! We couldn't figure out who he played in Dog Day Afternoon! Definitely remembered him from Princess Bride! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Daniel really wants to watch that one on the channel! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Good to know! They definitely left it open for the sequel! -Sam

Paul Cox

Chris Sarandon was never a huge star or anything, but he's been a super-prolific character actor for decades. He was Leon, Sonny's trans wife, in Dog Day Afternoon btw.

Jonathan Patrick

Vanilla Sky (2001) Tom Cruise and Cameron Crowe team up for a second time here. Lock Up (1989) Stallone collection, must watch 👍

Shehab Dawoud

Love this movie, it just screams the 80s! Haven't seen it in a while, so perfect reason to rewatch! Hope the next vampire movie you do will be 'Nosferatu', which came out last year. You haven't done any Robert Eggers films, so I think it's time to get him on the channel. One of the most unique and distinguishable auteurs in the game.