Screenplay by: Marti Noxon
Rating: 7/10
Just got a chance to read the script for the FRIGHT NIGHT remake, and let me tell ya friends, it’s not nearly as bad as you might think. It’s not perfect by any means, but has some promise. Most of the original’s plot outline is relatively intact, although the specific story beats are markedly different. And character wise we’ve still got Charlie, Amy, Jane, Jerry, “Evil” Ed, and a significantly younger Peter Vincent. Let’s start with that.
If anything will cause hand wringing amongst the faithful I expect it will be seeing Peter Vincent as a middle aged, Vegas showman with a rock ‘n roll image. In truth I nearly wrote the new script off as soon as he was introduced. Fortunately the character is handled similarly to the original, and the gulf between the two incarnations is not as wide as it first seems.
On to our protagonist now. In a turn that makes the first act of the script play more like MEAN GIRLS or CAN’T BUY ME LOVE than a horror flick, Charlie is updated as a newly popular guy trying to distance himself from old friends, and still uncomfortable with the new ones. Going along with this, Amy is now your typical WB teen girl, straddling the line between promiscuous and chaste, sweet and annoying. Neither of these two or their small clique of friends is developed beyond the most rudimentary teen stereotypes.
The inimatble Chris Sarandon in the original.
Since Charlie is now a popular kid, “Evil” Ed is made the driving force behind the discovery that Jerry is a vampire. Unfortunately, beyond this small part to play, and a repeat appearance that will not surprise anyone familiar with the original, the role has been whittled down to a glorified cameo as a bitter, blackmailing, ex-friend.
But where the script goes very right is with Jerry Dandrige. He is exactly the mixture of charm and menace fans like to see from a vampire, and seeing Colin Farrell in this role promises to be the biggest selling point of the film. It’s a role he should hit out of the park and while the last half of the script gives the character little to do other than look scary and stalk around, the first half does a banner job.
As to the horror elements, there’s a lot of gore on the page, but the last half of the script plays more like an action flick than anything scary. Blown up houses, car chases, penthouse break-ins and the eventual denouement at Jerry’s house all come at a clip that will not disappoint the ADD generation.
Est tu Jerry Dandridge?
But while this will clearly have a markedly different feel from the original, the script has plenty of potential to give us a solid, entertaining vampire flick the likes of which we have not seen in some time. My biggest problem with the script actually, is not the differences from the original (I think it deserves to be judged on its own merits), but the numerous tonal shifts and logic lapses that crop up too frequently.
Small things like a Las Vegas teenager in 2010 being gob smacked just because a girl puts her hand on his leg. I mean, c’mon, I’ve heard 14 and 15 year-olds talking about the finer points of ass-to-mouth. There’s also a lengthy sequence that requires two high school seniors to navigate both a Las Vegas casino floor and gain entry to a nightclub without being asked for ID until it serves the plot to have one of them bounced. Ever been to Vegas? That’s not happening.
My Ex.
And it’s hard to overlook just how careless Jerry is about killing people in ways that would likely draw a lot of attention. For someone who has been doing this a very long time, he is awfully sloppy. I expect many of these issues will be cleaned up in subsequent revisions and editing, but as of this draft there are plenty of distractions in there that would benefit from a hearty polish.
So bottom line, this is not a complete disaster or a slap in the face to the original, but don’t get too excited. After a shaky start that feels more ONE TREE HILL than NEAR DARK, we get about 30 pages of really good vampire creepiness and buildup before the last half becomes an action-fueled adrenaline fest that could be pretty fun, but makes me nervous more than it gets me excited.